Custom Utility Software Development

What sets Inclind apart is not just the applications we build, but the way we work. With deep experience in custom product development, integrations, and cloud-based web applications, we act as a strategic partner for utilities, not just a vendor. Our team guides clients through the entire lifecycle, from planning and design to launch and ongoing support, ensuring that each solution continues to deliver value as technology and customer expectations evolve.

Customer Portals & Self-Service Tools

Digital self-service is now the standard that customers expect. Inclind develops portals and dashboards that give utility customers the ability to view usage, manage accounts, make payments, and access service information. Rather than replacing billing engines, we integrate these portals with existing systems to create a smooth customer experience.

Usage Analytics & Engagement Dashboards

Transparency builds trust. We create intuitive dashboards that help customers understand their energy or water consumption, compare usage trends, and receive personalized conservation tips. These tools encourage sustainability while strengthening customer relationships.

Outage & Emergency Communication Platforms

When outages occur, timely communication matters. Inclind builds web applications that integrate with dispatch or status systems to deliver real-time outage maps, restoration updates, and customer notifications via email, text, or web portals.

Regulatory Reporting & Compliance Support

Manual reporting is both time-consuming and prone to error. We design digital tools that simplify data collection and automate portions of the reporting process, helping utilities maintain compliance while saving time.

Integration Platforms

Utilities often rely on a patchwork of legacy systems for billing, CRMs, GIS, and more. Inclind specializes in building integration frameworks that connect these platforms with modern digital applications. By developing APIs, middleware, and data pipelines, we make it easier for utilities to leverage their existing investments while gaining new digital capabilities.

With tailor-made software, you can get technology that is built just for your organization. There are many benefits to building custom software as opposed to buying an existing out-of-the-box solution. Some of the largest benefits can be found below.

Enhanced Personalization

With custom software, you can get technology that does exactly what you want. This is particularly important in the utility industry, where companies often have unique needs. For example, you may want to integrate AI for real-time bill analysis in your customer billing portal. A custom utility billing dashboard can make that vision a reality.

More Cost-Effective

Out-of-the-box solutions often have a lower initial cost compared to custom software. However, over time, ready-made software can actually cost more. This is due to a need to purchase annual licenses or to pay for upgrades, maintenance, and support. You may also be paying for features that you don't need or use. In the long term, custom software is often a far more cost-effective option.

Increased Security

In the utility industry, cybersecurity is a major issue. Vulnerabilities can lead to customer data being compromised. With custom software, a utility company has complete control over the security measures implemented with the software. With custom utility company software, you can mitigate security concerns and protect sensitive data.

More Flexibility

Buying out-of-the-box software might be fine for your utility company's present needs, but it might not give you the necessary flexibility for the future. With a custom software solution, you have the flexibility to add or remove features, adapting and scaling to meet your current and future needs.

Scalability

Few companies remain static over time. As your business grows, you may need to upgrade and expand your software due to a greater number of users and more data to process. With custom software development, you can opt for scalable solutions that can evolve right alongside your utility company. If you experience an uptick in customers, for example, your platform can be adapted to meet the surge in demand on the system.

Better Reliability

Pre-made software is typically updated on a set schedule, which may cause disruptions to your business. With custom utility software, you can benefit from a dedicated software development team that can maintain, update, and support your technology when and how you need it.

Deeper Integrations

Most businesses use multiple types of software to address different needs, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. This software should be integrated - or connected - to make the most of the technology. Integration allows the software to exchange data in order to make the most out of your tech. With custom software, it is often possible to include a high level of integration so that the information can flow and teams can more effectively collaborate.

If you are interested in exploring a custom solution, we are happy to chat. We design and develop custom utility software as part of a broader digital strategy that allows our clients to build for the future. With years of experience working with clients in the utility industry, we understand the unique and often complex needs of this sector and apply that knowledge to each project that we tackle.

With decades of experience in the field, we understand the complexities of the utilities industry. In this highly-regulated sector, companies have to consider more than just the bottom line and customer demand. They also must ensure that any software that they implement is safe, secure, and compliant with state and federal regulations for utility operators. We keep that in mind with each and every software project we take on for public utility clients.

Initial Consultation

The process starts with a kickoff meeting. We want to learn more about your project so that we can align expectations, set the scope of the work, and develop a budget. Our team of award-winning software developers understands that you are the experts when it comes to your industry, so we want to learn as much as possible from you about your specific needs. We will then offer our expert advice as it relates to the technology aspect and how we can help you achieve your goals with custom software.

Scope & Estimate

Once we understand exactly what you want and need with custom utility software, we will build a ballpark estimate based on your requirements. This number is an approximation based on what we currently know about the requested project. Our goal is to develop a budget that ensures that your custom software development project will be fully funded, without skimping on quality, security, or usability. We are sensitive to our clients' budgets, and will work with you to set a project scope that keeps costs down while giving you the best possible software.

Project Planning

Next, if you decide to hire Inclind, we will start to build out the project. This planning stage takes a fair amount of time because we want to be 100% sure that we are building a piece of software that actually works for your business. We will set user goals, research prospective users, and have in-depth conversations with you about exactly what you want the software to do. We will then finalize a plan for your custom software development.

The project plan will define the scope of the project, the timeline, the estimated budget, the team composition, and more. You will be assigned a dedicated project manager whose job it is to shepherd the process from start to finish, keeping you updated about the status of deliverables and any issues that arise. Your project manager will also create software documentation that defines the exact specifications for the tech stack and project requirements, such as speed, coding specifications, functional modules, functionality, data storage requirements, testing modules, prototype guidelines, security components, programming languages, data resources, and user needs.

Design

With a strategy in place, we can start developing your custom software. Our team has years of experience designing and developing software. We begin with the process by designing the user experience/user interface (UX/UI) elements. This ensures that the software has an intuitive user interface, user flow, and user journey. Ultimately, we want to make sure that the software works well from the user's perspective.

Development

Next, our software architects will begin the process of structuring the app development data and requirements, plus defining code and planning technical resource placements. Our developers will then begin to prototype the code, features, and functionality. Along the way, we will gather user feedback before moving forward to the next steps.

Our software developers will then start writing the source code using the preferred programming language. We take the time to write “clean” code and check the code to ensure that the custom software solution meets your expectations and reduces maintenance costs. We will also configure data storage and establish continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD)environments for testing automation.

We will then implement the necessary integrations to ensure that your custom utility software can 'talk' to other software and resources. This ensures seamless performance and allows you to get maximum value from your technology investment.

Testing & Deployment

At this point, we can begin a rigorous testing process for quality assurance, checking to make sure that the software works as intended and that it is secure. We can then deploy the software and gather your feedback to fine-tune the software to meet your expectations.

Ongoing Support

In addition to software development, we also provide ongoing support and maintenance services. We can monitor and maintain your software and ensure that it continues to work as designed. Whether you opt for utility billing software, custom customer self-service portal software, or another type of software, we will work with you to design and develop an outstanding piece of software, implement it, and maintain it.