International Business Machine (IBM) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) recently announced the selection of Smart grid partners and products. Smart grid technology transforms the way power is distributed and used, adding intelligence throughout the grid, which ultimately results in substantial reduction of wastage and faults, improves receptiveness, handles current and future demand efficiently and manages costs. IBM’s smart grid maturity model helps to accelerate the adoption of smart grid technologies and business solutions.
 
To enhance this segment IBM’s software platform is tying together various enterprise products like Lotus and WebSphere. This apart, IBM also announced that a host of vendors like BPL Global, Trilliant, Coloumb Technologies, eMeter, Itron and OSLsoft, and PowerSense are also securing certification to be involved in the Smart Grid project.
 
On the other hand, Cisco Systems also announced its partners for SmartGrid solutions. The company’s partners include names like General Electric (GE), Arcadian Networks, Infosys Technologies (INFY), Cap Gemini, Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Itron (ITRI), Siemens AG (SI), Schneider Electric and Verizon Communications (VZ). Cisco also disclosed its plans of providing Smart Grid security services and joined the ZigBee Alliance, a company leading the Smart Grid deployment project in North America.
 
Smart grid will offer a lot of opportunity in the days to come, as lot of companies from the power sector will adapt this technology to make their power system efficient., IBM is more comfortable providing Smartgrid software while Cisco’s inherent strength in hardware and networking influences it to provide the same to customers. In any case partnership will rule this space, as companies need to enhance their capabilities by joining hands with others.
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