Global power Automation Market

In Western analytical agency terminology, the term utilities is most commonly used to define an industry. It is common to all enterprises providing utilities, including electricity and water supply. Enterprises of the electric power complex are often also included in the utilities category, sometimes power engineering specialists the term energy companies is used separately for companies. In Russian terminology, the term utilities is as close as possible to the definition of "energy and." HOUSING AND PUBLIC UTILITIES

It is also worth paying attention to the fact that utilities can also mean gas companies, but not gas producers, but supplying gas to end consumers.

Industry IT Spending

World data

According to IDC^[1], the global IT costs of power and utilities enterprises will reach $59.3 billion in 2014. The company's experts believe that industry enterprises will more than actively use flexible and innovative technologies in their operations and business models. Microgrids will seriously affect existing business models, and Chief information officer will direct a relatively large amount of efforts to cooperate with business units in terms of cybersecurity and expanding its scope.

The role of Chief information officers at power and utilities enterprises will change due to the convergence of IT and operational technologies. Reducing the revenue of enterprises while increasing operating costs will stimulate the development of strategies using analytical tools. Overall, businesses will be looking for new adaptive opportunities due to the rapidly changing ecosystem. Also in the power, a revision of approaches to data management will be relevant so that the smart grid implementation process is even more active.

Another important task will be customer relationship management, and multi-channel, which will require special platforms. Gamification will be adopted by many energy companies to establish contacts with customers, gain their loyalty and trust

According to Ovum^[2] management at the beginning^[2] 2013, in the following years in 2012, the growth of the IT budgets of world enterprises in the field of power and housing and communal services will remain at the same level. The largest enterprises took part in the Ovum survey, the revenue of almost half of the respondents is $500 million or more per year. Among all respondents, 58% spend more than $5 million a year on IT.

Europe

According to IDC^[3], released in August 2013, at the end of 2013, the IT costs of power and housing enterprises in Western Europe were to reach $10.4 billion, with the lion's share of this amount (62.9%) accounted for IT services.

The expenses of enterprises in the region on software (software) in the period 2012-2017, according to IDC, will grow by about 7.4% per year and at the end of 2017 will amount to $3.2 billion. Separately, the segment of IT services for the Western European power and housing and communal services industry will grow by 4.9% during the specified period, and the segment of computer equipment - only by 0.7% annually. In 2013, in the structure of IT expenses of the power and housing and communal services sector of Western Europe, software and equipment accounted for 23% and 14.1%, respectively.

In general, the industry of the region continues to be influenced by the protracted economic collapse of the European Union, so that now, more than ever, enterprises are closely ensuring that every dollar allocated to IT is not wasted. The incentive for IT investment remains the need to improve operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.

According to IDC, among companies in the industry, the maximum IT costs fall on electric power enterprises: in 2013, this is $7 billion or 67% of the entire sector's IT costs. The gas segment and enterprises of the water complex account for 15.8% and 13.1% of the sector's IT costs, respectively.

Data on the volume of IT spending in Eastern and Central Europe are not provided separately, however, the IDC notes^[4] power and housing enterprises here will also continue to invest in the development of information technologies under the influence of changes in the regulatory framework and the introduction of "green" technologies. Separately, IDC notes the role of projects in Russia to implement dynamic billing, load and capacity sharing technologies and smart grid development. So on average, the expenses of the power and housing and communal services sector in the region will increase by 7% annually until 2017.

Top trends

According to IDC^[5] for January 2014, 6.6% of the surveyed enterprises of the power and housing and communal services industry in Europe as a whole plan to increase IT costs in the near future. The trend is to provide integrated and secure access to data and applications, the development of information security and data management tools.

Analysts Gartner believe^[6]that in 2013 on the market of automation of power and housing and public utilities will have influence of tens of key trends which relevance will remain also in the next years. We are talking about the development of social technologies, control technologies, big data mobile and geo services, (cloud solutions SaaS including), the widespread introduction of sensors, and the im-memory calculations development of the communication environment.

Gartner Vice President Kristian Steenstrup points out that all these technologies will be required for companies to optimize existing business models in order to meet the expectations of shareholders, users, as well as changing regulatory regulations.

According to Stinstrap, power and housing companies need to reject their inherent caution and take a close look at IT innovations, only this will allow them to build truly effective IT development strategies.

Social Media and Web 2.0

Power and housing companies can use social media to fight for customers and attract attention to their services, as well as to involve users in energy efficient programs, as well as crowdsourcing projects. Also, social media play a large role in promptly informing users about the temporary shutdown of services, interruptions in the operation of communal networks. There are also options for using social technologies to support the internal business processes of industry enterprises.

Big data

The development of "smart networks" () Smart grid will lead to an avalanche-like increase in the amount of data generated by enterprise systems, including intelligent applications, micro-networks, monitoring systems, asset management systems and network self-recovery systems. Managing all of these data arrays will also pose power engineering specialists HOUSING AND PUBLIC UTILITIES new IT challenges for enterprises, both structured and non-structured, transactional, streaming, and other data types.

Mobile technologies

Mobile and wireless technologies are increasingly becoming everyday tools for power and housing enterprises. Mobile and related geo positioning technologies cover a wide base of hardware, from laptops to smartphones, as well as other communication devices such as navigators, routers. For their work, navigation systems such as GPS and services based on high-speed ground-based data transmission networks, Wi-Fi and satellite communication are used.

According to IDC a September 2014 study of^[7]40% of power and housing enterprises EMEA plan to develop mobile access technologies in the next 12-18 months. At the same time, more than 48% of the enterprises surveyed already have mobile tools for working with office applications, files and employee collaboration.

Cloud Computing и SaaS

Although the use of cloud technologies in this sector of the economy is very limited due to security and reliability concerns, one way or another cloud computing is gradually penetrating this market, primarily in the field of intelligent measurements, big data analytics, and geoservices (GIS). Many companies are launching short-term smart grid projects to assess the benefits of cloud use and potential risks.

Sensor technology

Sensors and sensors find the most widespread use throughout the utility supply, transmission, and distribution chain. The main trend here is the superimposition on top of the sensor network of digital signal processing systems and related software, so that control and control over the sensors is being improved. All this allows you to solve important problems, such as network protection, electromagnetic shielding, ensuring operability at extreme temperatures, cybersecurity and providing remote access.

In-Memory Computing

Gartner experts predict an increasing use of computing in RAM to ensure the operation of various types of programs and equipment, especially by mainstream enterprises. The ability of in-memory technologies to support large-scale processes with high data throughput makes it possible for enterprises to implement innovative IT scenarios, such as keeping the smart grid running and processing smart sensors in real time.

Convergence of IT and Operational Technologies

New technology products will require a combination of information and operational processes in terms of investment and planning, for example, advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) can become the sphere of such convergence.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) or Advanced Measurement Infrastructure is the cornerstone for smart grid, providing a communication environment for data transmission without delay or loss.

Communication technologies

The distributed nature of energy assets, coupled with the need for effective management, as well as labor management, will make mobile and communication technologies a priority for IT investments by power and housing companies around the world. Their role is indispensable in the development of M2M technologies, monitoring systems, SCADA and other technologies critical to enterprises in the industry.

Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics (predictive, predictive, predictive) Predictive analytics will be used by power and utilities companies to predict equipment failures or increase load at specific points in time from specific groups of customers or regions.

Notes