Product-Specific Frequently Asked Questions
This section provides frequently asked questions that pertain to specific cloud services, including:
Customer Cloud Service Questions
General Questions
What is CCS?
CCS stands for Customer Cloud Service, the cloud service offering from Oracle Utilities that offers the Oracle Utilities Customer To Meter (C2M) application in the cloud, with Oracle running/maintaining the infrastructure, and the customer operating the system (includes all online operation as well as batch and reporting). Note that the base offering only covers 'scalar' meters & readings, not interval data processing - if interval processing is needed, then there is an add-on SKU 'Advanced Meter' option. Base subscription provides three environments (DEV, TEST, PROD) along with Analytics Publisher for reporting.
How is CCS different from the CCB on-premises?
Customer Cloud Service is different from Customer Care and Billing in a few ways.
1. Customer Cloud Service is based on Customer To Meter (C2M), includes functionality from Customer Care and Billing, Meter Data Management, Service Order Management, Smart Grid Gateway, Operational Device Management.
2. As cloud services, Oracle runs the infrastructure, and the customer operates the application. That means the customer cannot get direct access to the hardware to add resources, change server settings, etc.
3. In general, if you could do something in an on-premises application through the browser, then you can still do it in Customer Cloud Service. A few things that aren't allowed in cloud services include no new Java programs (Groovy scripting with plug-in batch as alternative), no custom xsl, no direct database query tools (Analytics Publisher is included with the cloud service for reporting and queries).
4. Note that Customer Cloud Service uses the Customer to Meter platform. So Customer Cloud Service implementations are expected to use Meter Data Management for meter data and Service Order Management for field activities.
How do I know my data is safe in Customer Cloud Service?
Oracle is a leader in enterprise cloud solutions, so the reliability and security of the Oracle cloud is of utmost importance to us in order to remain a trusted technology partner for our thousands of utility customers around the world. We have over 1500 cloud operations specialists working tirelessly to maintain optimal cloud performance and we capture global cloud intelligence 24 x 7 x 365 and constantly update our security measures to stay ahead of the latest hacker techniques. Oracle continues to be a trailblazer, delivering the most sophisticated cloud technologies, including the world’s first autonomous database to deliver unprecedented availability, performance, and security.
What is the 'configuration template' or accelerator that is included?
To 'jump start' Oracle Utilities Cloud service implementation projects the service includes the use of configuration templates that provide a full configuration solution that is based on North American modern best practices for the systems. CCS templates are separate for electric, gas, and water (note that just one service type is included in the base subscription, and extras do have an extra subscription cost.
How does Oracle Field Cloud Service (OFSC) fit into the Oracle Utilities Cloud Service offering?
Oracle Utilities has built an integration accelerator between Customer Cloud Service and Oracle Field Service using the Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering, which covers standard activity use cases seen at most utility customers.
Technical Questions
How can customers run Customer Cloud Service Batch? Can they troubleshoot issues?
Note that the logs from the Batch Run Tree (stdout and stderr) are available to download and review, as well as batch job debug/trace. In some cases customers may need to log tickets for further assistance from Oracle Cloud Operations.
For more information about running and troubleshooting batch processing, see Running and Troubleshooting Batch Processing in the Oracle Utilities Cloud Services Implementation Guide.
How is sizing done for Customer Cloud Service?
Basic sizing is driven by the pricing metric for Customer Cloud Service, which is the number of billable services (i.e. Service Agreements). If the Advanced Metering option is purchased this too will be a parameter. Note also that additional database storage can be purchased if needed. This is in part driven by customer decisions on (for example) usage retention.
What are the Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) default retention periods for the high-volume maintenance objects
In general most of the higher volume tables including the financials (bills, payments, adjustments) have a default retention of 48 months (but no data will be dropped without a customer action). Measurement data is handled differently, depending in particular on whether the implementation uses interval data or not.
Meter Solution Cloud Service Questions
For Itron OpenWay are any special communications features required?
Yes, Itron OpenWay / OWOC requires a VPN X509 Certificate and WS-Security requirements This may entail additional costs for the customer.
What Smart Grid Gateway Adapter components are available now (December 2020).
Please note, the Oracle Utilities Cloud service version of Smart Grid Gateway does NOT requires SOA components.
The following adapters are available:
• Itron MV-90 (reads)
• Itron Openway (reads and commands)
• Landis+Gyr (US Version) (reads and commands)
• Silver Spring Networks (reads and commands)
• Adapter Development Kit (reads and commands)
Refer to the Smart Grid Gateway Adapters and Oracle Utilities Cloud Services section in the Oracle Utilities Meter Solution Administrative User Guide for more information.