The 2008 edition of the 300 page biennial Welling Survey of the Worldwide Seismic Market* includes a 50 page section on geological and geophysical software. The Welling survey compared G&G software from the major vendors based on some 200 responses from companies of various sizes and locations.
Welling’s researchers asked what operating systems users perceive as being key to the future of geoscience interpretation. Linux is perceived by most (50%) as the way forward, with 36% betting on Windows. Perceptions for Unix (excluding Linux) continue to decline and are now at only 8%. But the picture gets complex for selected sub samples. Majors and NOCs vote 80% Linux to 15% Windows. But for small to medium sized companies the picture reverses with 21% Linux vs. 60% Windows. The Welling ‘value map’ for G&G software shows all vendors as being pretty near to the median value for relative performance. There is however a considerable spread in value with one company leading by a short head in ‘relative performance,’ but hands down on price. Unfortunately, Welling won’t let us tell you which company this is. They want you to buy their study—which kind of figures!
* www.welling.com/studies/seismic.html
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