IDC Evaluates Global Energy, Water Delivery Utilities Software Providers

International Data Corporation (IDC) Energy Insights has released a MarketScape study that provides utility companies, specifically those focused on energy and water delivery (both transmission and distribution), with an insight into the current capabilities and future strategies of EAM vendors and guidance on how to approach planning for a new EAM implementation.

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Enterprise Asset Management Software for Energy and Water Delivery Utilities, 2014 Vendor Assessment evaluates eight vendors: CGI; IBM; IFS; Infor; Oracle; SAP; Schneider Electric; and Ventyx, an ABB company.

Concerning market offerings, IDC Energy Insights highlights indicate that vendors are systematically enriching their product features and functionalities.

Many of them have very broad capabilities and a future vision that meets and anticipates the utility industry needs.

The majority of solutions incorporate compatible unit (CU) capabilities.

A CU is a template that defines labor, materials, services, and tools resources required to perform work.

Linear asset management capabilities have become available in the majority of products evaluated in this IDC MarketScape. Additionally, some vendors have aligned applications to guidelines and good practices defined by PAS-55, or with emerging ISO 55000 standards.

Some EAM solutions have embedded a mobility component for field work.

The majority integrate with the vendors’ own mobile field force management (MFFM) solution, but integration with third-party MFFM is also supported.

Business analytics and insights are made available via embedded dashboards and in many cases via integration with business intelligence solutions.

Some vendors evaluated in this IDC MarketScape need to improve and modernize their user interface.

They are addressing the issue with dedicated investments.

Customer satisfaction with regard to pricing, contractual conditions, and ongoing support needs to be more carefully managed by some vendors.

Even if energy and water delivery utilities still seem to prefer on-premises installations, the cloud option is becoming available on the market. Some players are even exclusively offering cloud as a possible delivery model.

“Enterprise asset management [EAM] applications are core to any electric, gas, and water utility. Over the years, there has been an evolution in the best approaches to asset management, enlarging the scope from pure maintenance to managing the assets, including their economic value, across their entire life cycle. EAM is becoming a strategic planning tool for asset investments,” said Roberta Bigliani, associate vice president and head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, IDC Energy Insights. “Energy and water delivery utilities planning to invest in an EAM application should consider this study to get a first independent assessment of software

The IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market.

The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market.

IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared.

The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.