For the past 13 years, global oil prices are at their lowest level. However, while consumers could also be celebrating paying less for his or her fuel and energy bills, the identical can’t be said for companies operating within the oil and gas industry.
Phil Aldrich, business unit director of advanced solutions and end-user computing at Dimension Data, explains that “Falling oil prices are forcing oil and gas companies to change their price margins at fuel pumps and they’re also reducing the quantity of accessible cost these organizations should optimize their operations. Plus, when prices decrease, companies are compelled to get off staff in their drilling and production facilities, leaving them with a financial burden, and therefore they have to achieve more with fewer people. Over the subsequent decade, renewable energies like wind and solar will begin to exchange fossil fuels as more economically and environmentally friendly sources for electric power generation, which can create new operational challenges.”
Faced by dwindling workforces and an absence of cost, oil and gas companies are searching for more sustainable ways to streamline business operations and manage IT infrastructures and data securely and efficiently.
“Mitigating security and pricing concerns, counter threats from competitors and reply to disasters is the reason why businesses are exploring the way to capitalize on mobile technologies and smart devices to spice up staff productivity, furthermore as the way to implement real-time automation and analytics technologies,” states Aldrich. “To assist oil and gas companies to manage processes in their oil refineries and therefore the supply chain, sensors, internet of things technologies and machine learning also are becoming popular.”
To become more productive and reduce operational costs, enterprise communication and collaboration platforms like Microsoft Office 365 and Skype for Business have been utilized by a growing number of oil and gas companies.
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Often, oil and gas companies prefer to deploy IT-as-a-service (ITaaS) solutions from providers like Dimension Data, which aims to style IT infrastructures for the ‘workspace of tomorrow’; this empowers organizations to enable innovative new business models by seamlessly integrating their business infrastructure with end-user technologies allowing people to figure smarter from anywhere and on a tool of their choice.
“ITaaS solutions allow companies to consume IT services consistent with their actual needs, so that they can easily scale their network up and down as oil prices, and thereby their workforce and operations, change,” explains Bennett. “Before rolling out the technology that may help them reduce costs while mitigating challenges related to the operating global IT networks, we track industry trends and work closely with our clients to grasp their business requirements. Pre- and post-implementation, we train employees to use the technology and still monitor the IT infrastructure so we are able to proactively answer any service issues and ensure everything remains secure.”
Dimension Data has helped large oil and gas companies in deploying Office 365, Skype for Business, and other technologies to enhance workforce productivity and collaboration.
“In the past, technology was implemented to support enterprises, but now it must be embedded directly within the business model to facilitate key operational processes and ensure oil and gas companies are sufficiently agile to achieve success within the future digital world,” says Bennett.
Dimension Data leverages its expertise in systems integration and networking platforms, plus its consulting methodologies and partnerships with technology vendors like Microsoft to supply customized, cost-effective solutions that may be deployed rapidly. Dimension Data’s hybrid IT solutions – private, on-premise, and public cloud – offer the control, security, and suppleness oil and gas industry players must transform to new and more competitive business models.