GASTAR is one of the few natural gas management solutions (GMS) that can manage both the Gas Supply and Retail Choice areas of the utility business. The integrated solution provides numerous benefits to clients who want to have one single solution that manages both sides of the business, allowing them to replace disconnected business processes, outdated applications, manual processes, and redundant data entry.
Some of the Benefits of an Integrated Solution include:
1. Information Transparency: Both Supply & Choice teams can see information that may affect each area, such as how the choice imbalances affect the supply business. Business areas can also be totally segregated, depending on client preference.
2. Centralized Data for Reporting & Auditing: All data is one place for regulatory filings and other auditing and reporting needs.
3. Seamless Integration with Other Systems: Data from other applications, such as SCADA, measurement, weather, pricing, Customer Information Systems (CIS) flows directly into GASTAR for both areas of the business.
4. Maintenance & Support: Utilizing one vendor for both business areas simplifies the support, product maintenance, and ongoing vendor relationship.
5. Single Application & Database Structure: GASTAR is architected within a single source code bundle, and the database is fully integrated at the data level. Competing systems that claim integration may be setup on multiple databases with separate application models with integration as a top layer for UI integration.
6. Consolidation of Disconnected Systems: One of the main drivers of our clients to implement GASTAR is the consolidation of multiple systems into one centralized solution. GASTAR is one of very few solutions on the market today that can manage both the Gas Supply and Retail Choice areas of the utility business.
7. Ease of Development Practices: GASTAR contains one single development model and data schema, which reduces development time and increases effectiveness.
8. Minimized Client IT Management and Cost: ENSYTE implements the GASTAR product on a single production environment, which eliminates the need for multiple IT environments and the associated client cost and resources for maintaining those environments.
9. Tighter Security Controls: Database and Application security is minimized into a single instance; whereas, multiple databases will require multiple data security configurations.
The Integrated Gas Supply / Retail Choice GASTAR Application also provides specific benefits to the users of the product, starting with the shared common features that support the transaction management process across both sides of the company. These common features include: Business Associates / Counter Parties, Contracts, Transportation Rates, and Pipeline Locations / Points. Relevant data can be shared or separated as needed. For example, a Supplier for Gas Supply and for Retail Choice may be the same entity with separate business roles.
User Benefits of the Integrated Solution Include:
1. A single point of entry for Foundation / Setup data eliminates double entry and potential for errors. A counter party has the same identification data for all applications and is not duplicated.
2. A single-entry point for all Users is provided that allocates privileges within a single database, which is more efficient and secure than multiple User setup configurations.
3. Support modules within the application, such as Interfaces, Alerts and Email Notifications are more easily configured and maintained in an integrated system.
4. Personnel training and flexibility of assignment is a benefit as often is the case that personnel can be cross trained for different jobs within the gas supply and retail choice business groups.
