Notes for owners · Industry-Specific Software Guides
Questions an Energy Management Company Should Ask a Software Vendor
Ask a vendor which meters it can read, how a baseline is stored, where audit findings are tracked and who owns the data. An energy management company needs readings, findings and client reports in one record. Many vendors cover only the readings. GullySystem’s IoT monitoring dashboard covers readings, with audit tracking added as custom work.
Ganesh HS, Strategy and Technology, GullySystem · · 3 min read
Start with the meters you already work with
Your clients own meters of many makes. Some speak Modbus, some give only a pulse, and some sit behind a utility portal. A vendor who says yes to all of them has not looked at your sites.
Ask which protocols are read and which are not. Ask for a trial on one site beside the client’s own gauge, and compare both sets of numbers.
- Which meter protocols are supported
- What happens with a meter that cannot be read
- Who buys and owns the devices
- How a gap in readings is shown
Ask how the baseline is held
A baseline is the figure every saving is compared with. It may be adjusted for production, weather or occupancy. If the adjustment lives in a spreadsheet tab, a client can question it.
Ask whether the baseline and its adjustments are stored with the site, with a date and a name against each change. Ask how a second engineer would see the method.
The method itself is for you and your client to agree. Software should only record it faithfully.
Check where audit findings and actions are tracked
Many monitoring tools stop at the reading. Your audit report lists a capacitor bank, a drive or a schedule change, and then the trail goes cold.
Ask whether each finding can be held with its site, load, owner and status. A closed finding should show who closed it and when. If the answer is no, ask what it would cost to add as separate work.
Look at the client report and alert rules
The monthly report should come from stored records. Ask to see one built for a real site, with consumption, findings closed and meters needing attention.
Alerts need a named person and an escalation. Ask who is told when a value leaves its range, how an acknowledgement is recorded, and what happens when a meter stops reporting.
- A sample client report from stored records
- Named person for each alert
- Escalation when nobody acknowledges
- Device health alerts for a silent meter
Settle ownership, exports and limits in writing
Readings are your clients’ data and your work. Ask where they are stored, how long they are kept and whether raw readings can be exported as a file or over an API.
Ask what is not covered. A good vendor will say plainly that hardware is bought separately and that no accuracy is promised before a site test. Get exit terms for your records in the proposal.
Vendor question sheet
A sheet with the questions from this guide in one column and the vendor’s answer in the next. Add a column for what you saw proven on a real site. Compare two vendors side by side.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Does a monitoring dashboard replace an energy audit?
No. The dashboard holds readings, alerts and history. The audit is your engineers’ work, and findings from it can be tracked beside the readings.
Do we need to buy meters from the vendor?
Not necessarily. Devices are chosen for the site and bought in your name, so they stay yours if you change vendor.
Can a vendor promise savings?
It should not. Savings depend on what the client does with the findings. Software shows consumption against a baseline and does not create the saving.