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Kyle Comstock, Senior Vice President of Grid ModernizationUtilities are navigating an extraordinary wave of technology change. GIS, customer information systems, asset management platforms and advanced distribution management systems are being deployed, often with limited internal resources available to manage them. Running multiple major initiatives simultaneously can create risk. Operational requirements can be overlooked until late in the process, creating challenges during implementation. Keeping technology aligned with the realities of utility operations is essential to successful modernization.
The Mosaic Company brings operational and technology expertise together to help utilities de-risk complex technology investments. Its teams include former control room operators, engineers, linemen, substation electricians and utility support professionals, alongside specialists with SCADA and ADMS experience. Combining these perspectives helps Mosaic understand what a utility needs from the operational side and translate those needs for the technology teams responsible for configuring and deploying the systems.
It gets involved early to define requirements and stays through design, configuration, deployment, training and workforce preparation. For Mosaic, go-live is not the return on the investment. It helps utilities establish the support structure, skills and operating processes to continue extracting value from technology investments made on behalf of their customers and ratepayers.
“We’re not just deploying a technology, but we’re really helping clients deploy a technological tool that drives business and operational value,” says Kyle Comstock, senior vice president of grid modernization.
Mosaic’s journey began nearly 30 years ago with workforce development and training in the utility industry. The company later expanded into electric operations in 2018 as utilities increasingly needed help putting new technologies into practice. Mosaic initially joined projects toward the end, supporting business processes and training. Customer demand soon brought the company into earlier project stages, where it began helping utilities determine technology requirements, design and configure systems and connect operational needs with technology deployment.
Preparing Utilities for Modern Grid Technologies
Network model development has become another important part of Mosaic's work. Advanced operational applications depend on accurate, data-rich models built from information held across the enterprise. Mosaic helps establish the governance, teams and processes needed to build these models and keep them accurate over time. The work also helps ensure that employees entering data into different systems understand its downstream impact, and that model managers understand how assets, connectivity and operational characteristics fit together.
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Our clients value the fact that we can come in, talk with the business and then work with the technology teams to ensure those needs are reflected in how they build, configure and deploy the systems.
Technology adoption also changes jobs. New systems can change responsibilities, workflows and collaboration across departments, prompting utilities to reassess roles, skills and organizational structures.
Mosaic integrates change management into project teams, bringing subject matter experts with firsthand utility experience into conversations with employees. Former control room operators and engineers can explain new technologies from the perspective of people who have worked through storms, managed outages and made real-time decisions in control rooms. Former utility support professionals and technology specialists add knowledge of system deployment and support. The combination helps utilities connect operational requirements with the technology requirements of systems such as ADMS and DERMS, establish the necessary structures during the project and reduce rework when new capabilities are introduced later.
Training is equally practical. Role-based and scenario-based training, along with simulations, gives users opportunities to practice new workflows before working in a live environment.
Supporting Modernization Beyond Deployment
During the first weeks after go-live, Mosaic provides over-the-shoulder support across shifts and weekends. Its teams observe users in real time to identify where they are struggling and collect feedback. This enables quick follow-up through lessons learned, job aids and other performance support.
Safety is also incorporated into technology. Mosaic’s industry-experienced teams bring field and control-room safety knowledge into modernization projects, helping clients explore ways to build safety checks into applications through automated checks and technological interlocks.
As utility technology becomes more connected, The Mosaic Company continues to help utilities examine their business processes, workflows, onboarding, training and upskilling needs so their people and organizational structures can support new technologies and sustain their value.
Grid Modernization beyond the Go-Live Date
Utilities rarely struggle with a shortage of technology projects. The harder problem is the collision among them. ADMS programs may be moving while GIS records are being corrected, technology teams are configuring new tools, support teams are stretched and control-room staff still have daily grid responsibilities. Taken together, those programs create staffing pressure, dependency risk, rework exposure and a greater chance that design decisions are made without enough input from the people who must use the system.
Technology selection is only one part of the buying decision. Utilities need outside support that can translate control-room and field requirements into system design while keeping post-launch ownership in view. A program that reaches go-live without clear support roles may leave the utility with new software and old ways of working. The question is whether the engagement leaves behind a workable day-two structure, not merely a completed implementation.
Network-model work is another fault line. ADMS and related grid tools depend on data drawn from GIS and other enterprise records, but launch accuracy is not enough. Model maintenance has to survive routine asset changes, database updates, configuration changes and new applications. Service partners should help establish governance that connects model managers with people entering source data, so downstream effects are understood before errors reach the control room. That discipline also reduces rework when utilities add applications or modules.
