Utilities Everywhere Face Rapidly Growing Workloads: They’re Getting It Done with KloudGin

Spending on power infrastructure is surging worldwide. Indeed, The Economist reports that “a new electricity supercycle is underway.”

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that global investment in grid infrastructure reached nearly $400 billion in 2024, up from $300 billion in 2020. By 2030, this figure is expected to rise to around $600 billion annually.

What’s pushing this surge? One driver is the demand for electricity fueled by the growing adoption of electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. Another is the extensive infrastructure upgrades that have to be implemented to modernize both power grids to meet these new demands.

This modernization effort necessitates upgrades to transformers, power lines and control equipment. Across much of the developed world, electricity grids are outdated and under stress. In Europe, for example, the average grid infrastructure is over 40 years old.

Another area of growth is water utilities, as water supply challenges globally get increasingly severe. California’s water supply is under strain and the West Coast overall faces persistent shortages, as do other regions around the world. Like electric utilities, water utilities are addressing their challenges with upgrades and new infrastructure investment.

Compounding this step function in the workload we are asking of utility workers and leaders is the increasing frequency of natural disasters — fires, storms, flooding — caused by global warming that does extreme damage to the equipment and systems that bring us power and water.

Against this backdrop, it’s no surprise that companies supplying equipment to power and water utilities are experiencing record sales. Siemens Energy, for instance, saw its stock price surge by 300% last year, outperforming even Nvidia.

Utility upgrades require new tools

Both power and water utilities face a crippling obstacle: many are shackled to antiquated technology. They’re struggling with 30+ year-old on-premise software systems — heavily customized legacy software from Oracle, SAP, IBM or custom built by systems integrators that are running on aging servers and prone to failure. These systems have become anachronisms in the age of cloud computing.

The situation is especially dire for utility workers who need to manage critical infrastructure. They battle daily with clunky interfaces, glacial processing speeds, and systems that freeze or crash at crucial moments. Routine tasks like tracking parts inventory, coordinating maintenance work, or updating asset records become exercises in frustration, forcing staff to devise time-consuming workarounds.

The situation is even more challenging because utilities must manage vast networks of physical infrastructure — underground water mains that snake beneath cities or aboveground power lines that now need to be strategically buried to protect against storms and fire. These physical assets require careful lifecycle planning, from initial installation through decades of maintenance and eventual replacement. Yet the antiquated software systems make it nearly impossible to effectively track and manage this critical infrastructure.

To make matters worse, these outdated systems often come with exorbitant costs. Vendors and system integrators have charged utilities tens or hundreds of millions of dollars for software, implementation, and maintenance services that are not being updated and fail to meet modern needs. At the same time, the workforce in this sector is aging, with many professionals nearing retirement. The next generation of workers will not recognize or use these old tools. As demand grows, utilities’ employees and leaders desperately need cloud applications to handle their expanding workloads and manage the critical assets effectively in the long term.

One more challenge is that utilities must also now manage an increasingly complex asset landscape that spans both utility-owned and customer-owned assets like distributed energy resources (DERs) and backflow devices, requiring unified visibility and compliance monitoring and reporting across this diverse infrastructure.

The power of the cloud

The good news in all of this is that a proven modern cloud application suite built specifically for utility field service and asset management is available today. Cloud applications are more secure and scalable and can be implemented in months not years. Professional services costs are dramatically lower since the software is purpose-built for utility operations. Better still, utilities get continuous access to the latest features and security updates through quick, safe deployments that don’t disrupt operations.

The reality is that modern utility customers are increasingly demanding an Amazon-like experience that delivers real-time visibility into service status and instant updates on outages and repairs. This shift in expectations requires utilities to adopt cloud-based solutions that enable transparent communication and improved performance metrics.

Additionally, utilities face mounting pressure to stay compliant without missing a beat. Cloud platforms are proving to be a game-changer, offering the agility to quickly adapt to new rules and streamline implementation. Unlike rigid legacy systems, which often struggle to keep pace, cloud solutions provide utilities with real-time updates, auditable records, and the flexibility to meet evolving compliance demands head-on.

Another benefit of the cloud is its ability to transform how utilities manage workforce challenges, particularly as experienced workers retire and the industry increasingly relies on contractors and ecosystem partners. Cloud-based tools streamline knowledge transfer, capturing critical expertise from retiring employees and making it accessible to newer, less experienced workers. These intuitive platforms also appeal to younger talent, who expect modern, flexible solutions.

This cloud also improves emergency response capabilities when dealing with large-scale outages and failures. In such situations, organizations often rely heavily on contractors, mutual aid agreements, and employees who may lack specialized knowledge. The cloud enables these personnel to access critical information and perform necessary tasks on their own devices.

Enter KloudGin

One emerging leader in the field service and asset management for the Utilities market is KloudGin. Founded by former Oracle executives with deep domain expertise in the utility industry, KloudGin was built to seize the major opportunity that now exists in the sector. The company currently serves approximately 15 tier-two accounts — utilities with 100,000 to 1 million customers — and 8 tier-one accounts with over 1 million customers, including industry leaders like the California Water Service Group (Cal Water), a top provider of water and wastewater services, and Puget Sound Energy in Washington State.

KloudGin is uniquely positioned to address the massive operational challenges that utilities now face. Its cloud platform is purpose-built for the industry’s needs, enabling seamless field service operations integrated with asset management. With proven deployments in highly complex environments, KloudGin has succeeded where others have not. Customers rave about the product’s ease of use and functionality, and they greatly appreciate KloudGin’s focus on their success.

Another key point is that, when it comes to managing mission-critical field service operations and enterprise assets, utilities can’t afford to gamble on unproven solutions. The stakes are simply too high — every minute of downtime or inefficiency directly impacts service delivery to thousands of customers. This is why referenceable production customers are the ultimate proof point.

KloudGin stands apart because it has numerous utility customers who can verify their successful implementations and real-world results. Competing vendors make claims about their nascent cloud applications but lack the crucial reference customers who are actually in production.

Helping utilities become future-ready

The reality for many utilities is that their legacy on-premise software from Oracle, SAP, IBM and homegrown are not only outdated and cumbersome but are also reaching end-of-life, which means utilities need new solutions quickly. KloudGin meets this need with a cutting-edge cloud platform that can manage people, equipment and assets — both underground and aboveground, linear and vertical — through the entire lifecycle.

At Cloud Apps Capital, we recognized KloudGin’s potential, and led their $8 million Series A years ago. The founding team’s domain expertise, technical acumen, passion for solving these problems for large customers, and drive were clear then and even more so now.

KloudGin’s platform integrates field service management, asset lifecycle tracking and customer engagement into a single, unified cloud solution. No other company in the industry matches KloudGin’s footprint. And now it’s layering AI-driven capabilities on top of its platform. With access to vast amounts of operational data, workflows and insights, KloudGin is leveraging AI to further enhance the customer experience and deliver transformative business outcomes.

As utilities face mounting pressures to modernize, KloudGin is executing brilliantly. Its platform is not only solving today’s challenges but also preparing organizations for an important and busy future.

Final takeaway

Power and water utilities are the backbone of our society, tasked with delivering essential services that keep communities thriving and economies humming. The dedicated professionals at these utilities deserve cutting-edge tools that match the importance of their mission. They can no longer afford to be held back by customized legacy systems that drain resources and create daily frustrations. Rather, they need tools that empower them to work smarter and faster. KloudGin is doing its part by freeing utilities employees and leaders from the constraints of aging on-premise software and ushering them into a new era of cloud-powered productivity.

~ Matt Holleran, General Partner, Cloud Apps Capital Partners