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From: Paul Martinello [mailto:pmartinello@energyplus.ca]
Sent: July 17, 2017 4:41 PM
To: BoardSec
Subject: Board File No. EB-2016-0032 Commentary VP, Information Technology Services, Energy+ Inc.

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Good Afternoon,

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I am just providing some personal commentary on the Board File EB-2016-0032 in bullet format given some discussions with staff at the OEB.

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As I was involved with the Cybersecurity Working Group, it came to my awareness that this cybersecurity issue is much larger than one might guess. It was also my observation based on experience in the financial services sector that perhaps we could do something with assistance or leadership from the OEB in trying to develop a solution or solutions that would be of use to all LDC’s in Ontario.

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My thoughts are:

-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sector service provided through a single vendor

o  This would be large vendor such as an IBM, Symantec, McAfee or other leading IT Security provider

o  To enter into an agreement with said vendor – after a proper and thorough selection process - to develop a solution that would be:

§ Scalable for / to Ontario LDC’s – smallest to largest

§ To have the vendor fund the work that is required

§ To use the Ontario LDC market as their test case so that when fully developed, Ontario LDC’s benefit however, the vendor would be able to market this to other Energy sector clients once the technology has been proven

§ Once initially developed, to maintain the service at a reduced cost to Ontario LDC’s but costs would be apportioned based on LDC size

o  Benefits:

§ Ontario LDC’s get access to technology without the need to find service providers

§ Minimal impact on LDC Operation and Capital budgets until that point in time that maintenance needs to be paid

§ Provides the confidence of a large vendor providing the service

§ Enables all LDC’s to have access to the service, at least initially, for free

§ Continues with the sharing and cooperation that has been seen by LDC’s in the Ontario market

§ Reduced need for uplifts in Operational and Capital budgets for a period of time (to be defined with vendor)

§ Prepares LDCs for that point in time when costs will be apportioned

o  Cons:

§ Tied to one vendor

§ One size may not fit all

§ Not all LDCs may like the solution so will not take this up

§ Administration for apportionment of service fee

§ Reduction in number of LDCs through mergers / acquisitions will impact apportionment of costs

§ If have a short period that LDC must use the service could see organizations move away if the service does not meet their needs

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These are my thoughts towards trying to reach a solution that would have minimal impact on the costs that LDCs will experience as cybersecurity ramps up in Ontario. This is just a proposal to see if this sort of offering would be something of interest to the OEB and subsequently to Ontario LDCs.

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There was something like this in financial services years ago. As I recall, it may have been the core banking system used by the then six big banks in Canada, as the version that was implemented in the U.S.A, did not meet their needs so they worked with IBM to get this implemented. The banks may have had to put some funds forward, but the overall product became much better than IBM had determined and IBM was able to take it back to the market and did make sales from that work.

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Paul

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Paul J. Martinello

Vice President, Information Technology Services

Energy+ Inc.

1500 Bishop St. P.O. Box 1060

Cambridge, ON N1R 5X6

Direct:   519-621-8405, Ext. 2240 – or -

Phone:Â Â 519-621-3530

Cell No.: 519-239-5313

Fax:Â Â Â Â Â Â 519-621-0383

HYPERLINK "mailto:pmartinello@energyplus.ca"pmartinello@energyplus.ca

HYPERLINK "http://www.energyplus.ca"www.energyplus.ca

http://www.energyplus.ca/Â HYPERLINK "https://www.linkedin.com/company/energy--inc?trk=extra_biz_viewers_viewed"cid:image001.png@01CFACCF.9193BD20Â Â HYPERLINK "https://twitter.com/EnergyPlusInc"cid:image002.png@01CFACCF.9193BD20Â Â https://www.facebook.com/EnergyPlusInc/

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