Utilities in many parts of the world, and especially in the United States, are experiencing radical operational change as they deploy smart grid upgrades.  To meet this challenge, many utilities are already seeking consulting and implementation services from vendors to assist with smart grid deployments.  And even after the infrastructure is in place, utilities will face a new set of challenges associated with ongoing smart grid operations, presenting an expanded opportunity for managed service providers.

 

According to a new report from Pike Research, the smart grid managed services market is accelerating rapidly, and the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that the sector will experience year-over-year growth of 75% between 2010 and 2011, rising from $470 million to $821 million during that period.  The firm anticipates that smart grid managed services will reach $4.3 billion in global revenue by 2015.

"The market forces fueling demand among utilities for smart grid managed services can be grouped into four major drivers:  economic, environmental, social, and technological factors," says industry analyst Marianne Hedin.  "Of these, the economic drivers are the strongest influencers of change.  Utilities are motivated by the opportunity to reduce their operating expenses through improved process and technology efficiency and mobile workforce management."

Hedin adds that Application Outsourcing, including demand response (DR) programs, is currently the largest segment within the smart grid managed services market.  By 2015, however, she expects that Infrastructure Outsourcing will become the leading segment, and Business Process Outsourcing will also experience strong growth during the 2010-2015 forecast period.

Pike Research's analysis indicates that three major factors will determine managed service providers' ability to succeed in this emerging market:

• Domain expertise within the utility sector, including a long track record of having served clients in this industry - especially as a managed services provider.
• Information technology (IT), as well as operations technology (OT), expertise to tie IT requirements with OT demands.
• Ability to address customer relationship management needs among utilities, as this is increasingly becoming a critical component of a smart grid program.

Pike Research's study, "Smart Grid Managed Services", examines global and regional smart grid managed services trends, and forecasts market size and growth prospects by region and managed services segment from 2009 through 2015.  In addition, the study assesses the competitive landscape, including a detailed competitive analysis of major smart grid managed service vendors.

source: Pike Research