Global Corporate Survey 2025: Industrial Operations And Maintenance Services Budgets, Priorities And Tech Preferences

Report
Industrial Transformation Leaders
Josh Graessle
Josh Graessle
Lucas Sala
Lucas Sala
Kiran Darmasseelane
Kiran Darmasseelane
Malavika Tohani
Malavika Tohani
15 Aug, 2025

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Executive Summary

This report provides senior managers in operations, engineering, maintenance, process safety, and data science and IT roles who are responsible for the selection of third-party managed service providers with a benchmark of peers’ budgets, business priorities and technology preferences. The data collected through the Verdantix survey – from 125 respondents across 11 industries in eight economic regions, with 87% representing firms with revenues greater than $1 billion – also support strategic decision-making and business planning by executives at industrial service providers, helping them understand trends in customer requirements. Budgets for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026 continue to look healthy, with 60% of respondents planning increases in spend. Respondents provided insights into predicted spending changes and consultant-led implementation plans for software and technology in 2025 and 2026.
Summary for decision-makers
Global survey of corporate decision-makers involved in the selection of industrial service providers
Global survey features 125 respondents across three geographies
Industrial firms are relying on service providers to accelerate technology initiatives
Spend on consultants increases for safety, energy and data management initiatives
Deployment of industrial asset management and AI-related solutions will prompt spend on consultants
Industrial firms rely on third-party consultants to drive asset digitization and industrial AI
Implementation of industrial asset maintenance solutions and AI emerge as the top use cases for spend on consultants
Industrial firms choose service providers based on their technical expertise, ability to offer cost-effective solutions, and partnership networks
Figure 1. Revenue of survey respondents' firms
Figure 2. Survey respondents' business function
Figure 3. Industry breakdown of survey respondents
Figure 4. Regional breakdown of survey respondents
Figure 5. Current approach to utilizing third-party services
Figure 6. Current approach to industrial activities
Figure 7. Current spend on third-party consulting services for industrial maintenance and operations
Figure 8. Change in spend on third-party consulting services for industrial maintenance and operations over the next 12 months
Figure 9. Preferred consulting providers for industrial maintenance and operations projects
Figure 10. Planned changes in investment in third-party consultants and service providers over the next 12 months
Figure 11. Planned investments in third-party consultants and systems integrators for industrial operations and maintenance technology initiatives
Figure 12. Use of third-party consultants for the implementation of industrial software
Figure 13. Use of third-party consultants for AI-related services
Figure 14. Spend on third-party consultant-led software implementations over the next 12 months
Figure 15. Key challenges limiting the use of third-party consultants
Figure 16. Key selection criteria for third-party providers in industrial operations and maintenance
Figure 17. Factors driving use of third-party consultants

About the Authors

Josh Graessle

Josh Graessle

Senior Analyst

Josh is a Senior Analyst at Verdantix, covering asset maintenance management, industrial engineering design and construction, and asset management services. He advises softwar…

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Lucas Sala

Lucas Sala

Analyst

Lucas is an Analyst at Verdantix, conducting research into the application of AI in industrial operations, focusing on GenAI copilots, predictive analytics and digital twins. …

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Kiran Darmasseelane

Kiran Darmasseelane

Principal Analyst

Kiran is a Principal Analyst at Verdantix, delivering data-driven insights on emerging technologies and global market trends for asset-intensive sectors such as energy, manufa…

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Malavika Tohani

Malavika Tohani

Research Director

Malavika is a Research Director at Verdantix, guiding research that explores how digital technologies and services are reshaping industrial operations to become safer, more ef…

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