The Real Cost of Building It Yourself in Energy

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

It's a mantra that's killed more companies than it's created. Yet in the energy industry, it remains the default approach: build everything in-house, maintain complete control, repeat work that countless others have already done. The result? Endless reinvention of the wheel, while true innovation takes a back seat.

#The Status Quo Is Holding Us Back

Every day, energy companies across the globe are making the same decision: to build their own infrastructure for device connectivity, data collection, storage, and analysis. This verticalized approach—where each company independently develops nearly identical systems—has become so normalized that it's rarely questioned. But it's actively holding back the entire industry.

Think about it: while fintech companies are rapidly innovating on top of platforms like Plaid, energy companies are still spending months (or years) building basic data pipelines. While e-commerce startups can process payments in minutes with Stripe, energy providers are wrestling with custom-built integration systems. The deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) isn't being held back by a lack of technology—it's being held back by a lack of foundational platforms that would let companies focus on actual innovation.

The energy transition is too important, and too urgent, to have every company rebuilding the same basic infrastructure. We need to break free from this pattern to accelerate the industry's transformation.

#The Price of Doing Everything Yourself

The build-it-yourself approach comes with staggering costs—both obvious and hidden. Before diving into how we can change this pattern, let's understand what it's really costing companies to maintain the status quo:

#Direct Costs

Building and maintaining your own infrastructure requires massive investment in:

Annual Personnel Expenses: 4-10 specialized engineers at $150k-$200k each, plus benefits and overhead
Infrastructure: $5k-$500k monthly in server and storage costs alone, scaling with data volume
API Integration: $1-$9 per site monthly, multiplied across thousands of connection points
Maintenance: 20-30% of initial development costs annually for updates and fixes
Security & Compliance: $100k for basic security measures, scaling to $30M+ for enterprise-grade systems

#Hidden Costs

Beyond the direct expenses, companies pay a heavy price in:

Lost Time: 20 working days per person annually spent just moving data between systems
Regulatory Risk: Incorrect reporting generates fines averaging $560k annually
Operational Inefficiency: 30-40% reduction in unexpected IT costs when outsourcing data management
Customer Experience Impact: 60% of first call resolution failures trace back to outdated or inconsistent data
Security Exposure: Average data breach cost for energy companies: $4.1M

Given these enormous costs—both financial and operational—it simply doesn't make sense for every company to build and maintain their own infrastructure. The energy industry needs a better way forward.

#The Platform Revolution: Lessons from Other Industries

The transformation we're seeing in energy isn't unprecedented. Other industries have already proven the power of specialized platforms:

Cloud Computing: Amazon Web Services reduced average infrastructure costs by 56% for enterprises (Source: IDC Cloud Study 2021). Companies that once spent millions on data centers now deploy globally in minutes.
E-commerce: Shopify transformed retail by enabling merchants to launch online stores in hours instead of months. Companies that once needed massive teams to build basic e-commerce functionality now focus on their unique products and customer experience.
Life Sciences: Veeva revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry by providing a unified platform for clinical data and regulatory compliance. Companies that previously built custom systems for each regulatory requirement now manage everything through a single, compliant platform.

#Why Building In-House Is Becoming Impossible

#1. Exponential Complexity

Modern energy operations require integrating:

Multiple utility data formats
Diverse DER protocols
Real-time weather data
Consumer device telemetry
Regulatory compliance systems

#2. Rising Security Stakes

Energy data breaches cost 32% more than average industry breaches
New regulations require sophisticated encryption and access controls
Security talent shortage makes internal teams increasingly expensive

#3. Speed-to-Market Pressure

While companies spend months building basic infrastructure, competitors are:

Launching new consumer products
Optimizing grid operations
Capturing valuable market share

#The Platform Solution: Enter Texture

Texture eliminates the build-it-yourself burden through four core capabilities:

#1. Unified Data

Automatic harmonization of utility, DER, and device data
Pre-built connectors for major manufacturers and data providers
Real-time, event-driven synchronization across all systems

#2. Scalable Security

Infrastructure built to SOC II and ISO 27001 standards
End-to-end encryption
Granular permissions and access controls
Automated compliance reporting

#3. Real-Time Intelligence

Shift from monthly settlements to real-time monitoring
Automated anomaly detection
Instant command and control feedback
Consistent data across all tools and partners

#4. Universal Access

Seamless data sharing with team members and partners
Direct integrations with CRM and ERP systems
Custom dashboards and reporting
Mobile-ready APIs and SDKs

#ROI: The Platform Advantage

Companies using Texture typically see:

75% reduction in data integration time
60% lower total cost of ownership vs. in-house solutions
90% faster deployment of new features
Zero security incidents due to enterprise-grade protection

#Making the Switch: A Practical Approach

Transitioning to a platform doesn't mean abandoning control. Start with your biggest pain points:

Integrate your most problematic data sources
Automate your most time-consuming processes
Gradually phase out legacy systems
Maintain full control over your unique IP and algorithms

#Take Action Now

Don't let your team get buried in infrastructure work when they could be innovating. Schedule a personalized ROI analysis to see exactly how much time and money you could save with Texture.

Calculate Your Savings →

Ready to stop reinventing the wheel? Book a demo → to see how Texture can transform your energy data operations in weeks, not years.