Contribution: Introduction of efforts aimed at cloud adoption of smart meter systems by Kansai Transmission and Distribution Inc. (Second half)

This article was contributed by Mr. Yasuo Matsuura, an executive officer, efforts aimed at cloud adoption of smart meter systems by Kansai Transmission and Distribution Inc. The introduction will be divided into 2 parts: the first half and the second half. This article is the second half of that. The serial articles have also been published as serialized articles, so please be sure to check them out.

• Article #2 “Contribution: Introduction of efforts aimed at cloud adoption of smart meter systems by Kansai Transmission and Distribution Inc. (Part 2) — First half”
• Article #3 “Contribution: Introduction of efforts aimed at cloud adoption of smart meter systems by Kansai Transmission and Distribution Inc. (Part 3) — First half”

Examination of directions in the current smart meter systems

As a response to current smart meter system issues described in “Contribution: Introduction of efforts aimed at cloud adoption of smart meter systems by Kansai Transmission and Distribution Inc.”, clouds utilization, mainly AWS, which have advanced widely as a technological trend in the IT field would be an option. By utilizing the cloud, almost all “hardware replacements” associated with running out of maintenance of server hardware, which are unavoidable in on-premise equipment, are unnecessary, and related operations are expected to be drastically reduced.

Also, even in response to server enhancements associated with an increase in system load, in the case of cloud utilization, server resources can be changed simply by setting resources on the GUI, and depending on the design, there is no need to consider even scaling out the server due to the autoscaling function. Furthermore, by placing data on the cloud, various data analytics services can also be used with agility, so flexible and advanced expansion of data utilization can also be realized.

Additionally, as a basis for the study, Kansai Electric Power, Inc., which is our parent company, completed research aimed at utilization and technical verification related to applicability based on trends in cloud market expansion, and as a result, decisions were made regarding the introduction and use of the cloud, such as having already decided to adopt AWS standards (*1).
(*1) AWS Summit 2022 “Cloud Standardization and Guideline Formulation Initiatives Supporting Kansai Electric Power Inc’s Digital Transformation and AWS Use Cases”

Partly against this background, it was a natural progression to begin investigating and examining cloud utilization in order to solve various issues in the on-premise environment in smart meter systems.

Internal discussion related to cloud conversion

From the background described above, it was decided to proceed with technical research and studies on the conversion of smart meter systems to the cloud, but at first, there were strong opinions within the company that felt a vague sense of anxiety about the cloud. In a situation where stable operation has been achieved over 10 years by constructing equipment on-premise and establishing business schemes, it is natural to feel uneasy about daring to choose the cloud, so we decided to proceed with a careful exchange of opinions, including pros and cons.

As for a vague sense of anxiety, for example, “Is the security aspect of the cloud OK?” , “Can it also be used in core business systems?” , “Are there any concerns about business withdrawal, etc.?” , “Are there any concerns about aggressive price increases peculiar to foreign capital?” , “Is quality guaranteed?” , “Are maintenance and technical support reliable?” There were things like that. In response to vague anxiety and questions, we collected knowledge about cloud services, information related to industry trends, and examples of AWS and various companies, etc., proceeded with fact-checking, deepened the understanding of stakeholders through information sharing, and dispelled the sense of anxiety at the initial stage of the study. Also, with regard to the security aspect and the basic appropriateness of cloud utilization, a situation was fostered where awareness can be shared within the company and can be thoroughly examined and exchanged, such as “ensuring security in system construction depends on the design of cloud users and is definitely feasible,” and “even in core business systems in financial institutions and companies related to social infrastructure, there are no barriers to introduction in terms of technology,” etc. In-depth discussions on going to the cloud have progressed.

For example, “How does the cloud specifically deal with the risk of intrusion from the internet?” , “Won’t disaster recovery take longer in the cloud? Isn’t disaster recovery faster with our dedicated hardware?” , “By moving the system to the cloud, network costs will remain high, and overall costs will not be high?” We discussed various questions such as these and exchanged opinions. After collecting information on each point of discussion by referring to AWS cloud implementation cases, opinions from both sides were carefully sorted out, and discussions continued in a frantic manner.

As a result, there was a shared perception that in addition to security aspects, cloud can ensure quality equal to or higher than that of on-premise in terms of availability. In the study on network cost aspects, it is clear that a network linked line with the cloud would increase costs by itself, and it was clarified that there is a need for a comprehensive evaluation from the viewpoint of TCO of the entire system rather than an individual evaluation. Next, discussions moved on to choosing a cloud service, but as described above, Kansai Electric Power Inc. had already adopted AWS as a standard cloud, and as a result of a comprehensive examination of its performance evaluation, market share, cost, customer-oriented way of thinking in service development and provision, support aspects, and ease of obtaining technical information etc., we also shared our understanding in the direction of adopting AWS.

Based on the discussion within the company relating to a wide range of cloud conversion as described above, internal understanding, including technical aspects, was fostered about the transition to the AWS cloud, and the direction was solidified.

Regarding cost estimation and economic evaluation

What I focused on and was aware of during approximate cost calculation and economic evaluation related to the migration of smart meter systems to AWS was to identify the types of “costs that increase” and “costs that decrease” with the transition to the cloud. At this time, we are referring to prior cases and achievements within the Group. In particular, as our prior example, we placed importance on the fact that by utilizing not only IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) but also PaaS (Platform as a Service), we were able to achieve cost reduction while realizing improvements in flexibility and availability, which are advantages of the cloud.

AWS managed services are a mechanism that supports this. Another aspect of the benefits of utilizing managed services is that you can enjoy a pay-as-you-go (pay only for what you use) way of thinking when using the cloud. It helped reduce costs by eliminating the need for procurement that anticipates the moment when resource consumption is maximum, such as conventional hardware batch procurement.

