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A complex but powerful tool for managing meter data
October 15, 2019

A complex but powerful tool for managing meter data

Aaron Baker | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM)

Oracle MDM is used by Duquesne Light Company to store our customers' meter data, estimate meter reads, and create billing determinants which are sent to our CIS software for generating and sending bills to our customers. We also create profiles for different kinds of customers and apply those profiles to different estimation routines.
  • It is highly configurable.
  • It is user-friendly for those who are computer savvy.
  • It is highly extendable and customizable.
  • In some ways, MDM is too customizable. There is a delicate balance to be struck between allowing implementers the ability to create custom algorithms to meet their business needs and making those features part of the base product. Lots of things can go wrong if you customize it too much.
  • The cost/time to upgrade is very high.
  • Cost of ownership is very high.
  • We use it daily and for the most part works on its own without manual intervention.
  • When manual intervention is required, 90% of the time only simple interventions are required.
  • The integration with our CIS helps keep everything in sync.
N/A - I haven't evaluated any other kinds of software like MDM. There are lots of competitors out there but our utility is committed to Oracle at the moment so there is no need to evaluate anything else at present. If we were to start looking elsewhere, one of the key areas I would look for improvement is in processing performance. MDM can sometimes struggle when certain database tables are too large.
Oracle Support is not very helpful. If you have any customizations, they ask you to remove them before they will look at any SRs for the product. I understand the rationale as they don't support custom code, however, sometimes the customizations have nothing to do with your issue and it seems the presence of any customization is used as an excuse to close the SR.

Do you think Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM)'s feature set?

Yes

Did Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM) live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM) go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM) again?

Yes

MDM is well suited for any medium or large utility company to store their meter data whether it be water, gas, or electricity. It is configurable enough to fit whichever kind of utility needs to use it.

MDM is not well suited for a very small utility. It requires a lot of support and IT organizations with limited budgets have to very carefully consider if the cost works for their budget.