EWE Netz
How EWE NETZ is preparing its workforce for the energy transition
EWE NETZ GmbH is one of Germany’s largest distribution network operators, responsible for managing and maintaining gas, electricity, heating, and water infrastructure across northern Germany. Operating more than 100,000 km of network and employing over 2,000 people, including 650 dedicated field staff, EWE NETZ plays a central role in Germany’s energy transition, modernizing critical infrastructure while ensuring uninterrupted service across its entire service territory.
KEY INFORMATION
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Managing rising operational complexity across multiple networks, with fragmented systems and an aging expert workforce
EWE NETZ faced a convergence of pressures that its existing IT landscape was not equipped to handle. Legislative requirements were steadily increasing the volume and intricacy of field operations across both back-office planning and on-the-ground execution. At the same time, Germany’s demographic shift meant that a generation of experienced field technicians, carrying deep institutional knowledge built over decades, was approaching retirement. This created a structural risk that could not be solved by simply hiring replacements.
On the operational side, field assignments were being made based on accumulated personal experience rather than structured, data driven dispatch. While existing IT support was in place, it failed to meaningfully reduce the overall workload for planning teams. With over 100,000 km of gas, electricity, heating, and water network to coordinate across, the gap between what the existing toolset could deliver and what the operation actually required was becoming impossible to bridge, especially with rising complexity ahead.
OUR SOLUTION
A structured, employee-first selection process and a future-oriented FSM partnership with OverIT
EWE NETZ approached the search for a new workforce management platform as an internal transformation project, not a standard software procurement. Field staff, office personnel, and colleagues from Asset Management, Asset Support, and IT were brought together in structured eight-week sprints to define requirements collaboratively, ensuring that the final solution would genuinely serve the people using it every day, in the office and in the field.
Three criteria shaped the decision to partner with OverIT. The platform had to represent genuine best practice, not a digitization of existing workflows, but a step-change in how field service operations are planned and executed across a multi-utility environment. The partner had to be future-oriented and innovative, with both a strong product roadmap and the mindset to co-develop solutions aligned with EWE NETZ’s evolving needs. And given the scale and criticality of the operation, with 650 dedicated field staff managing a continuous volume of service orders across mission-critical infrastructure, reliability and quality were non-negotiable.
EWE NETZ has deployed the OverIT NextGen Platform across its operations, replacing experience-dependent manual dispatch with structured, data-driven workflows that bring real-time scheduling and dispatch visibility, mobile-first field execution, and a single system of record across electricity, gas, and water networks.
EWE NETZ’s experience reflects what’s possible with field service management for utilities more broadly across OverIT’s customer base.
BENEFITS
With the support of OverIT, EWE NETZ is building toward:
Ole Flörcken
Head of Business Unit Development, EWE NETZ
“In partnership with OverIT, we have a scalable, modern, and adaptable software provider by our side so that we can master the challenges of the energy transition together.”
Common questions from utility leaders
What FSM software does EWE NETZ use to manage its field operations?
EWE NETZ uses the OverIT NextGen Platform to plan, dispatch, and track field operations across its gas, electricity, heating, and water networks in northern Germany. The platform provides real-time scheduling visibility, mobile-first workflows for field technicians, and a single system of record across all utility types, replacing the fragmented, experience-dependent processes that previously governed field assignments.
How do multi-utility companies manage field technicians across different network types?
Multi-utility operators like EWE NETZ face a compound coordination challenge: technicians carry different skills, certifications, and tooling depending on whether they are working on electricity, gas, water, or heating infrastructure. Effective management requires a platform that can match the right technician to the right job based on qualifications and location, rather than manual experience. EWE NETZ’s guiding principle captures this precisely: the right employee, with the right skill, with the right tool, in the right place, at the right time. FSM platforms with dynamic scheduling, skills-based dispatch, and real-time field visibility are the operational foundation that makes this possible at scale.
How is the energy transition affecting field service operations for utility companies?
The energy transition is driving a significant increase in operational complexity for distribution network operators. Grid expansion programs, new renewable infrastructure, and evolving regulatory requirements are adding volume and variety to field workloads, while a parallel demographic shift is removing the experienced workforce that utilities have historically relied on to absorb that complexity. Companies like EWE NETZ are responding by replacing experience-dependent, manual planning processes with structured FSM platforms that embed best practice into workflows, making operations scalable and less dependent on individual institutional knowledge.
What were EWE NETZ’s key criteria when selecting a field service management platform?
EWE NETZ ran a structured, collaborative selection process, bringing together field staff, office personnel, and colleagues from Asset Management, Asset Support, and IT across eight-week sprints. Three criteria drove the final decision: the platform had to reflect genuine best practice rather than simply digitizing existing workflows; the vendor had to demonstrate a future-oriented product roadmap and the collaborative mindset to co-develop solutions; and the software had to meet the highest standards of reliability and performance for a mission-critical operation with 650 field staff in continuous deployment.
Which utility companies in Germany use OverIT for workforce management?
OverIT works with several leading utility operators in Germany and the broader DACH region, including EWE NETZ, EnBW, and Enercity. EWE NETZ, one of Germany’s largest distribution network operators, manages over 100,000 km of gas, electricity, heating, and water infrastructure in northern Germany and is implementing the OverIT NextGen FSM Platform to modernize its field workforce management and build the operational foundation needed for the energy transition.