In a marketplace with rising global demands, stringent environmental regulations and highly volatile prices, the oil and gas industry is more in need than ever of in-depth business intelligence (BI) if it is to remain successful in the face of its challenges.
However, owing to its often unique organisational structure, this industry commonly faces difficulties in gathering business intelligence and generating data.
Defining Reporting and BI Challenges in the Oil and Gas Industry
Among the challenges the oil and gas industry faces is the ability to reduce costs and remain competitive. Also, improving the performance of their current installations and lowering their environmental footprint is of primary concern.
Naturally meeting these challenges requires sufficient data to determine which actions to take to best address the problems at hand. Unfortunately, the industry struggles with reporting and BI generation due to some issues.
These include:
Complex Geographic Situations and Regulations.
With installations and joint partners located throughout the globe, gathering data and collating it can be a challenge. Some plants may be found in very remote locations, making data gathering challenging.
Furthermore, when reports are required, they may be subject to regulations unique to the geographic locales requiring them. For example, reports submitted in one country may be subject to different rules if required to be presented in another country. Often complying with these regulations might mean generating multiple reports, which is time-consuming and costly.
Complicated Disparate Systems.
Different installations and partners within the industry may use multiple ERP and accounting systems, which don't communicate effectively with one another and collate data, making it difficult to generate consolidated reports efficiently and without discrepancies.
Limited System Functionalities.
Depending on regulatory requirements, system functionality might stand in the way of reporting by offering limited functionality. For example, a multi-currency functionality might be missing from an accounting system, making it challenging to create financial reports for multiple countries.
Finding the Right Solution
Dealing with these problems requires a specialised solution able to address them with ease. That's where Sharperlight comes in.
With its functionality and features, Sharperlight counteracts these challenges and makes it simple for senior executives generating reports to gather the data needed for a comprehensive business intelligence overview. This data is then easily compiled into reports that deliver value and actionable insight.
4 Ways Sharperlight Addresses Reporting Challenges in the Oil and Gas Industry
1. It simplifies the overly complex
With volumes of unstructured data lying in multiple applications that don't necessarily have the capabilities to communicate well with one another, gathering insight and running predictive analytics can be difficult.
Sharperlight is an easily implementable solution, which is quickly installed and accessed regardless of the complexities of the underlying systems. With its intuitive interface, it helps users by offering comprehensive data collation and consolidation across multiple databases in real-time, making it possible to generate reports quickly and efficiently. This extends to gathering data from across various business entities as well. Sharperlight can be used as a big data reporting tool that together with it's simplicity, flexibility and unique functionality sets it apart from the crowd.
2. It improves visibility, leading to empowered and informed decision-making
By drawing data from multiple data bases, Sharperlight empowers executives with visibility that encompasses the whole of their operation as well as any specific areas of focus they may have. This increased visibility helps analysts to build models and create simulations to test observations that could contribute to reducing costs and improve productivity.
This information can also be used to monitor critical concerns like their environmental footprint and to generate reports that cover relevant data about this matter.
3. It keeps data secure from unauthorised access
Sharperlight has a tiered usage model that allows users to have defined access parameters in place, depending on the data they need to be able to access. What this means is that some users may be granted restricted permissions, keeping sensitive data safe from unauthorised users, while still allowing them access to helpful data needed to generate reports.
4. It bridges geographical obstacles
Whether it means the ability to generate reports rapidly in response to regulatory obligations dictated by geographic location or meeting certain parameters like currency, Sharperlight has the solution. It allows users to create reports and dashboards that factor in unique requirements while still being quick and straightforward to generate.
It also makes reporting possible and viewable on multiple devices, meaning users in remote locations can access data on their mobile devices and through their web browsers.
The above highlights four key ways Sharperlight can aid the oil and gas industry in their BI and reporting needs. But there's more. We're hosting a webinar on Tuesday the 17th of October 2017 to highlight just how effective Sharperlight's solution is. The event will be hosted by a Sharperlight expert and will cover, in detail, how it can transform reporting within the oil and gas industry.
If you'd like to participate in the webinar, just click below and fill in a short form to let us know you're going to be there.
