MultiSpeak is a leading standard for enterprise application interoperability. It has seen widespread adoption throughout the utility industry, beginning with the electric cooperatives and spreading to municipal and investor owned utilities as well as to international utilities. There are a number of reasons for this significant market penetration. 

For utilities MultiSpeak offers the following advantages:

• Interoperability of enterprise software applications, once a desirable goal, has become a vital necessity in today’s utility environment. Software written to the MultiSpeak specification fosters interoperability on a level previously unachievable. The emphasis for MultiSpeak is true interoperability, not just adherence to a data model or compliance with a specification.
• The MultiSpeak Specification is the only specification or standard covering the distribution portions of the grid (including the smart grid) that meets all of these requirements today:
  • Is ready to implement today
  • Has been proof-tested in multiple existing installations.
  • Offers true interoperability in “off-the-shelf” products available in today’s market.
  • Allows product development that does not require extensive customization by the end user - thus significant technical or IT staffs or outside consulting support are not required.
  • Can be used either with or without messaging infrastructure (e.g. “middleware”).
  • Is extensible without compromising the basic interoperability of the interface.
  • Is scalable to allow use for any size utility or information demand.
  • Is supported by wide range of vendors.
  • Has an existing, modestly-priced commercial testing process to help utilities and vendors ensure interoperability.
  • Has a large number of individuals trained in the use of the specification.
• Through the considerable support and expertise of leading vendors supplying the utility industry, the solutions provided by MultiSpeak are fine-tuned to the specific needs of utilities. In addition to their insights about market needs, MultiSpeak vendors bring state-of-the-art knowledge of IT tools to the specification development process. This means that utilities using MultiSpeak are getting a refined and focused standard specifically addressing their current and future needs.
• The clear documentation in Web Services Description Language (WSDL) format permits clear contracts for interface interoperability and straight-forward development.
• MultiSpeak can also be applied using an optional messaging framework over any message-oriented middleware platform, should a web services implementation not be appropriate for a specific utility.
• By providing third-party, independent testing of interoperability, the MultiSpeak effort provides an independent measure of assurance to utilities that their software purchases will perform as asserted. Also the results of the testing program are fed-interactively back into the specification development process, helping to fine-tune its features.

Any utility, regardless of size, that is entering into an integration initiative, including smart grid development, should consider adopting the MultiSpeak data model and service definitions as the foundation for their planned integration.

For software vendors MultiSpeak has the following advantages:

• Minimizes the need for developing multiple interfaces with other vendors’ software, thus reducing time spent in developing and maintaining custom interfaces.
• Reducing interface development and maintenance efforts releases programmers to improve existing products or develop new offerings.
• Eliminating the need for custom interfaces reduces complexity and time to market for new products.
• Standardizing integration reduces support headaches.
• Increasing the willingness of utilities to invest in new applications by helping assure them that integration problems are minimized.
• Ability to actively influence the development of the specification.