PALO ALTO, CA – June 27, 2012 – Cloudera, the leader in Apache Hadoop-based software, services and training, today announced that it is partnering with Opower to boost the company’s ability to help utility customers better access and understand the data generated by their energy consumption. Opower, the leader in energy information software for the utility industry, employs Cloudera’s Distribution Including Apache Hadoop (CDH) and Cloudera Enterprise, to provide utility consumers with real-time insights and information on their bills. Named one of the top 10 of “America’s most promising companies” by Forbes, Opower works with more than 70 utility companies and delivers customized energy data information to over 10 million households.
Opower’s platform goes beyond raw energy data to give consumers actionable insights into their utility bills; energy consumption comparisons with nearby similarly sized homes; and efficiency incentives. The company recently launched a social energy app, built in partnership with Facebook and the Natural Resources Defense Council, to 20 million households across the country. The app allows customers to compare their energy usage with friends and share efficiency tips leveraging the Facebook platform. With increasing amounts of data, a passion for providing insight, and continued growth, Opower required a solution to manage the skyrocketing growth of their unstructured data sets.
“As the demand for our platform grows, we need a partner that can help us manage our data and continue to provide utility customers with relevant and insightful information,” said Drew Hylbert, Engineering Director at Opower. “We’re thrilled to work with Cloudera, the leader in data management software and services, to help us process that data quickly and cost-effectively.”
In November 2011, Opower set up a cloud-based computing environment that could offer linear scalability to store data growing at such a high rate and deployed Hadoop to analyze the information and generate a more sophisticated reporting platform for utility customers. Given the continued adoption of smart meters and the related growth of Opower’s Hadoop cluster, the company found that it needed to bring on Apache Hadoop experts for support and more seamless management of Hadoop in production.
Opower is now leveraging Cloudera Enterprise and CDH to further its goals of providing comprehensive and personalized energy information to utility customers as it continues to expand domestically and abroad. Opower manages its Hadoop clusters directly with Cloudera’s support, and uses the tailored information to motivate people to reduce their energy consumption.
“For many enterprises Big Data is the source of new insights; for companies like Opower, Big Data is the source of a completely new business that relies on Cloudera’s software and support to drive their bottom line,” said Charles Zedlewski, Vice President of Product at Cloudera. “We are proud that the industry leader in energy information software chose the industry leader in Hadoop data management software as their platform to enable their important work.”
About Opower
Opower is the leader in energy information software, providing the utility industry’s only cross-channel platform proven to drive energy efficiency gains on a large scale. Using cutting-edge behavioral science and patent-pending analytics, the Opower platform enables utilities to provide targeted energy data and advice to each customer. Seventy utilities—including 8 of the 10 largest in the US— partner with Opower to improve the effectiveness of their energy-efficiency portfolios and motivate their customers to become more energy efficient, while dramatically increasing the level of customer engagement and overall customer satisfaction. For utilities with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), the Opower platform represents a cost-effective way to convert hourly data into measurable energy savings, delivering a clear return on investment directly to customers. Founded in 2007 and privately held, Opower is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with additional offices in San Francisco, California, and London, England. For more information, please visit www.opower.com.
###
About Cloudera
Cloudera is revolutionizing enterprise data management by offering the first unified Platform for big data, an enterprise data hub built on Apache Hadoop. Cloudera offers enterprises one place to store, access, process, secure, and analyze all their data, empowering them to extend the value of existing investments while enabling fundamental new ways to derive value from their data. Cloudera's open source big data platform is the most widely adopted in the world, and Cloudera is the most prolific contributor to the open source Hadoop ecosystem. As the leading educator of Hadoop professionals, Cloudera has trained over 40,000 individuals worldwide. Over 1,700 partners and a seasoned professional services team help deliver greater time to value. Leading organizations in every industry plus top public sector organizations globally run Cloudera in production.
Connect With Cloudera
About Cloudera: https://www.cloudera.com/about.html
Read our blog: https://blog.cloudera.com
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cloudera
Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cloudera
Join the Cloudera Community: https://cloudera.com/community
Cloudera, Cloudera's Platform for Big Data, Cloudera Enterprise Data Hub Edition, Cloudera Enterprise Flex Edition, Cloudera Enterprise Basic Editionand CDH are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cloudera Inc. in the United States, and in jurisdictions throughout the world. All other company and product names may be trade names or trademarks of their respective owners.