Engineering the Digital Water Future: EPC Firms’ Evolving Market Strategies

Engineering consultancies (EPCs) serve as key gatekeepers and technical advisors in the water sector, influencing utilities’ system designs, bid specifications, and procurement decisions. Like the rest of the industry, they are being forced to adapt to the growing role of digital water & wastewater technologies penetrating their spheres of influence. In response to this shifting landscape, select EPCs are taking on new roles as digital water solutions providers, offering implementation & integration services and, in some cases, selling in-house software directly to utility and industrial end-users. This change does not come without challenges. To compete with established digital water vendors, EPCs must rethink their conventional billable hour business models, products, and go-to-market strategies, adopting elements of software and IT businesses. EPC approaches to resolving these conflicts have varied widely, from developing fully integrated offerings to spinning out standalone