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THE FORMULA FOR GEOENGINEERING
Major new report from leading industry
analyst defines an emerging market
Washington D.C., June 7, 2000. The
availability of new technologies and operational integration with
systems such as ERP and SCM are the main drivers of the geoengineering
market, according to a major new report from Cambashi, the leading
analyst specializing in IT for industry. "Cambashi examines Geoengineering",
launched today at A/E/C Systems 2000 (the Internet conference and
tradeshow for the design & construction industry) takes an in-depth
look at geoengineering, reporting that expenditure on sales and
services for this new market is expected to exceed US$1.2 billion
in 2000, up from US$1.07 billion in 1999.
In addition to examining the market
and requirements for geoengineering software, the report identifies
the roles played by owner-operators, contractors and service providers.
It also reviews the top five global geoengineering software vendors
and identifies many national and international suppliers.
"When it
comes to large-scale infrastructure projects such as a new
highway, a pipeline or a university campus, IT applications are
traditionally deployed from a number of different areas, including
GIS and AEC CAD," says Cambashi president and CEO, Mike Evans. "Companies
that have been providing general CAD and GIS technologies are now
beginning to focus their efforts on the specific requirements of
this new market, providing applications that address the lifecycle
of the project from planning through to operations. Integrated information
flows are helping individuals and teams make decisions and deliver
results quickly and at lower cost."
The report defines geoengineering
as combining roughly equal parts of CAD and GIS with earth sciences,
photogrammetry, and civil engineering, and core IT disciplines such
as project management and database management. Yoav Etiel of Bentley
Systems, comments: "GIS observes and plans, CAD designs, geoengineering
changes the earth."
Typical geoengineering users include
public and private organizations ranging from central and local
government to utility and telecommunications. According to the Cambashi
report, expenditure on software and related services for this market
is expected to exceed US$1.2 billion in 2000, up from US$1.07 billion
in 1999. The two key drivers in the market are the availability
of new technologies, such as web-based collaborative engineering
and design, and operational integration with systems such as ERP
and SCM.
This market is being driven by a
number of factors. Around the world, utility and telecommunications
companies have either been de-regulated or are in the process of
deregulation. Large-scale projects, which have been predominately
funded by the public sector, are now funded by joint public/private
initiatives. The number of stake-holders in the projects is increasing
and they all expect to see a return on their investment.
New technologies such as WAP, and
new applications of existing technologies, such as GPS and the Internet,
are being used in the search for operational efficiency. New standards
such as aecXML will facilitate access to and the sharing of data.
Project-based web sites, which have long been the dream of vendors
(technology) rather than users (reality), are now providing useful
capabilities. They will increasingly be adopted and display substantial
savings in project timescales and costs.
The leading application providers
in this market started in these other domains. Bentley Systems has
evolved from a CAD background to being the major vendor in this
new market, following its acquisition of products such as InRoads
and InRail from one of the other major geoengineering vendors, Intergraph.
Autodesk is the third major geoengineering vendor with its roots
in CAD. In the GIS domain, Smallworld has transformed itself from
a GIS start-up to a company that focuses on the telecom and utility
market sectors, which together make up one third of the geoengineering
market. ESRI, the leader in traditional GIS and mapping, is also
active in this new market, primarily through its wide range of partners.
One key to success is the rate at
which the application vendors are integrating the geoengineering
applications with other project management systems, e-mail systems
such as Microsoft Outlook and mainstream operational applications
such as ERP. Announcements already made by the leading vendors indicate
that this is happening as fast as, if not faster, than the market
can react.
"Cambashi examines Geoengineering"
is sponsored by A-E-C Automation, Bentley Systems and Compaq. It
is available in full from the Cambashi web site, www.cambashi.com
- go direct to the order
form. Copies of the full report can be supplied to journalists,
either at the press briefing on the Bentley Systems Booth at A/E/C
Systems, or by calling Cambashi direct on +44 (0) 1223 460439.
Note to editors
Cambashi, based in Cambridge, U.K.,
is a company of independent experts who research the global use
of IT in industry. Its specialist fields include CAD/CAM, GIS, ERP
and the enabling technologies. Its clients vary in size from small
to large and include most of the leading software vendors and many
pioneering IT users. Cambashi is a member of the Computer Suppliers
Federation (CSF), and the UK partner and founder of CATN, a trans-world
association of industry analysts and consultants. It is author of
'Ovum evaluates ERP' and publisher of 'Cambashi examines Enterprise
Applications', a series of authoritative, independent reviews of
the leading ERP systems.
Cambashi reports are updated on
a regular basis in line with changes in the marketplace. For this
reason, some statements in this release may be superseded from time
to time. We recommend that, before publication, you contact Cambashi
on +44 (0) 1223 460439 for a full update.
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