IDC Energy Insights today announced the availability of a new perspective, IT Impacts from the BP Oil Spill . The document indicates that broad Federal and State regulatory and policy changes initiated as a result of the recent BP oil spill, will significantly increase regulatory requirements related to health, safety, and environment in the oil & gas industry. These changes are predicted to increase spending by oil & gas companies on a range of technologies including health safety and environment (HSE) systems, enterprise asset management (EAM) systems, application and data integration, and advanced analytics.
“Prior to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, IDC’s forecast for worldwide spending by oil & gas companies on HSE software was predicted to top $131 million in 2010. The expected regulatory changes could potentially double the growth rate of spending on these applications during the next 2-3 years. Software vendors that could benefit from this increased spending include SAP, IHS, Enviance, and Syntex,” said Rick Nicholson, vice president, Research, IDC Energy Insights.
EAM applications – systems used to manage physical assets such as rigs, plants, and pipelines – are also expected to see an increased growth rate in spending due to new regulatory requirements. The IDC Energy Insights study reveals that worldwide spending by oil & gas companies on work and asset management software, which includes EAM, was, prior to the oil spill, predicted to be $297 million in 2010. Software vendors that could benefit are IBM, Oracle, SAP, and ABB (via its recent acquisition of Ventyx).
The IDC Energy Insights study also predicts increased investments by oil & gas companies in advanced analytics software, especially predictive analytics and real-time or streaming analytics as well as investments in integration and process automation middleware in response to the application integration issues raised by the BP oil spill.
“Ultimately, the oil & gas industry must go beyond technology changes and invest in changes to its people and processes to achieve the standards of environmental protection and worker safety demanded by all stakeholders,” concluded Mr. Nicholson.
About IDC Energy Insights
IDC Energy Insights provides research-based advisory and consulting services focused on market and technology developments in the energy and utility industries. Staffed by senior analysts with decades of industry experience, IDC Energy Insights covers both the utility and oil & gas segments, providing independent, timely, and relevant analysis focused on key business and technology issues. IDC Energy Insights serves a diverse and growing global client base, including electric, gas and water utilities, IT suppliers, independent power producers, retail energy providers, oil and gas companies, equipment manufacturers, government agencies, financial institutions, and professional services firms. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology, media, research, and events company.
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Source: idc-ei, August 3, 2010: Image: BP