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Oil and Gas Companies Doubling Down on Digital Operations

Joshua Hoffman
December 10, 2015

Technologies like the Internet of Things are helping organizations embrace digital tools in new and creative ways. The oil and gas sector is among the industries embracing this trend and working to use digital data channels to inform and accelerate their processes to drive business efficiency.

Business process management software is rising as a prime catalyst in the digitization process. The technology can empower organizations to create applications and process workflows that let them make the most of data and fully embrace digitized operations. This is essential as the oil and gas industry goes all in on the Internet of Things.

The oil and gas industry's move toward digital

According to a recent study from Business Insider Intelligence, the oil and gas industry is taking digital operations to a new level largely in an effort to refine operations and create greater profit margins. In recent years, increased drilling in North America has fueled a major decline in fuel costs, leading to declining profits in the sector. In response, oil and gas companies are working to streamline their operations to trim any procedural fat and reduce overhead. They are turning to digital tools, particularly solutions like the IoT, to get the job done.

The oil and gas industry is increasingly going digital.The oil and gas industry is increasingly going digital.

The IoT provides oil and gas companies with an opportunity to gather and use data in real time to add a layer of intelligence to operations. According to the study, organizations in the sector are planning to use this technology to streamline production and improve operational efficiency.

Pointing to research from Microsoft and Accenture, BI Intelligence explained that approximately 62 percent of oil and gas executives plan to increase their spending on digital tools during the next three to five years. This will contribute to an operational climate in which BI Intelligence believes the number of connected devices at oil extraction sites will increase at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 70 percent moving forward.

BPM, the IoT and oil and gas innovation

The IoT can be something of a silver bullet for organizations wishing to use data to streamline operations. However, oil and gas companies need to find a way to aim that data at the right targets if they want to create meaningful improvements. BPM tools can serve as an application delivery platform that allows users to create the right apps to use IoT data effectively in the office and in the field, driving major efficiency gains and fueling innovation.