Meter data management market to grow 300 percent by 2014

CAMBRIDGE, USA: GTM Research’s latest report, The Emergence of Meter Data Management (MDM): A Smart Grid Information Strategy Report forecasts the MDM market to grow from $54 million in 2009 to $221 million by 2014. The growth will come as planned smart meter rollouts occur and MDM vendors expand and enhance their product offerings.

The report defines MDM’s role in smart grid build-out and presents the necessary prerequisites for MDM’s success. The report’s analysis includes the best plans for MDM deployment and presents technology drivers and inhibitors. In addition, GTM Research profiles and ranks the top MDM vendors vying for this market, including eMeter, Aclara and Itron along with eight other technology leaders.

One of the initial hurdles to MDM’s breakthrough has been identifying the technology’s role and value to utilities. GTM Research’s report begins by presenting a definitive taxonomy of MDM’s core components— data repositories, enterprise integration platforms and enhanced smart meter functionality.

“Accelerated deployment of smart meters is driving demand for meter data management systems,” said Chet Geschickter, a Smart Grid analyst at GTM Research and the report’s author. “MDM creates an opportunity for utilities to build intelligent applications across the enterprise, but they need to adopt modern system designs including service oriented architectures in order to do this.”

GTM Research’s report ranks the top MDM providers in the US, positioning California-based eMeter at the top of the list. eMeter is most active in Texas and Ontario, where the company plans to roll out MDM systems to manage 6.5 million meters by 2014.

US-based Aclara and Itron are second and third respectively in GTM Research’s ranking. Other companies included are Ecologic Analytics, EnergyICT, Hansen Technology, NorthStar Utilities Solutions, Oracle, OSIsoft, SAP MDUS and Telvent.

“MDM vendors have a strategic opportunity to expand beyond core meter data management with additional features like consumer web portals and data warehousing,” Chet Geschickter said. “Their ability to work closely with utility customers is a key to growth and future success."