Gas and oil companies have to deal with a highly complex operations workflow. With various aspects of the business forcing the staff to multitask, the ability to simplify their work is highly appreciated.
Once the company finds a drilling site and acquires all the necessary permits, it needs to sign contracts, find materials, negotiate with vendors, and much more. A software that can help it manage all of the above can simplify the process tremendously, thus cutting costs, saving time, and improve the company’s bottom line.
When choosing the right gas and oil software for your company, you need to consider short and long-term business goals. The first thing many companies wonder about is the cost. The oil and gas app doesn’t have to be costly to meet your needs. Meanwhile, whatever you invest in it is likely to help you earn more.
To figure out exactly which functionality you want the software to provide, you need to evaluate your business plans.
1. Evaluate Your Current Situation
To choose the best oil and gas software for your needs, you need to figure out what assets you currently have. That can be the number of wells, the type of equipment, number of tanks, facilities, vehicles, etc. The volume of your assets can dictate the scale at which software should assist your team.
Next, you need to figure out which tools you are currently using to track your production, report to the stakeholders, schedule events, arrange billing, and much more. Which one of these areas needs more of your attention? Perhaps there are some workflow inefficiencies that you would like to address?
Here are the types of oil and gas software to consider:
- Exploration software
- Geology and seismic software
- Asset management software
- Back office software
- Billing software
- Scheduling software
By figuring out which parts of your operations need help, you can determine which software you may need in 2021 and beyond.
2. Create a List of What You Expect from the Software
Now that you know what your current workflow is lacking, you can create a list of features you expect the ideal software to have. According to Trellis Energy, natural gas scheduling software developer, oil and gas companies often don’t realize that software can cover numerous bases and tweak their operations tremendously.
- Figure out which problems you want to solve with the software (save time, manage costs, maximize resources).
- Identify which people will be using and maintaining the software.
- What format you expect the software to provide you data in.
- Who will have access to the data provided by the software?
- Which storage solutions are available for the software and the data it generates?
While one software may not be able to cater to all of the above issues, it’s possible to find a comprehensive solution for the majority of them.
3. Clarify Your Budget
The budget is usually the biggest barrier companies struggle with when trying to find the best software. In many cases, the initial budget can lower than needed to purchase a top-notch solution and licenses. The problem is the lack of information.
Oil and gas companies often underestimate the efficiency of the software, failing to see the ROI such apps usually have. Some providers may offer free trials or demo versions to help decision-makers see how useful such software can be for the company.
If you are struggling with a budget issue, consider asking the software provider for a trial.
When evaluating the budget, remember that you may need to pay more than the cost of the software. Additional costs may include:
- Hardware
- Software licensing
- Support and maintenance
- Implementation
If you are planning to use a SaaS solution, expect annual fees instead of a formidable up-front cost.
4. Speak with Your Team
More often than not, decision-makers don’t have a full understanding of what their teams are looking for in the oil and gas software.
Besides streamlining your company’s operations, implementing various apps can improve employee satisfaction. One of the main goals such software can achieve is to eliminate manual repetitive tasks for employees.
That’s why it’s imperative to ask for your team’s feedback about your software plans. They can help you narrow down the choices. Besides receiving constructive insight, you can give the staff a sense of contribution to the project, which is an excellent way to improve productivity.
5. Consider Implementation
Implementing new software can be a time-consuming task. If downtime is an issue, you may want to settle for a solution that doesn’t demand a lengthy implementation and learning process.
SaaS options are usually easier to implement without disturbing the workflow. While you may still settle for an in-office solution in the future, cloud software can start bringing benefits almost immediately.
The Takeaway
Choosing the best software for an oil and gas company can be complicated unless you do some preliminary evaluation work. Once you know what you and your team want from the program, and which budget you have available, it becomes easier to narrow the choices down.
Some of the greatest resources to choose software for your company are:
The time you take to choose the best software for your business is already an investment in its profitability.
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