BTC AG Wins InterSystems Breakthrough Application Award

InterSystems Corporation, a global provider of advanced software technologies, announces that BTC Business Technology Consulting AG has been recognized with the InterSystems Award for Breakthrough Applications. BTC AG, an InterSystems technology partner, won the award for its BTC Advanced Meter Management (AMM) system.

A newly released component of BTC AG's Smarter Metering Suite, the revolutionary, modular, process-oriented and vendor-independent application can be set up on the InterSystems CACHÉ high performance object database system. The CACHÉ-based time series management system handles communication, processing and storage of the massive data volumes resulting from implementing smart electric meters throughout Germany.

Breakthrough Technology Will Deliver Essential Information

An amendment to the Energy Industry Act and Metering Access Ordinance that was drafted in June 2011 mandates that every German citizen lower individual energy consumption by 1.5 percent every year. To achieve this goal, the amendment includes plans to provide German consumers with functionality and information that will enable them to control consumption patterns and lower energy usage. That critical data will be delivered by smart meters and will be processed and stored on an ongoing basis.

To implement the objectives of the European Union (EU) and German federal government, 80 percent of all households in Germany will be equipped with smart meters by 2020, according to the EU single market directive. These plans require fast, intelligent processing of enormous data volumes. For example, in a single mid-sized city such as Bochum, which currently has 240,000 conventional meters, quarter-hour meter readings would produce about 960,000 sets of meter data every hour. That information must be processed, archived, and, in some cases, time-stamped with calculations on time series performed.

CACHÉ Processes Huge Data Volumes in Half the Time of Relational Databases

During comprehensive stress tests, "CACHÉ proved to be ideal…compared to the relational databases we tested, CACHÉ is currently outperforming them by a factor of two," said Dr. Stefan Baier, Management Consultant at BTC AG. Baier predicted that with some technical fine-tuning, the database performance will be even higher than what has been initially achieved in stress testing.

Easy installation, massive scalability, lightning-fast performance, a short learning curve and low maintenance requirements contributed to the choice of supporting CACHÉ, Dr. Markus Gerdes, Product Manager for the BTC AMM application, noted. "Everything is browser-based, which means that anyone with basic database experience can install CACHÉ. And, CACHÉ has a shorter learning curve than that of relational databases, which require a database administrator with extensive knowledge to answer questions in advance and to avoid unpleasant surprises after installation" he continued. "In summary, CACHÉ is an advanced high-performance database system that combines comprehensive functionality with a low-maintenance approach that doesn't require a database administrator."

InterSystems also delivered top-tier technical support on an ongoing basis, according to BTC AG technologists. "Technical queries were always answered immediately," they said. Building on the successful stress test and application installation, BTC AG plans to present the BTC AMM system at the E-world Energy & Water Exhibition that will take place in Essen in February 2012.

"Breakthrough applications can radically transform processes," said Paul Grabscheid, InterSystems Vice President of Strategic Planning. "BTC AG has leveraged CACHÉ to achieve major changes in the process of gathering and using the very high data volumes generated by smart meter technology to make a strong, positive impact on energy consumption throughout Germany. It's been a pleasure to work with BTC AG on this initiative."

"We are extremely happy to be recognized with this international industry award," said Dr. Gerdes.

About BTC AG

BTC Business Technology Consulting AG is an IT consultancy and a leading provider of SAP outsourcing services. The company is based in Oldenburg and is with more than 1,700 employees represented in 15 locations (Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Poland, Japan). The range of customer services available extends from process consultancy to systems launch and integration right up to operating IT systems as a provider of outsourcing services. For additional information, please visit http://www.btc-ag.com.