Cisco for Utilities
Smart grid solutions to accelerate utility modernization, security, and reliability.
Cisco for smart grid and industrial network solutions to help power electricity, gas, water, and more.
Between grid reliability today and powering a better tomorrow, there's a bridge.
Cisco provides solutions that improve system efficiency, resiliency, and security for the changing environmental, consumer, and regulatory conditions that utilities are facing.
Solutions for utility companies
Distribution and automation solutions
Monitor and control the grid with a secure and reliable communications network.
Field area networking
Extend secure, reliable connectivity to people, processes, and devices.
Operational safety and security
Provide threat protection, detection, and remediation for the grid and assets.
Mobile fleet management
Connect crews, fleets, and digital assets for collaboration and expertise.
Cisco smart water solutions
Learn how Cisco helps organizations reduce water loss, manage storm and wastewater systems, assure quality of service, mitigate the damaging effects of climate change, and increase operational efficiencies.
Cisco is your trusted technology partner in utilities
Reduce risk
Through segmentation, visibility, and automation.
Improve efficiency
With a modernized grid and better asset identification.
Strengthen resiliency
By withstanding, recovering, and adapting to incidents.
Increase reliability
With greater accessibility and mobility.
Explore the Cisco utilities portfolio
Discover the use cases and architectures that are making a difference in the utility industry.
Featured Perspectives
Defending the smart grid
Cisco secures the grid with segmentation, authentication, visibility, and threat detection/mitigation.
NERC CIP compliance
See how Cisco maps grid security solutions, techniques, and services to NERC CIP requirements.
IT/operational technology (OT) relationships
See how Cisco brings IT and operational technology (OT) together for real-time decision making.
The Top 6 Reasons Utility Companies Turn to Cisco
Learn why Cisco is the trusted partner for utilities, offering robust solutions to enhance operational efficiency, improve security, and drive innovation in the energy sector.
01
Cisco is a trusted leader in industrial networking.
Cisco’s leadership in intuitive networks, as well as its easy-to-use management tools, can streamline your operations and reduce downtime and costs. In fact, Cisco has over 40,000 IoT customers and has been named number one in market share for industrial managed switches. Cisco supports the top Industrial Automation and Control System (IACS) protocols specific to utility applications, such as Distributed Network Protocol (DNP3), 61850, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), and Profinet.
02
Cisco understands IT and OT (and their convergence)
IT and OT convergence is transforming the utility market, requiring a blend of technology and expertise from both organizations to optimize the benefits of digitizing the utility. Generation, transmission, and especially distribution are investing in digital technology that is transforming the grid. As a leader in enterprise and industrial networking, Cisco is uniquely positioned to help unite IT and operations for digitization initiatives that improve reliability, reduce operating costs, increase safety and security, and enhance operations.
03
Utility grid security requires segmentation, visibility, and automation
Utility operations have recently become a rich target for cyberattacks, given both their national visibility and the expanded attack surface across their increasingly connected assets. Connected assets also carry the risk of physical damage, utility downtime, and breaches of customer data and intellectual property. Cisco® industrial security can help utilities segment the operations environment as well as detect suspicious traffic flows and behavior, perform security policy audits and detect violations, and identify compromised devices. Across this security posture, automation is fundamental to facilitate the scale required in an OT environment. Further, utilities can reduce risks across all OT and IT traffic by creating visibility into how, when, where, and why users and devices connect to the network.
04
Cisco is best positioned to meet the unique challenges of distribution field area networks
Cisco Field Area Networks (FANs) enable the monitoring and control of energy distribution networks to improve their reliability, efficiency, and safety. The Cisco multiservice FAN solution is a flexible, multitier architecture that enables IP network services and offers security, quality of service, resilience, and automation. The ability to converge many distribution automation use cases across a single secure FAN architecture results in a lower total cost of ownership due to reduced FAN assets, simplified outside plant infrastructure, spare and expertise commonality, and limited frequency costs. Examples of utility applications enabled by the Cisco multiservice FAN: Distribution automation, Distributed Energy Resources (DER), voltage (volt/VAR) optimization, smart meters and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), substation automation, workforce automation, connected and smart community services, street lighting, and more.
05
Cisco partners with utilities to solve problems holistically
Cisco Services offers utility customers a premier consulting and technical support ecosystem that can help you more quickly realize the value of your technology investments. Whether you want to better anticipate industry changes, implement your technology, or secure your utility grid and reduce your risk, our services teams can help you make the most of your connected solutions.
06
Cisco works with a large ecosystem of industrial partners
By working with Cisco, utilities also gain access to an ecosystem of industrial partners. Cisco works closely with software providers, systems integrators, and industry technology vendors and consultants to deliver complete solutions and business outcomes for utility providers. By offering utility-focused solutions such as distribution automation, edge computing, and industrial security, our partners can help utilities connect operational control and monitoring assets to improve the reliability and efficiency of the utility grid.
