This short paper on new delivery models for software in hydrocarbon allocation and production reporting was published in Energy Focus 10. energysys.com

1. Oil & Gas 1
perators need and want production
O reporting systems with sophis-
ticated reporting capabilities, open
data access and robust storage and audit
mechanisms. However, the costs and
complexity have often been difficult to
justify. The time to become operational can
stretch to six months or more, and on assets
with short predicted lifespans it frequently
seems less trouble to maintain manual
systems on paper or spreadsheets.
Successfully addressing these problems
and increasing availability of these essential
systems demands novel thinking.
On Demand services are the answer.
The role of information technology
No discussion of particular solution
technologies is valid without an investigation
Transforming the economics
of the deployment context, and of the needs
and attitudes of the industry in general. With of production reporting
a few notable exceptions the oil and gas
industry, our industry, regards IT as an Production reporting systems are traditionally complex, expensive, and difficult to
enabler and not as a tool for competitive configure and install, but dramatic changes are coming, says Dr Peter Black,
differentiation. It is first and foremost a cost managing director of EnergySys Limited
centre, and significant effort is applied to
achieving reductions in those costs. combined with simple and low per user, per data centre security, with multiply
However, for the most part these efforts month pricing creates a dynamic and redundant systems, controlled access, and
are best categorised as ‘doing the same competitive market. There is no need to encrypted offsite backups. Best practice is
thing more cheaply’. Outsourcing and procure, install and manage hardware, and demonstrated by hosting providers’
offshoring, and standardisation on a no need to buy software and manage adherence to the information security
restricted list of vendor-specific versions and updates and patches. management standards BS7799 and
applications, have simply reduced business Attractive new features are delivered quickly ISO/IEC 177991.
flexibility and lowered service quality. These and without service disruption. Faster
strategies ignore modern realities; even adoption with everything you need. When Conclusions
among the largest multinationals there is you need it. Software delivered as a service will
little appetite to, for example, own the transform our industry. It exactly meets the
drilling rigs that are the backbone of their Production reporting aspirations and goals of our clients, in that
operation. Why is IT different? The relevance to production reporting it transfers responsibility for a non-core
systems is clear. Users of such systems tell function in a way that truly works. Clients
On Demand computing us that cost of ownership is a key concern, pay for results, and stop paying when the
In this context alternative mechanisms for in many cases preventing the adoption of service is no longer needed. We, as
software service provision already have a such systems for some assets. Changes vendors, are focussed on delivering a
significant place. The Google search engine occur frequently, as new wells and fields are service, not a product, and this significantly
is sufficiently widely used that its name added, business rules for allocation of changes the dynamics of the relationship.
occupies a place in the dictionary, but the product are modified, and new data items The question is not whether this change
infrastructure that powers it is a mystery to are defined and new information is stored. will happen, but when, and we’re proud
•
most users. One key characteristic is the On Demand solutions provide an answer to be leading the way, starting with
ease with which the tool can be adopted where traditional approaches to software production reporting.
and, equally significantly, replaced with an provision fail. Rapid deployment combined
alternative like the Yahoo! search engine. with extreme flexibility in the creation of
Increasingly, complex applications, business rules and data models ensure that
including business management and business users are more productive more MORE INFORMATION
i
collaboration suites, are being provided quickly. There’s no need for programming
EnergySys Limited
PHOTOGRAPH EnergySys
online; Salesforce.com and Google Apps skills to configure the system and
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deliver services to significant horizontal the applications are available any time,
Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LY, UK
markets for project management, CRM and from anywhere, securely via a standard
www.energysys.com
office applications. This is the so-called web browser.
+44 1483 469480
On Demand or software as a service (SaaS) When customers choose a hosted service
sales@energysys.com
model. Low barriers for entry and exit they can expect the highest standards of
Issue 10 2008 WWW.ENERGY-FOCUS.COM