IBM Further Bolsters Sustainability Software; Touts AI and Environmental Capabilities

IBM continues to bolster its various sustainability software tools for partners and customers. Many of the new ESG software enhancements and capabilities surfaced at IBM Think 2024, a major customer and partner conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

First, a little background. IBM Envizi ESG Suite, the company's flagship sustainability software, allows customers to capture, consolidate, manage, analyze and report on environmental, social and governance data.

A new capability, called Envizi Planning and Forecasting, integrates Envizi’s ESG data model with an established planning and forecasting suite, known as IBM Planning Analytics

According to Kendra DeKeyrel, IBM's VP of ESG & asset management products leader: "The integration enables organizations to perform complex modeling and forecasting on their ESG data foundation using multiple variables and what-if scenarios. Automated daily updates help ensure you are working with the latest data to give you confidence in your analyses"  

DeKeyrel further described IBM's sustainability software strategy and customer trends in this podcast ahead of the IBM Think 2024 conference:

IBM Introduces Environmental Software

Separately, IBM introduced Environmental Intelligence, a new offering "designed to help organizations build climate resiliency for physical assets, infrastructure, and natural resources by providing them with curated geospatial data, fine-tuned models, and AI-driven insights," two company executives asserted in a blog. The duo sharing details was:

• Aditya Khosla, go to market lead and principal product manager, IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite; and
• Kimi Jasuja, product manager, sustainability, and asset management product success for IBM Software Labs.

Finally, IBM previewed Maximo Application Suite 9.0 capabilities known as Work Order Intelligence powered by watsonx, Field Service Management, and an Emissions Management Module. These capabilities streamline asset management across the business, a spokesperson said.

Sustainability And Carbon Accounting Software Market Forecast

Market demand appears strong for sustainability software and carbon accounting tools.

Here are a few market forecasts and research items to note:

• Sales of carbon accounting software will reach $65.06 billion by 2030, up from $12.5 billion in 2023 -- generating a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.9% from 2023, according to SNS Insider.
• The Global ESG Reporting Software Market is expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2027, up from $700 million in 2022. That's a 15.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to MarketsandMarkets.
• On the channel partner front, roughly 50% of partners worldwide said that they expect to generate revenue from sustainability solutions in 2024 – up three percentage points from 47% in 2023, Canalys reported.

Still, IBM faces intense competition in the sustainability software sector. Dozens of software startups, venture capitalists and entrenched technology companies offer various sustainability software tools.