Historically, outage management systems (OMSs) have been configured to respond to signals that indicate outages, manage restoration, and communicate outage information. However, with much larger amounts of data available from modern smart grid technologies, today's OMSs are becoming more complex and robust, incorporating more features to better prevent outages and restore power more efficiently. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, global utility OMS spending is expected to total nearly US$11.8 billion from 2014-2023.
"As the grid has become smarter and more connected, utilities and vendors have recognized several issues with legacy outage management systems, which is driving change in the technology," said Lauren Callaway, research analyst with Navigant Research. "These innovations focus on integrating real-time information reporting, big data analytics, the cellular connectivity of work crews, and the growing effort to mesh engineering and operations IT systems with operational technology (OT)."
Because today's OMSs need to be able to handle more data and restore power faster, vendors have created combined systems that also incorporate distribution management systems and supervisory control and data acquisition functionality. According to Navigant, these integrated systems, known as advanced distribution management systems (ADMSs), are expected to erode sales of standalone OMSs over the forecast period, particularly in North America and Europe.
Article translated by Alex Wolfgram
