The Price of Delay: What Broken Dataflows Cost DNSPs

If you’ve worked on a grid modernisation program, this might feel familiar:

Everything looks good on paper.
Vendors are in place. Platforms are selected. Delivery has started.

But then...
The pieces don’t quite fit.
Systems that should be sharing data in real-time start acting like strangers.

Suddenly, your program starts slipping, on timelines, on outcomes, and on internal trust.

And in my experience working with DNSPs across Australia and New Zealand, that slide rarely comes from tech failure.
It comes from one thing: broken integration.

When Data Doesn’t Flow, Everything Slows Down

Here’s what that looks like in the real world.

A utility was rolling out DERs under a flexibility program.
The DERMS platform was in. Assets were online. Everyone was ready.

But when the first market event came, telemetry didn’t make it to the control centre in time.
They missed multiple FCAS events.
Lost over $1.5 million in revenue in under a year.

Another case?

AMI meters weren’t syncing correctly with the OMS.
During a storm, field crews were sent late, and to the wrong locations.
Restoration lagged. Customers got frustrated. SLAs were missed.
And it all traced back to a single integration misalignment no one saw coming.

These stories aren’t edge cases.
They’re symptoms of a bigger issue:

Integration is treated like a “later” problem. And “later” is always too late.

Integration Isn’t a Technicality. It’s the Foundation.

Here’s what I’ve seen time and again:

The integration layer, the bit that connects your DERMS, AMI, OMS, EVCS, and ADMS—gets assumed, not assigned.
Vendors say, “We’ll handle it when we get there.”
But by then, it’s already too complex to fix without friction.

If protocols like OCPP, IEEE 2030.5, and CIM aren’t aligned early,
If dataflows aren’t mapped,
If no one owns integration decisions end-to-end,
Then your program will feel it:

• DERs that aren’t market-ready in real time

• OMS and AMI that can’t communicate during outages

• Regulatory audits failed due to untraceable telemetry

• Internal trust lost with every new change request

And these issues?
They never show up in the design phase.
They show up at go-live.

What We Do to Prevent It

At Aurion Systems, we believe integration deserves the same focus as any core infrastructure asset.

That’s why we built the Integration Alignment Sprint, a 4-week engagement built specifically for DNSPs.

We don’t just look at documents.
We sit with your teams, across DERMS, AMI, EV, and market ops, and ask:

“Do these systems actually know how to talk to each other?”

Then we:

• Map your protocol stack across platforms

• Identify where assumptions are hiding

• Trace dataflows, end to end

• Clarify ownership so decisions don’t stall

• Catch gaps before they cost you

It’s not about technical checkboxes.
It’s about making sure your grid works when it actually matters—in real time, in-market, under pressure.

Get Ahead Before the Balance Sheet Shows the Pain

If your program is live, or even still in planning, this is the window to fix integration risks before they become line items.

We’ve put together a 1-page Integration Risk Checklist we use with utility CIOs to surface blind spots in Week 1, not Month 12.

Want a copy?
Just send me a message with the word “Checklist” and I’ll share it with you directly.

Or if you’re ready to explore the Alignment Sprint, you can start here: aurionsystems.com.au/integration-alignment-sprint

Integration doesn’t need to be your biggest risk. Let’s make it your greatest enabler.