Synopsis
This report presents the findings from a survey of 149 utilities regarding their approach to Information & Communications Technology (ICT) procurement. The survey investigates the way that utilities like to purchase technology, as well as the major IT and business objectives influencing their IT investment strategies.
Scope
Provides insights into utilities’ preferred buying approaches.
Comprehend the business objectives that utilities are looking to achieve through their IT investment strategy.
Appreciate the IT objectives that utilities are looking to achieve through their IT investment strategy.
Understand the factors that are influencing utilities’ decision to select an ICT provider.
Understand which organizational roles influence ICT purchasing decisions and signing off budgets.
Summary
Why was the report written?
To highlight the criteria on which utilities select their ICT providers as well as the roles which have influence while making ICT purchasing decisions.
What is the current market landscape and what is changing?
Amidst increasing competition, utilities are focusing on strengthening their core ICT infrastructures and streamlining their operations in order to reduce costs and achieve differentiation in the market.
What are the key drivers behind recent market changes?
Utilities are increasingly dependent on IT products and services to drive automation and improve customer satisfaction to remain competitive in the market.
What makes this report unique and essential to read?
Kable Market Research Market Research has invested significant resources in order to interview CIOs and IT managers about their IT Procurement. Very few IT analyst houses will have interviewed 149+ ICT decision makers in the utilities industry in H2 2012.
Reasons To Buy
The vast majority of utilities surveyed prefer purchasing technologies directly from suppliers, followed by local and national resellers.
Utilities are looking to streamline their operations in order to improve efficiency and increase productivity, and thereby meet fast changing customer expectations.
According to Kable Market Research’s survey, utilities rate the objective of ‘better demonstrate the value of IT to the business’ as their most important IT objective influencing their IT investment strategy, with an average rating of X on a scale of 1 to 4.
Utilities consider ‘leading-edge technology’ and ‘price’ to be the most important criteria when choosing an ICT provider.
Kable Market Research’s survey reveals that that a large proportion of utilities believe that their ICT infrastructure is somewhat complex, whilst at the same time the number of respondents who state they have very complex ICT infrastructures is also high.
Table of Contents
1 Enterprise ICT investment trends
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Survey demographics
1.3 ICT budget changes
1.4 ICT investment priorities
2 ICT procurement trends
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Purchasing channels
2.3 Business objectives influencing IT investment strategy
2.4 IT objectives influencing IT investment strategy
2.5 ICT provider selection
2.6 Influencers
2.7 ICT infrastructure environment complexity
3 Summary
3.1 Utilities continue to invest in ICT in order to gain a competitive advantage
4 Appendix
4.1 Definitions
4.2 Further reading
4.3 Contact the authors
List Of Tables
Table 1: Utilities – enterprise ICT survey geographic breakdown
Table 2: Utilities – enterprise ICT survey breakdown by size band (number of employees)
Table 3: Recent and expected ICT budget changes among utilities
Table 4: Current and future investment priorities of utilities across core technologies
Table 5: Utilities’ preferred approach to buying technologies
Table 6: Business objectives which influence utilities’ IT investment strategy
Table 7: IT objectives which influence utilities’ IT investment strategy
Table 8: Factors influencing utilities’ decision to choose an ICT provider
Table 9: Influence of organizational roles in making ICT purchasing decisions and signing off budgets
Table 10: Complexity of ICT infrastructure within utilities
List Of Figures
Figure 1: Utilities – enterprise ICT survey geographic breakdown
Figure 2: Utilities – enterprise ICT survey breakdown by size band (number of employees)
Figure 3: Recent and expected ICT budget changes among utilities
Figure 4: Current and future investment priorities of utilities across core technologies
Figure 5: Utilities’ preferred approach to buying technologies
Figure 6: Business objectives which influence utilities’ IT investment strategy
Figure 7: IT objectives which influence utilities’ IT investment strategy
Figure 8: Factors influencing utilities’ decision to choose an ICT provider
Figure 9: Influence of organizational roles in making ICT purchasing decisions and signing off budgets
Figure 10: Complexity of ICT infrastructure within utilities