On the other hand, there were also items that could not be fully evaluated by our desk study. Specifically, although it is possible to implement functions in the current environment directly into the cloud, there is a possibility that greater effects can be obtained in terms of cost by reviewing the implementation method itself in line with the AWS migration. Although we have organized and recognized these items, since it takes time to determine technical feasibility, including security aspects, we have decided to temporarily remove them from cost evaluation targets at the initial stage of the study.

As a result of cost estimation in line with this fixed way of thinking, we were able to establish the outlook that cost advantages can always be secured.

Determination of a major direction based on the initial review results

Based on such a wide range of research studies on cloud conversion and internal discussion based on it, we came to a management decision on the direction of “promoting AWS migration on the premise of cost reduction” for the current smart meter system in April 2022.

Establishing a Project Management formation and Accelerating Examination to the cloud
　
When promoting this project in line with the precondition of “promoting AWS migration on the premise of cost reduction,” the point of “reliably achieving economic rationality” became a very important theme in deepening AWS migration studies.

In order to realize a cloud migration that can reliably ensure economic rationality, we invited AWS Professional Services from this phase to the position of proactively promoting project management in both technology and business, and we decided to accelerate project promotion by carrying out overall control over each system vendor that has jurisdiction over the subsystem from the same standpoint as our company.

Since then, in promoting the project, we have clarified the basic stance and implementation policy related to the AWS migration effort, clearly message it to each system vendor, and consider and promote it based on that, so we went in and discussed with AWS Professional Services on everything from organizing the basic stance to the content of the message.

In particular, we have vigorously examined policies to migrate to the cloud. For example, at the beginning of the study on migrating the current system to AWS, I thought that the idea of simply migrating servers to the cloud without putting as much effort as possible on applications and middleware would be optimal in terms of cost and lead time. However, we have come to the conclusion that it is not simply a “cloud lift” that migrates servers to the cloud, but rather the idea of a “cloud shift,” which actively utilizes managed services and optimizes the structure on AWS, can enjoy advantages unique to the cloud and secure high economic rationality, including investments related to improving maintenance and operability and ensuring availability. (Figure 1)

Figure 1 Reducing the load on construction and operation by utilizing managed services

In other words, we have decided to stop implementing applications that have developed their own server environments on-premise on AWS in the same way as before, and those that can be replaced with cloud services will actively switch to service use.

In order to implement this implementation policy, modifications to the current system will occur. In this process, in parallel with accelerating technical studies for active adoption of managed services, we identified functional requirements that were no longer needed, sorted out and reviewed system requirements based on that, and sorted out the direction of system improvement that was conscious of the transition to next-generation systems. After clearly establishing such an implementation response policy and unifying decisions with each vendor, it was decided to step into the design phase for the cloud shift.

Our examination direction on next-generation systems

In parallel with the consideration of adopting AWS for the current smart meter system, the study of a next-generation smart meter system also progressed. From a system development perspective, as AWS adoption studies are progressing with the current system, the next generation did not deny this, but rather proceeded with the study in the direction of enjoying even more cloud benefits. In particular, in next-generation smart meter systems, in order to respond to environmental changes toward carbon neutrality, strengthen power resilience by flexibly utilizing data obtained from smart meters, realize further advancement of distribution grids that contribute to mass introduction of renewable energy, and further improvements in customer service are inevitable, so we believe it is essential to develop flexible systems that can steadily respond to these requirements. (Figure 2)

Figure 2 Promoting Electric Power DX Using Next-Generation Smart Meters

Direction of next-generation system development

In order to realize the development stance for next-generation smart meter systems, internal discussions were conducted in the direction of adopting a more modern approach in system development. While steadily realizing the robust security measures required for smart meter systems and the high resilience that supports transmission and distribution business continuity, it is necessary to create a system that can respond to additional tasks and requirements anticipated in the future. In order to realize this idea, in our next-generation smart meter system, we aim to expand functions and minimize the area of influence when a failure occurs while introducing the idea of microservices and loosely connecting each component.

Additionally, in order to steadily realize microservices, we have introduced a serverless architecture, utilized managed services more actively than current systems, and set out a direction aimed at reducing operational load. (Figure 3) While steadily implementing these policies, we aim to realize an even more robust and flexible smart meter system by fully utilizing cutting-edge technology in cloud services.

Based on these ideas and policies, our next generation smart meter system development project is still underway.

Figure 3. The direction of our smart meter system development

Migrations of our current systems and next-generation systems

Finally, I will mention future prospects for current systems and next-generation systems. As of 2025, our smart meter system is scheduled to run in parallel with the current system and the next-generation system. This direction was based on the fact that the characteristics required for each are different, and that they aim to improve customer service by quickly utilizing next-generation smart meters. Meanwhile, we will consider reducing TCO, including operating load etc., and aim to migrate current systems to next-generation systems at an early stage.

Even in examining the direction of migration, we have examined the current system by incorporating the idea of “cloud shift” which optimizes the system on AWS by actively utilizing managed services, rather than a “cloud lift,” so we have come to see the feasibility of a system that takes into consideration the smooth degeneration of the current system with an eye on the transition to a next-generation system.

Conclusion

In this article, I have introduced the overall picture of discussions on cloud utilization in our smart meter systems.

Article #2 “Contribution: Introduction of efforts aimed at cloud adoption of smart meter systems by Kansai Transmission and Distribution Inc. (Part 2) — First half” is also published, so please be sure to check it out as well.

Author

This article was translated by AWS Blake Horike, Riho Matsui, and Satoshi Aoyama.