IT spending by Middle East utilities companies is set to grow 12.6% year on year in 2014, according to the latest predictions released today by IDC Energy Insights. Referencing its newly released study CEE and MEA Transforming Utility Markets 2014 Top 10 Predictions (#EEI04W), the global market intelligence firm says the region’s increasing population and rapid growth in demand for energy is set to fuel investments in new power-generation facilities, the exploitation of renewable sources and distributed generation, and the development of clean water infrastructure.
IDC Energy Insights asserts that the utility industry is in the middle of a major transformation, driven by liberalization within the region’s energy markets, surging demand for more energy, and infrastructure build-out initiatives on one side, and by smart technologies disrupting transformation across the entire value chain on the other.
The region’s utilities are also seeking to drive efficiency improvements by cutting operational costs and increasing productivity, while simultaneously enhancing their provision of customer services in an attempt to boost loyalty, something that has become very important since the transformation of the energy market began.
Against this backdrop IDC Energy Insights predicts that IT spending by utilities companies across the Middle East will remain the highest within CEMA in 2014, as its share of total CEMA IT spending increases to some 18% in 2014, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 12.6%.
“The energy sector across the Middle East will see targeted investments in new projects, as well as large-scale infrastructure upgrades to keep up with surging demand for electricity, gas, and water in areas of new development,” says Milan Kalal, IDC Energy Insights’ lead research analyst for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMA). “This will enhance the reliability and efficiency of all power networks across the region, while investments in renewable technology (mainly solar power generation) and the development of clean water infrastructure will help meet the rising demand for energy.”
“At the same time, threatened by the growing number of security breaches and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, utilities will increase investments in advanced security solutions to protect their operations and data,” continues Kalal. “Additionally, utilities’ investments in security will rapidly increase as the wider adoption of 3rd Platform technologies, such as cloud computing, mobile, and social technologies, encourage a rethink on security priorities.”
IDC Energy Insights’ CEE and MEA Transforming Utility Markets 2014 Top 10 Predictions (#EEI04W) presents IDC’s leading predictions for the utility industry in the region for 2014. It addresses the key business drivers and technology trends in the utilities sector and assesses their impact on the investment, management, implementation, and use of information technology.
The report is part of the ‘IDC Energy Insights: Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa Transforming Utility Markets’ series, an advisory subscription service that examines the business and regulatory environment of the utility sector, combining it with a comprehensive insight into the IT spending preferences and plans of utility providers, helping to understand the drivers and IT investment priorities within the sector. The series also covers periodic webinars that enable subscribers to interact with IDC analysts.
