Against all odds, Brazilian Utilities had a massive participation during SAP Forum Brazil, on March 17~18. Present critical scenario, where it seems that Government is rolling the dice to scape rationing, when the need to cut demand is no longer in question and uncertainties now stem from the effectiveness of the savings program and its impact on generation and distribution, many executives attended our discussion panels, industry content tracks, and success stories, like Neoenergia´s Hana applied to Credit Recovery and Default Reduction, or Copel´s GRC helping to Optimize Internal Controls.
In many Executive Meetings, held in our Leader´s Club space, we learned from them that energy and water rationalization should come first, though rationing would be more effective. With reservoirs at very low levels and struggling to refill during this poorly wet season, the last alternative to rationing should be efficiency programs, some of them already launched in March. Recent tariff hike together with the national campaign may reduce demand by up to 5%, according to government estimates. Many industry experts are saying that a 5% reduction could help the system for the rest of the year, though dependence on rainfall will remain high and extend the problem into next year. Despite its limitations, the rationalization program’s impact on companies is likely to be greater than rationing would be. The hydro deficit measured by GSF will worsen from 0.85 to 0.80 (20% drop), mainly affecting generators with exposure to hydro plants.
At same time, most of Utilities executives are not getting depressed and showed enthusiasm with our innovation portfolio for utilities that could help them overcome such hard times. Predictive Analystics with Inifinity Insight, Mobility with Prologa´s On-Site Billing and Mobile Order Management, Simple Finance and Hana for BPC and CRM were some of our main important discussions with water, gas and electricity companies during these 2 productive days.
SAP is considering this one of the best Forums ever, with a total of 12,160 visitors over the entire event, exceeding all expectations, with 530 sessions among all industries and 10 content keynotes, all very well aligned with the theme of this 19th edition, "Simplify everything. Do more! ".