Independent research and consulting firm Verdantix recently concluded the fourth iteration of their annual Global EHS Leaders Survey.
As part of the 2018 survey published this month, the global firm investigated corporate perception of software vendors catering to EHS data management, senior analyst Yaowen Jean Ma explained. Based in Verdantix’s New York City office, Ma leads research and advisory engagements within the firm’s EHS technology practice.
Between August and September 2018, the Verdantix team conducted the software brand assessment study through telephone interviews with senior EHS decision-makers who have direct responsibility for corporate-wide EHS management strategies and initiatives.
The firm also focused on industries with high EHS risk profiles. In all, slightly more than half of the decision-makers interviewed represented industries with risk profiles ranging from high to very high. Industries at the highest end — such as chemicals, mining and metals, and oil and gas — accounted for 28% of respondents.
We caught up with Ma to learn more about the survey, and how EHS software brands stacked up.
What was the impetus for the overall survey?
The Global EHS Leaders Survey is a core methodology that we produce annually, with parallel versions conducted for the operational risk, smart buildings, and, soon, product stewardship market segments.
This year is the fourth iteration and includes interviews with 411 EHS decision-makers each representing firms ranging from $250 million to over $20 billion in annual revenues across 35 countries and 25 industries. It’s a significant expansion from our first iteration of 250 respondents.
How about the EHS software aspect?
The EHS software brands survey publication specifically investigates corporate brand awareness and perception of various software vendors that cater to EHS data management. This year’s survey includes 34 EHS software vendors and is primarily intended to assess whether corporate EHS decision-makers recognize the EHS software firm name, and reveal the perception on strength of capability if they do.
Why did you focus on industries with higher EHS risk profiles?
Our market size and forecast studies find that EHS data management has traditionally been a higher priority and investment focus for higher EHS risk profile industries such as chemicals, mining and metals, and oil and gas.
To better capture market sentiments that will translate to actual spend, 51% of respondents come from nine industries assessed as facing “high” or “very high” EHS risks, while the remaining self-identified as belonging to 16 other industries with lower EHS risk profiles.
How were EHS software brands ranked?
The 411 survey respondents were asked to evaluate their perspective on the capabilities of 34 software brands included in the study. Response options ranged from “unaware of the firm,” “recognize the name, but unaware of their capabilities,” “average capabilities,” “strong capabilities,” to “market-leading capabilities.”
To determine brand preference ranking, Verdantix ordered the EHS software brands from highest to lowest by the percentage citing “market-leading” and “strong capabilities” in aggregate on a global scale.
Which brands did well and what affected the rankings?
The EHS software brands covered in the survey include established vendors such as Enablon, Intelex, and Cority, which feature in the leaders quadrant of our EHS Software Green Quadrant capabilities assessment study, as well as challengers such as Airsweb and more recently established EHS software solution providers such as Go-ARC and VisiumKMS. This year’s survey found that the top five in brand preference were Enablon, DNV GL, SAI Global, UL EHS Sustainability, and Cority.
Factors such as length of active history, team size and spend on marketing, and organic customer referrals can influence a brand’s awareness and perception among corporate EHS decision-makers. Enablon, for example, retains the highest ranked position for the second year running while Cority’s rebrand from Medgate in mid-2017 — a decision driven in part by its acquisition of regAction and IQS — has turned out very well.
What were the main insights you gleaned from the survey results?
The EHS function is seeing an awakening in attitude beyond compliance and towards innovation. As our research director, Steve Bolton, highlighted in a related conversation, “Gone are the days when cost-effective compliance topped the priority list. This benchmark of EHS plans for 2019 demonstrates the EHS community is doubling down on innovation and technology.”
Among the survey findings, 60% of senior EHS decision-makers see innovation as a high priority for their EHS function whilst a top 14% believe they are the leading business function for digital transformation at their firm. Other insights include:
- Technology adoption: More than one-third of respondents cited use of digital sensors, location tracking wearables, and vehicle telematics for safety across all operations.
- Budget growth: Global spend on EHS activities will increase by 4% in 2019 compared to 2018 with a high of 7%, on average, for information technology solutions.
- Employee training: Digital training solutions for health and safety see mainstream adoption with 55% citing wide usage across all operations for use of learning management system and online training courses and webinars. Other emerging use cases include mobile-accessible learning applications and virtual reality training.
What do you anticipate for EHS software in the future?
I’m particularly excited by the adoption of EHS software applications for use by functions outside of EHS at large, multinational firms.
Industrial hygienists, for example can access chemical compliance data from Cority and SiteHawk, sustainability executives can conduct reporting through UL or Enablon, EHSQ directors can leverage EtQ or Intelex, risk-centric safety managers can target SAI Global or DNV GL, product safety specialists can rely on Sphera or VelocityEHS, and environmental managers can look to Enviance for support. These are only some example use cases for illustration purposes, and do not represent endorsements or recommendations.
Data integrations will become increasingly important as firm-wide functions seek to make use of information that sits within their EHS data management platforms. This has become especially apparent for product stewardship, which merges multiple disciplines such as industrial hygiene, safety and environmental sustainability whilst also requiring collaboration across multiple internal and external stakeholders.