Buyer’s Guide: Drone Solution Providers

Published 22 January 2020 by Sebastian Winter & David Metcalfe &
Complimentary Buyer’s Guide Market Overview

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Executive Summary

The commoditization of drone hardware has opened up myriad opportunities to use drones for commercial, industrial and civil government purposes. At the same time, the expansion of drone providers has been hit by volatile market conditions such as regulatory changes, technology limitations and negative publicity. A range of niche and broad service providers have managed to mature their offerings even under these volatile conditions. This report provides managers with responsibilities in areas such as operations, maintenance, safety and security with an overview of the capabilities offered by drone solution providers. The study provides a high-level assessment of 20 drone solution providers and the solutions they offer across eight usage scenarios. Customers can purchase drone solutions for core usage scenarios like mapping and surveying from a wide range of providers. But for confined space inspections, site security monitoring, maritime safety and internet building audits there are very few service providers with any significant scale.

Table of contents

Drone Solution Provider Market Is Barely Out Of The Starting Blocks  
Volatile Market Conditions Hit The Expansion Of Drone Solution Providers
Drone Solutions Market Structure Has Evolved As Services Mature
Capabilities Of Drone Solution Providers Range From Niche Services To Broad Portfolios   
Customers Need To Be Smart About Procuring Drone Solutions To Avoid Regulatory Risks

Table of figures

Figure 1. Geographic Presence Of UAV Solution Providers
Figure 2. UAV Solution Providers: Coverage Of UAV Usage Scenarios

About the authors

Sebastian Winter

Industry Analyst
Sebastian is an Industry Analyst in the Verdantix Operational Excellence practice. His research agenda covers digital twins for industrial facilities, asset management software, and connected worker platforms. Sebastian also delivers market strategy, voice of the customer, thought leadership, CDD, and digital strategy advisory pieces. Prior to joining Verdantix, Sebastian worked for Trucost, a division of S&P Global, and held positions in China, Brunei and Kenya. Sebastian holds an MSc Environmental Technology from Imperial College London.

David Metcalfe

CEO
David is the CEO of Verdantix and co-founded the firm in 2008. Based on his 20 years of experience in technology strategy and research roles he provides guidance on digital strategies to C-level executives at technology providers, partners at private equity firms and function heads at large corporations. His current focus is on helping clients understand their market opportunity tied to ESG investment trends and their impact on corporate sustainability strategies. During his 12 years running Verdantix – including 4 leading the New York office – he has helped dozens of clients grow their businesses through fund raising, acquisitions and international growth. David was previously SVP Research at Forrester and Head of Analysis & Forecasting at BT. He holds a PhD from Cambridge University and also worked as a Research Associate at the Harvard Business School.

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