Utilities IT Predictions 2014

As my line of work is now completely dealing with the Utility Industry of the US market, the following got me thinking. More on each of these in a while.

The IDC Energy Insights Top 10 Predictions for 2014 are:

1. Utilities will hunt for flexibility and innovation in their operations and business models.
2. At high impact, microgrids will force business model change. At minimum, service opportunities will require it and distribution adaptation.
3. CIOs will devote more time and attention to working closely with line of business executives on cybersecurity, enlarging their scope of action.
4. Utility CIOs' role will evolve, driven by IT and operational technologies convergence.
5. Eroding utility revenues and the increase of capital and operating costs will force utilities to develop analytics strategies.
6. Adaptive utilities will embrace dynamic resiliency to survive the ecosystem changes.
7. Utilities will need to seek new paths for data management to propel smart grid innovation.
8. Utilities' multi-channel customer management will call for platform and architecture investments.
9. Gamification will gain traction in utilities to create consumer engagement, loyalty, and trust.
10. Global utilities IT spending will surpass $59 billion in 2014.