Analyst Insight: Major Players Across the Energy IT/OT Landscape

Utilities are experiencing multiple paradigm shifts as digital transformation and the proliferation of distributed energy resources (DER) converge to increase complexity and opportunity. This convergence has ushered in a new era of investment across the IT and operational technology (OT) landscapes as utilities look to maximize the value of new, untapped data streams and optimize business processes throughout their organizations.

The market for energy IT and OT systems is characterized by a diverse mix of established OEMs, multinational business technology providers, and a growing set of smaller, niche solution providers. On the IT side, cross-cutting solution providers such as Oracle, IBM, and SAP maintain a strong hold over asset management system and customer information system markets, while GE and Esri largely control the market for geospatial solutions. The meter data management system market, meanwhile, is led by a mix of smart meter manufacturers (Landis+Gyr, Itron) and other industry giants (Siemens, Schneider Electric, Oracle). Most of these solutions and their providers are migrating to cloud-native architectures and strategies. OT shows less variation throughout its vendor landscape, with the exception of DER management systems (DERMSs). For the most part, large OEMs have dominated the energy management system, outage management system, SCADA, and now, advanced distribution management system (ADMS) markets. While the term DERMS is used loosely, growing convergence between traditional OEMs (grid DERMSs) and demand response providers (edge DERMSs) is leading to a smaller pool of holistic DERMS providers.

This Analyst Insight examines the major industry players for energy IT and OT systems and outlines key trends in the growing market for energy IT and OT system solutions across global markets.