The following partner insight was authored by Amritomoy Chatterjee, Head of Content, Energy, Resources, and Utilities Marketing, TCS.
The utilities industry is in the midst of in a breakneck transformation mode. The renewable energy market is projected to reach $27 trillion by 2050. This massive push towards finding alternative energy sources calls for utilities to adopt speed and process or operating model-related complexities — from tighter regulations to catering to prosumer and their demands. Organizations that are not adoptive enough to embrace such wholesome changes run the risk of falling behind.
Today, Net Zero is no longer the end goal — it’s the starting line. The real ambition is to go Beyond Zero: eliminating emissions, rethinking business models, and reshaping how utilities operate. Prosumers expect their voices to be heard, acknowledged with transparency and personalized product offering. The employees expect to have curated experience in a safer, smarter and sustainable environment. Last but not the least, businesses need to efficiently adopt AI and automation that redefine their services and offering, making them future proof.
The TCS–SAP Blueprint for Transformation
Over the years Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and SAP have built a trusted partnership to help utilities build resilience across their value chains. Guided by TCS’s Beyond Zero: Race to Tomorrow vision, the approach focuses on four key pillars:
- Zero emissions: Driving renewable adoption, optimizing generation, and enabling carbon visibility.
- Zero outages: Harnessing predictive analytics and AI for grid resilience.
- Zero boundaries: Connecting partners, regulators, and customers in a unified ecosystem.
- Net zero and beyond: Unlocking new business models like EV-as-a-service and smart energy marketplaces.
Enmax: Powering Progress in Canada
ENMAX Corporation, a vertically integrated utility serving approximately 725,000 customers across Alberta, undertook a rapid digital transformation to modernize operations and enhance customer service.
In November 2023, it became the first Canadian utility to migrate to SAP S/4HANA Cloud via RISE with SAP, alongside moving its CRM to a Microsoft Azure-hosted solution. Partnering with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and SAP, ENMAX implemented the SAP S/4HANA Cloud private edition for Utilities, enabling scalable billing for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), strengthening its data layer, and supporting its CRM application.
The project involved six full conversion cycles using a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach, completing the migration from SAP ECC in just over a year—an accelerated timeline for such a complex initiative. The transformation modernized billing, improved system resiliency, reduced IT costs, streamlined the application suite, optimized processes via SAP Fiori, and cut its data footprint by one-third, positioning ENMAX for future innovation and competitiveness. Read more.
Beyond zero, together for the long run
The energy future will be shaped by collaboration. TCS and SAP are helping utilities like Enmax prove that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand — enabling cleaner, smarter, and more resilient energy systems that serve both today’s needs and tomorrow’s generations.
Amritomoy Chatterjee is Head of Content, Energy, Resources, and Utilities Marketing, TCS.