NEW YORK — In the global market for building energy management software, eight firms — Elster EnergyICT, EnerNOC, Envizi, eSight Energy, IBM, Schneider Electric, Siemens Building Technologies, and Verisae — have the capabilities and momentum which position them as market leaders, according to a new report from research firm Verdantix. The study is based on a comparison of 27 building energy software vendors across 130 functionality and vendor success metrics.

“A desire to achieve cost savings, optimize facility operations and comply with energy and carbon regulations continues to drive demand for energy management software,” said Derrek Clarke, Verdantix industry analyst. “We have benchmarked this software category since 2008. In this year’s benchmark, the behemoths in the industry have demonstrated their commitment to leading on functionality as well as momentum. IBM, Schneider Electric, and Siemens stand out in the leaders’ quadrant. EnerNOC has the highest level of market momentum showing successful execution of its energy intelligence strategy.”

The Verdantix report, “Green Quadrant Building Energy Management Software 2015,” includes the following findings:

• Energy software vendors increasingly align product strategy with the needs of energy services, facilities management, and real estate firms not just end-user building owners.

• Forty-one percent of customers prefer to buy energy software from an energy services firm and 18 percent from a controls supplier.

• Independent software vendors like DEXMA, Envizi, eSight Energy, Verisae, and Lucid offer strong solutions and should be included on short-lists.

• Energy systems suppliers like Ameresco, Elster EnergyICT, EnerNOC, and Wipro EcoEnergy should be considered for integrated energy system deployments.

“More than $500 million of venture funding has been pumped into the energy software market although the volumes invested have shrunk over the last three years,” said Clarke. “Strategies focused on selling standalone energy software direct to corporate customers have not succeeded. That’s why the energy services and integrated systems vendors like Ameresco, EnerNOC, Siemens Building Technologies, and Schneider Electric have come to the fore. Among the software suppliers, Verisae’s expansion into maintenance and Internet of Things is an innovative and successful new approach.”

More information on the report is available here.

Publication date: 10/21/2015