CASE STUDY
Bringing climate software to market
Market Context
The market for decarbonization solutions in the power generation, oil, and gas (PGOG) sector is highly competitive, driven by rising regulatory pressures, urgent climate goals, and the financial stakes of transitioning to sustainable operations. PGOG companies face intense scrutiny to reduce emissions while staying profitable, making them prime targets for software that can address these demands.
Client Challenge
Our client sought to sell carbon accounting software to large companies in the energy space and while they generally knew what they wanted to offer, the product lacked a compelling vision and value proposition beyond helping companies meet regulatory requirements. The client understood their customers' functional needs, but had a limited understanding of what might actually motivate them to act.
Key Insight
Through customer and stakeholder interviews, we realized that meeting emission reporting standards was necessary to avoid penalties, but it did not motivate many energy companies to invest in new solutions, especially as penalties can be small. These companies had long relied on a hand-full of employees to wrangle disjointed processes to report emissions. What they truly needed was long-term strategic support and scenario planning to prioritize projects, initiatives, and investments that balanced sustainability with profitability goals.
The Solution
We re-worked the product roadmap and development plan to focus on modules that would truly resonate with buyers. Instead of broadly promoting making emissions reporting easier, we emphasized reducing uncertainty and providing decision support across the entire decarbonization journey. While carbon accounting was still included, it wasn’t the centerpiece of the business development strategy. Instead, we prioritized modules that eased the decarbonization transition by helping companies navigate tradeoffs.
Our preferred value propositions became our client's core message
The roadmap served as a blueprint for engineering and development
Sales targets were achieved in the first year after the product launch
The Impact
Client
A global company specializing in renewable energy, power generation, and energy management solutions
Services
Strategic planning, market sizing, business model design, product strategy, and go-to-market strategy
Sector
Enterprise software
Climate technology
Oil & gas