Workforce readiness belongs inside implementation, not at its edge. Button-level instruction is insufficient when new systems alter roles and cross-functional handoffs. Scenario-based practice lets staff rehearse how tools fit the work they already perform, then expose gaps before production use. Buyers should look closely at who conducts that preparation. Utility professionals tend to absorb change differently when guidance comes from people who understand control rooms, outage response, field constraints and support realities.
"The Mosaic Company’s work extends past launch through workforce preparation and post-go-live support, while network model governance remains an ongoing responsibility."
System design can also disturb procedures that utility teams rely on for safe work. Modernization work should preserve established safeguards as workflows move into digital tools. Faster steps are not useful if control-room teams lose visibility into the checks behind them. The service partner should understand both the technology and work practice well enough to identify where a manual step can be simplified and where it must remain explicit.
Support around go-live is equally revealing. New platforms often produce a temporary dip in user performance because training memory, system behavior, actual job conditions and support response meet at once. A provider that stays close to users can spot friction quickly and adjust job aids or coaching while the problem is fresh. The return on a multimillion-dollar system depends on what happens after deployment as much as what happens before it.
The Mosaic Company is a premier choice for utilities managing grid modernization rooted in utility work. It combines control-room and field experience with technology expertise across ADMS, OMS, SCADA and DERMS, supported by strategic advisory, network model design, application configuration and testing, implementation support and role- and scenario-based training. Its work extends past launch through workforce preparation and post-go-live support, while network model governance remains an ongoing responsibility. The Mosaic Company also links business requirements to technical configuration so utilities can reduce rework as systems expand. For utilities handling overlapping modernization programs and stretched internal teams, that combination addresses the gap between deploying a platform and making it usable in day-to-day grid work.
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Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services Info
Q1
What Do Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services Include?
Utility operations services and grid modernization combine personnel training, technology, and utility procedures to meet evolving grid needs. Deployment of ADMS and OMS, network model management, development of operating procedures, training, data governance, and safety assistance can all be included in the job. The Mosaic Company provides a tangible link between implementation work and daily utility operations by connecting teams configuring and deploying new systems with operational knowledge.
Q2
How Does The Mosaic Company Support Complex Grid Modernization Projects?
The Mosaic Company works in the areas of workforce preparation, training, deployment, design, configuration, and requirements development. Along with experts with SCADA and ADMS experience, its teams consist of former control room operators, engineers, linemen, substation electricians, and utility support specialists. This combination aids in converting operational needs into technological choices. Instead of ending with the distribution of technology, its Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services additionally cover personnel skills and processes required after implementation.
Q3
Why Is Operational Readiness Important When Utilities Adopt New Technology?
Workflows, roles, and choices within a utility can all be changed by a new system. Thus, in addition to technology implementation, Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services must address organizational preparation, role changes, training, and processes. Mosaic employs utility subject matter experts to assist staff in utilizing new systems and integrates change management into project teams. With the use of simulations, role-based and scenario-based training allows users to rehearse prior to working in real-world settings and assists teams in identifying deficiencies early on.
Q4
What Should Utilities Consider When Evaluating These Services?
Utilities looking to market Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services should look beyond just the characteristics of the system. The effectiveness of a new system in practice can be affected by various factors, such as system configuration, data accuracy, governance of the network model, workforce readiness, safety, and post-deployment support. A service model should also be correlated with business needs, to reduce re-work. Mosaic focuses on the implications of data inputted into multiple systems on downstream processes and helps organize teams, governance and processes to achieve accurate network models.
Q5
How Can Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services Support Value After Go-Live?
Once a system is in use, it's not finished. Post go-live support, performance feedback, job aids, training and improvements to operational processes are among the services that may be part of Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services. Mosaic offers “over the shoulder” support for the first few weeks after go-live, across shifts and weekends. It tracks users, learns from them, and identifies issues to provide more performance support.
Q6
How Are Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services Evolving With Utility Needs?
Data integrity, workforce capabilities, change management and operational safety are becoming critical parts of technology deployment, alongside data integrity, for Grid Modernization and Utility Operations Services as systems get more connected. Mosaic has grown beyond providing workforce development and training to operating electrics and earlier phases of technology projects. It is responsible for grid data integrity and model management, readiness of DERMS, configuration of ADMS/OMS, model validation and testing, and workforce readiness. This broader scope keeps people, processes and technology connected as utilities put new systems into use. In many instances, that connection is important when the utilities are replacing or expanding on an existing system, as change impacts several teams, processes, and data sources simultaneously.
