Maximize the return on your operations technology investments and optimize your operations by drawing on Acumen’s depth of technical knowledge and breadth of real-world utility experience in the Operational Technology (OT) arena.
Acumen can help you manage, integrate, and optimize your entire IT/OT ecosystem including SCADA, EMS, ADMS, DERMS, AMI, GIS, OMS, data historians, situational awareness, telecommunications, field equipment such as RTUs and PLCs, etc. as well as the surrounding infrastructure such as control rooms and data centers.
As the OT engineering consulting and cybersecurity partner of Hometown Connections, Acumen provides practical, cost-effective technology design and regulatory compliance services tailored to meet your utility’s needs.
Your Partner for OT Engineering & Regulatory Compliance
Engineering consulting for existing, new or upgraded IT/OT systems plus regulatory compliance assurance for NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection, NERC Operations & Planning, NIST Cyber Security, and Privacy Regulations.
Benefits
Operations Technology Engineering
OT solutions are big ticket items for every organization. Yet the personnel of community-owned utilities often lack the experience and resources to determine which of today’s OT solutions to purchase and how to ensure their successful design and deployment. Acumen takes the time to understand your utility’s unique requirements, mitigate risks, and evaluate solution(s) through the lens of providing “Total Ecosystem and System Development Lifecycle Support.”
Serving as an extension of your team, with a scheduled project or on an ad-hoc basis, Acumen SMEs can help bridge gaps in staffing or provide the added reassurance that changes, updates, new installations, or the marrying of legacy hardware and appropriately configured software.
Regulatory Compliance
For utilities committed to delivering reliable electric service, securing their data networks, and avoiding penalties, non-compliance with NERC, NIST and Privacy standards is not an option. It takes many staff hours and particular expertise to develop the practices and documentation to meet the utility’s compliance obligations and to reduce the utility’s exposure to risk. The professionals at Acumen make compliance far more efficient and beneficial by reviewing and updating a utility’s policies, guidelines, and procedures.
Features
Operations Technology Engineering
Any successful project begins with a thorough understanding of your environment and the problems or needs you are trying to address. Acumen offers a wide range of services for assessing your current environment, systems, and processes, developing needs/requirements documents and performing feasibility studies and cost/benefit analysis.
- Gap Analysis & Needs Assessment
- Feasibility Studies & Cost/Benefit Analysis
Acumen works hand-in-hand with your team throughout all stages of the system implementation lifecycle, solving operational challenges, providing expert opinions, and transferring relevant knowledge and insights distilled from our cumulative project experiences to your staff. While Acumen has extensive experience with a wide variety of operational systems from several popular vendors, Acumen remains product and vendor neutral and strives to ensure that each solution meets your specific business and operational needs.
- Architecture & System Design
- IT/OT Communication/Network Design
- Broadband Operational Support System (OSS) Design
- OT Control Room Design
- Implementation Planning & Application Support
Whether you are deciding to buy a new system or upgrade and enhance an existing one, Acumen’s IT/OT attention focuses on integration, communication, interoperability, end-user satisfaction, and customer-driven input.
- System/Solution Implementation
- Full Stack Service (Physical or Virtual)
- Installation
- Network Configuration & Segmentation
- Database Conversion
- Data Historian Implementation
- System Integration Services
- Software Development
- Testing
- Commissioning
- Start-up/Cut-over Management
- Documentation
As a trusted partner, Acumen scales its lifecycle support, monitoring and remediation services to cost-effectively assist with protecting and ensuring reliable operations of your most critical assets.
- Lifecycle Support (Periodic Assessments)
- Patch & Upgrades Management
- Database/Display Updating & Building
- System Monitoring, Tuning and Expansion Support
Download this catalog which includes OT engineering and regulatory compliance training services from Acumen. For more information, send an email to info@hometownconnections.com.
Regulatory Compliance
Acumen identifies risks and closes gaps in policies & procedures while reducing your compliance burden by providing a variety of support services:
- Gap assessments and recommendations
- Regulatory compliance program design
- Documentation of policies, plans & procedures
- Mock audits & witness preparation
- Cyber Vulnerability Assessments (CVAs)
- Compliance management tools
Acumen assumes the role of a Virtual Auditor and Subject Matter Expert to identify compliance risks or deficiencies in several ways.
- Gap assessments and recommendations
- Regulatory compliance program design
- Documentation of policies, plans & procedures
- Mock audits & witness preparation
- Cyber Vulnerability Assessments (CVAs)
- Compliance management tools
Having worked with utilities of all sizes and structures, Acumen personnel provide insights and methods to achieve practical and sustainable implementation of NERC CIP, NERC O&P, NIST Cyber Security and Privacy requirements.
Lower your risk profile and raise your comfort level by letting Acumen lead and manage your compliance program activities. Acumen can be your Virtual Compliance Manager to perform and administer numerous tasks including but not limited to:
- Regulatory requirement changes
- Compliance program updates
- Internal compliance monitoring & assurance
- Requirement implementation
- Training development and delivery
- Responses to regulatory bodies
- And more!
For information on the training services from Acumen, send an email to info@hometownconnections.com.
OT Engineering & Regulatory Compliance Management News
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Join Acumen at APPA’s National Conference
Learn More: Join Acumen at APPA’s National ConferenceVisit Acumen at Booth #203 at the APPA National Conference 2025! Hometown Connections Inc. is proud to share that our partner, Acumen (AESI-US, Inc.), will be exhibiting at the APPA National Conference 2025.
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In Cybersecurity, Simple Things Do A Lot
Learn More: In Cybersecurity, Simple Things Do A LotTo provide customers with several payment options, the Utilities Department of the Village of Jackson Center in Ohio accepts bank account direct and credit card payments. To ensure the security of customer information and thwart cyber intrusions overall, Jackson Center took advantage of cybersecurity services offered by its electric service wholesale supplier, American Municipal Power,…
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Cybersecurity Is Easier Than You Think
Learn More: Cybersecurity Is Easier Than You ThinkYou don’t need to be an expert in IT or have a huge consulting budget to champion your utility’s cybersecurity program. First and foremost, you must recognize that every city employee, utility employee, and governing official plays a key role in maintaining a cyber defense that protects business operations.
