The decision to outsource, however, now goes beyond cost-cutting considerations. Companies are just as likely to turn to outsourcing when they want to concentrate on new business opportunities or dramatically change their overall structure.

IT has become strategic. And important. So important that utility companies are seeking outside expertise to help them leverage technology to conduct business more efficiently, help grow revenues, and hone their edge in the new competitive world. Time has become an unaffordable luxury.

The challenges facing the information technology (IT) industry into the next century are significant. Yet so are the opportunities.

Nathan Rothschild knew before anyone else that Napoleon would lose the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. With this advance knowledge he dumped his British-backed government securities on the market, making it appear as if he had heard the opposite outcome. His competing merchant bankers, following Rothschild's move, also sold their securities. After Rothschild saw the market bottom out, he repurchased every piece of paper he could lay his hands on (em at fire sale prices.

Companies in competitive industries routinely collect information about their customers through a variety of sources (em including surveys, national census, and government and private sources. Such customer information and its applications are jealously guarded secrets, rarely shared with others in the industry. Customer information is not limited to expenditure on a company's products or services, but usually includes a customer profile.

The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) has completed its investigation of market competition and regulatory policies for the electric industry. The PSC chose a "measured approach," ruling against retail wheeling at this time while permitting, but not requiring, utility proposals for performance-based ratemaking.

The PSC described electricity rates in the state as "globally competitive," noting that Maryland's utilities were not encumbered by a lot of expensive nuclear power plants or high-cost cogeneration contracts.

The California Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is an agreement between Southern California Edison Co. (SCE), the California Manufacturers' Association, the California Large Energy Consumers' Association, and the Independent Energy Producers. It tackles three major issues:s recovery of stranded assets

s market power

s market structure.

If the MOU is eventually endorsed, it might be a landmark in electric restructuring \(em and not only in California.