Software AG And Siemens To Support The UK Government's 26 Million Home 'Smart Meter' Upgrade Program

• Software AG, Siemens, ElectraLink and eMeter are partnering in the UK to provide the communications gateway needed to support "smart metering"
• A demonstration system is already available and could bring forward the timeline for the introduction and benefits of smart metering in the UK
• Smart meters would help reduce the 10% of power lost in Europe and the USA annually
• Smart meters and the central communications model will facilitate the development of innovative energy management products and services to enable consumers to reduce energy demand
• In the UK alone, savings are estimated at billions for both consumers and energy companies
• Smart meters and a smart grid are base technologies for green IT

Software AG, a global leader in business infrastructure software, announced that they are partnering with Siemens to support the UK Government's "smart grid" and "smart metering" initiatives. The UK Government has set a target date of 2020 for installing smart meters in over 26 million homes country-wide. Siemens and Software AG have developed a demonstration with partners Electralink and eMeter to show how a central communications gateway can provide access to, and control of, smart meters. Power providers can use ElecraLink's interim solution - the Smart Interoperability Portal - to start using smart meters immediately.

Smart meters are fundamental to supporting a national "smart grid" and tackling the annual loss of 10% of electricity production to theft and technical problems in both Europe and the USA. Smart grids would also provide a measurable and sustainable contribution to global green IT initiatives, saving an estimated $227B over the next 40 years in the USA alone.

The ElectraLink Smart Metering Interoperability Portal (SMIP) concept was proposed in 2008 to provide a solution to the challenge of smart metering in the highly deregulated UK market. The complexities of a national roll-out mean that it will be several years before a new model to support smart meters can be realized. By providing an interim service that supports access to the functionality of smart meters, before any mandated solution is launched, Software AG, Siemens and their partners have bridged that gap.

Kevin Tutton, UK Director of Siemens Metering Services, says, "Siemens is delighted to be leading the way on realizing the benefits of smart metering by bringing key players together to provide a solution which will enable the industry to move forward positively through a period of significant change."

Jim Shaw, Energy and Utilities Specialist at Software AG, remarks, "Software AG is pleased to be enabling this innovation which is fuelling the introduction of smart meter technology to the UK utility market. We have successfully implemented smart metering projects from Australia to the USA and can now bring this experience to this partnership, minimizing risk and enabling consumers to more quickly reap the benefits of smart metering."

The partners appreciate that all suppliers and market participants have different requirements and visions for the future when it comes to building a smart metering platform, and that a supplier/market participant will have invested heavily in their existing technology platform and operational processes. This is why the Siemens' hosted EnergyIP MDM (Meter Data Management) service and the SMIP platform enable a service led SOA platform to deliver incremental value while minimizing risk and costs to energy suppliers.

Software AG, Siemens and their partners can provide a number of integration patterns and technologies to integrate with the energy suppliers' platforms as either a hosted or partially hosted model. This model is flexible but also structured in a way to ensure it allows existing technology platform investments to be maintained while enabling integration with the Smart Metering world now.

About Software AG
With more than 1,000 U.S.-enterprise customers and 800 employees, Software AG's U.S. operation contributes one third of the company's total revenue and is Software AG's largest market presence and R&D location. Software AG has operated nationwide in the U.S. since 1973 through a fully-owned subsidiary, Software AG USA Inc., which is headquartered in Reston, Virginia – also an R&D hub for the company's core data management and integration technologies. R&D labs for the development of Software AG's webMethods product suite – offering SOA integration and BPM solutions – include facilities in San José/Silicon Valley, Seattle and Denver. For more information, visit www.softwareag.com/us.

Software AG is the global leader in Business Process Excellence. Our 40 years of innovation include the invention of the first high-performance transactional database, Adabas; the first business process analysis platform, ARIS; and the first B2B server and SOA-based integration platform, webMethods. We are unique in offering the world's only end-to-end – and easiest to use – business process management (BPM) solutions, with the lowest Total-Cost-of-Ownership. Our industry-leading brands, ARIS, webMethods, Adabas, Natural and IDS Scheer Consulting, represent a unique portfolio for: process strategy, design, integration and control; SOA-based integration and data management; process-driven SAP implementation; and strategic process consulting and services.

Software AG had revenues of 847 million euro in 2009 and has more than 6,000 employees serving 10,000 enterprise and public institution customers across 70 countries. Our comprehensive software and services solutions allow companies to continuously achieve their business results faster. The company is headquartered in Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

SOURCE: Software AG