ISG to Assess Providers of Sustainability and ESG Services

Upcoming ISG Provider Lens™ study will evaluate providers delivering sustainability strategies, technologies and managed services

Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm, has launched a research study examining service providers helping enterprises achieve more sustainable operations and value chains.

The study results will be published in a comprehensive series of ISG Provider Lens™ reports, called Sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), scheduled to be released in November. Four geography-specific reports will evaluate providers of strategy and enablement services, operational technology (OT) and industry-specific solutions, IT solutions and services, and data platforms and managed services.

Enterprise buyers will be able to use information from the reports to evaluate their current vendor relationships, potential new engagements and available offerings, while ISG advisors use the information to recommend providers to the firm’s buy-side clients.

With many of the world’s largest organizations having set targets to address the ESG aspects of sustainability, the focus has firmly shifted to how these targets can be achieved. Organizations have started to experience how challenging this task will be from both a technology and organizational change perspective, ISG says.

“Last year’s study found many new providers had entered the digital sustainability market with a wide range of solutions and services,” said Iain Fisher, director, ISG Provider Lens Research. “However, buyer demand lagged as organizations grappled with how and where to invest amid uncertain economic conditions. In 2024, the study will assess how increased market demand has affected providers’ offerings.”

Becoming a more sustainable organization requires investments in the short and long term, ISG says. In the short term, organizations must address regulatory and stakeholder requirements. In the long term, the impact on customer and investor perception of an organization and its brand should be emphasized.

“This perception can create new growth opportunities or threaten an organization’s economic viability,” Fisher said. “The scale and complexity of this problem means that digital capabilities that provide ESG data and insights for more informed decision-making must be integrated into digital transformations now.”

For the study, ISG has distributed surveys to nearly 160 providers of sustainability and ESG services. Working in collaboration with ISG’s global advisors, the research team will produce four quadrants representing the services and solutions the typical enterprise is deploying based on ISG’s experience working with its clients. The four quadrants are:

• Strategy and Enablement Services, assessing providers offering strategic advisory services to enable organizations to achieve regulatory compliance and more ambitious sustainability goals. Providers also may support the implementation of transformation plans by providing advisory and/or managed services for operating model changes, program and organizational change management, procurement and supplier management, and outcome measurement.
• OT and Industry-Specific Solutions and Services, analyzing providers offering vertically integrated OT solutions and implementation services designed to deliver more sustainable business operations and processes. These include industry-specific technologies that make physical assets more sustainable, support the development of circular business models, products and value chains, and take advantage of low-emission energy and carbon offsets. Providers also use AI, ML, digital twins, IoT, blockchain and other capabilities to integrate, simulate and automate ESG data for improved decision-making.
• IT Solutions and Services, examining providers offering IT solutions and implementation services for horizontal technology capabilities that enable digitization of business operations and processes. Solutions and services are designed to make compute, storage and network infrastructure, end-user devices, data software platforms, and the architecture and coding of applications and AI and ML algorithms more environmentally and socially sustainable.
• Data Platforms and Managed Services, evaluating providers that enable organizations to collect, analyze and utilize ESG data across their value chain to comply with regulations and achieve other sustainability objectives. Solutions include AI-enabled platforms for ESG data categorization and workflows; supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) across disparate systems, and industry-specific solutions to support carbon accounting and environmental, health and safety (EHS) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) insights.

The study will examine products and services available globally and in Australia, Brazil, Europe and the U.S. ISG analysts Matt Warburton (Australia, Europe and U.S.) and Adriana Frantz (Brazil) will serve as authors of the reports.

A list of identified providers and vendors and further details on the study are available in this digital brochure. Providers not listed in the brochure can contact ISG and ask to be included in the study.

All 2024 ISG Provider Lens™ evaluations feature expanded customer experience (CX) data that measures actual enterprise experience with specific provider services and solutions, based on ISG’s continuous CX research. Enterprise customers wishing to share their experience about a specific provider or vendor are encouraged to register here to receive a personalized survey URL. Participants will receive a copy of this report in return for their feedback.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 900 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including AI and automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs 1,600 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

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