Analyst Reports Cite SAP as Leading Light in Utilities Sector

SAP NEWSBYTE - In a recently published report, market research firm IDC identified SAP as a leading vendor of customer information systems (CIS) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems for the utilities industry. The IDC study, published by IDC Energy Insights, is conducted on an annual basis. The report evaluated the seven most relevant vendors of utility-specific CIS / CRM systems in the light of the challenges of the new energy economy. All vendors were benchmarked in a number of categories classified in two dimensions: ability to address market needs and ownership confidence. SAP received the highest ratings in the category “ownership confidence” and the second highest ratings in the category “ability to address market needs.”

The report emphasized the hard work that SAP has put into building new functionality into its CIS solution as well as the clear road map for releases going forward. In particular, the IDC Energy Insights study points out that SAP plans to offer enhanced functionality in a number of areas relevant to the new energy economy, which is characterized by the integration of smart metering, complex billing, and new business models for utility providers.

SAP also received high marks from customer references in deregulated markets. One customer has been able to bill 27 different products using the SAP application. The report also cites SAP’s leadership as owing to a large extent to the close cooperation with customers and partners in the company’s industry value network.

More than 500 utilities worldwide use CIS software from SAP. In addition to IDC Energy Insights, other large analyst firms have also ranked SAP as a leading provider of CIS solutions. Market research firm Gartner recently identified SAP for the third year in a row as the leading CIS vendor for the utilities industry. Utilipoint ranked SAP in the same position for the fourth consecutive year.