Automation is a top priority at energy and utility companies. In fact, 76% of them are using IT to up business process efficiency.

Pacific Gas & Electric, for one, is automating various processes to improve customer service. PG&E's SmartMeter and Smart Grid programs use radio frequency mesh--a data communication and collection technology--to monitor over 120,000 miles of electric lines for problems and to provide customers with rate plans that give them incentives to use energy during off-peak times.

Each RF mesh device is a wireless network repeater, similar to what people have in their offices, says Eugene Park, PG&E's senior director of application services. You blanket a territory, attaching the devices to stationary or mobile objects. When the devices see each other, they pass information upstream or downstream.

Similarly, enriched uranium supplier USEC wants to automate business processes to optimize efficiency. It's particularly looking at software-as-a-service offerings that are a "great fit for business processes that are self-contained" such as some HR processes, and that don't require a lot of integration with other applications, legacy systems, or business processes, says CIO David Vordick. If USEC moves to SaaS, it will have plenty of company. Fifty-nine percent of companies in the sector say they use Web-only apps.

Industry Snapshot: Energy & Utilities