Issue
The client is a Northwestern power and gas utility running OpenLink Endur for energy trading and risk management.
The client had to upgrade Endur from v14 to v17 under difficult conditions:
- The work fell amid significant market volatility.
- An aggressive window was required to beat the end-of-year change blackout.
- Missing the deadline would push the upgrade and dependent projects out by months.
Solution
MidDel ran a test-driven upgrade against a hard blackout deadline:
- Hosted stakeholder workshops to capture functional requirements.
- Built comprehensive test scripts and ran a smoke test for a Go/No-Go decision.
- Completed full front-to-back testing and handed off user acceptance testing.
Result
Upgraded Endur from v14 to v17 in under three months - ahead of the December 1 freeze and over $500,000 under a traditional approach.
The client cleared the deadline through heavy market volatility and kept the test scripts as a reusable asset for the next upgrade.
Key Takeaways
- A blackout deadline is really a testing problem. Workshop-built test scripts and a smoke-test Go/No-Go gate delivered an Endur v14-to-v17 upgrade in under three months, ahead of the December 1 freeze and over $500,000 under a traditional approach.
- Build test assets once and reuse them for every upgrade after. The client-specific test scripts became a durable asset that positions the client to run its next upgrade self-sufficiently - a compounding return any ETRM owner facing recurring upgrades should plan for.
Ready to do the same?
Upgrading an ETRM against a hard blackout date? MidDel's test-script-driven approach beats the deadline and leaves you assets for next time. Let's talk.
For more case studies highlighting our work, please go to: Current Case Studies
