Intelligent automation for energy suppliers

In this article, you will read,

• about the growing challenges facing energy suppliers,
• how rku.it is making things easier with the help of automation solutions from UiPath
• and how T-Systems is providing the solution as a Managed Service based on the T Cloud Public.

rku.it GmbH , based in Herne, is the leading solution provider and operator for medium-sized and large utility companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Its customer base comprises more than 130 companies from the energy industry, public transportation companies and local governments. rku stands for “Rechenzentrum kommunaler Unternehmen” (data center for municipal enterprises). The company has had this name since 1970, when it was renamed from “Lochkartengemeinschaft kommunaler Unternehmen GmbH” (LKU) [punch card association of municipal enterprises], a name that goes back to 1961. Although punch cards are now just an anecdote in technological history, back then, they were high tech. Looking back highlights what is still important for rku.it today – its commitment to leveraging technological innovations in close collaboration with its customers. The company has now grown from its seven employees in 1961 to a current team of over 470 employees.

It supports over 6,500 users. The energy suppliers in its customer base bill more than 4.8 million meter points across around 80 productive systems using ERP application software in the rku.it data centers. Alongside software from SAP SE and Schleupen AG, the IT service provider offers its customers additional software solutions. Core components include applications for billing energy sales, energy data management, data exchange processes, portal solutions, document management, and business Intelligence applications for corporate management. rku.it‘s portfolio also includes the Smart Meter Gateway Administration and Business Process Outsourcing products in the areas of EEG (German Renewable Energy Sources Act) and KWK-G (Combined Heat and Power Act) billing, consumption billing, energy data management and billing for charges.

With the „Energy Automation Sphere“, rku.it is addressing the growing challenges faced by energy utilities as a result of evolving business areas and increasing regulation. At the same time, it is becoming more and more difficult to find employees. “The Energy Automation Sphere’s partially and fully automated solutions make life noticeably easier for employees in day-to-day business operations”, said Christian Kenter, Service Owner for Automation and Data-Based Services at rku.it. The suite comprises over 400 robotic solutions that include calculating new rates, identifying meter reading errors, producing bills and managing customer data.

Since 2018, rku.it has been deploying one of the market leaders to provide automation solutions: UiPath. At e-World 2025 and 2026, rku.it is presenting the Energy Automation Sphere with its new opportunities for intelligent automation and hyperautomation to a wide audience.

“Our automation solutions have been very well received by our customers,” explained Mr. Kenter, “but we want to go beyond simple automation. We can see potential among our customers for intelligent automation and hyperautomation.” The RPA (Robotic Process Automation) software robots are connected using artificial intelligence to enable this. This also enables process and task mining and document recognition.

Implementing new intelligent offerings for its customers also meant rku.it needed to realign its commitment with UiPath. These new solutions will only be possible with further modules from UiPath, which come with additional license costs. At the same time, artificial intelligence also needs GPU resources for training and operation – another necessary investment in addition to the new UiPath licenses. rku.it wanted to minimize investment risks while, at the same time, creating a high-powered sovereign platform that meets all regulatory requirements. This is where T-Systems came in.

T-Systems gives rku.it access to UiPath’s current version (V 24.0) – as a managed service from the T Cloud Public. “We convinced the customer through the best technical rating and the most attractive price in the tender process,” said Simon Spenler from T-Systems. The reason for this: the unique combination of a sovereign German cloud, which has already been on the market since 2016, and the UiPath expertise that T-Systems contributes as a UiPath platinum partner.

Within a matter of weeks, T-Systems provided the new UiPath installation for rku.it, following which rku.it migrated its services to the new platform. Since then, the platform has been operated by T-Systems in a highly secure data center in Germany. T-Systems also provides rku.it with first-level support for UiPath. The BSI-C5-certified T Cloud Public meets all sovereignty demands made by rku.it and its customers.

“We are delighted to be able to offer the Energy Automation Sphere in collaboration with UiPath and T-Systems. At rku.it, we rely on strong partnerships and know that major projects like this can only be executed by working together and pooling our expertise. I’m convinced that we can create added value for our customers at exactly the right moment with this product,” said Matthias Junker, Director of Operations and Member of the Management Board at rku.it.

rku.it creates the basis for business innovation – without the need to invest in infrastructure and software first. rku.it can use the cutting-edge opportunities provided by UiPath as a managed service from the T Cloud Public at any time while costs remain stable. Data remains in Germany and the cloud automatically provides the infrastructure resources required as and when necessary – the perfect package to enable growth with intelligent automation in regulated markets.