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Echelon recently announced a cloud-based smart metering solution for a small Danish cooperative. It is further evidence of a trend many are predicting -- namely, that utilities in general and small utilities in particular will migrate towards hosted solutions. Smaller utilities simply don't have the manpower to run big data centers. If they want ultra-sophisticated software, they'll have to get it via cloud-based services, where a vendor can get economies of scale by hosting services for many different utilities.

I thought this was a good excuse to take a fresh look at Echelon and its overall strategy. Because the company does most of its business overseas, it often gets dismissed by U.S.-based analysts. Lately, however, it has started to look like Echelon's overseas orientation could prove a benefit in the long run. I spent some one-on-one time with CEO Ron Sege to find out where he's steering the company next.

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Edited by Stefanie Mosca