Utilizing thousands of resources, the oil and gas industry faces ongoing challenges, such as regulatory and ESG compliance, supply chain risks and market volatility. This is why many organizations are on the lookout for solutions that could help them streamline operations, reduce risk of disruptions and boost innovation.
Yet, it is necessary to think about data for those considering embarking on the digital transformation journey. A well-performed data migration process is vital because it can ensure that organizations optimize the quality of their data through cleansing, enable themselves to adopt technology faster without the risk of losing data, as well as provide cost efficiency and improved security.
Hearing from Data Migration International (DMI), the provider of data migration and application retirement, ERP Today explored three customer stories where users, despite their differing contexts and backgrounds, all looked for one solution – holistic data management of historical and legacy data.
Moving forward with secured and archived data
Energy Transfer, a US Fortune 500 natural gas and propane pipeline transport company, juggled the tech stack of multiple legacy systems such as Mainframe, Oracle, JDE and others, experiencing challenges with maintenance costs, limited flexibility and legacy data of up to 50 years old being stored on old hardware and tape devices. With the introduction of a central SAP S/4HANA system, it needed to migrate only relevant data, wishing to historize obsolete data and keep it auditable. In its search for a solution that could help reduce costs and migrate and organize data, Energy Transfer found DMI and its JiVS Information Management Platform (JiVS IMP).
An information management platform, JiVS IMP has functionality that aims to address challenges experienced in the oil and gas industry by enabling efficient data separation and lifecycle management. It decouples non-active data, such as legacy well logs, seismic data and historical production reports, from operational systems, ensuring smooth performance while retaining easy access to critical records.
This way, Energy Transfer was able to eliminate old legacy systems including mainframe infrastructure, tape devices and ADK data, as well as implement a governance framework to manage historical data effectively, thereby reducing costs. Users can now also access archived data via smart document archiving with a data security protocol set across various business processes.
In the management of data, don’t forget compliance
Similarly to Energy Transfer, GasLINE, one of the biggest fiber-optic cable (FOC) network providers in Germany, required an SAP archiving solution after a change of service provider for commercial management. With the critical need to be able to access historical data, the change in commercial management made data migration a complex and challenging process. Additionally, it was vital for GasLINE to find a solution that could help ensure compliance with German “GoBS” legislation, which stipulates how data should be treated in documents-against-payment (DP) accounting systems.
After considering the options available together with its development partner OGE, GasLINE found JiVS IMP to be the one solution that ticked its primary boxes. Now, having undergone the implementation process where historical data was cleansed and refined and then moved to the unified archive database, GasLINE and its users can access the data from a single platform without the need to look for it across multiple systems and areas. With all data stored in a single database, the company is also able to comply with the GoBS legislation.
Mind the gap in your core systems
An American Petroleum refining, marketing and transportation company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, after migrating to SAP S/4HANA, realized that there were gaps left in its core systems, with users having to access 40-year-old data in multiple systems while also experiencing high operational costs for historical data.
After collaborating with DMI and deciding to store all its legacy data in JiVS IMP, the oil giant is now able to have on-demand access to archived data, whether it’s geological survey data, historical production figures or compliance documentation, thus streamlining operational efficiency in a highly regulated industry. Additionally, the organization can now adjust resources based on data needs, whether managing large exploration datasets or integrating new acquisitions.
Thinking about data and its management is crucial, whatever digital stage your organization is at, especially in the oil and gas industry. Whether moving to cloud, changing service providers or considering what to do with your legacy tech stack, it is important to ensure that your data is refined and easily accessible to fulfill business needs and secure continuous growth. Achieving this alone may be a tedious task, so looking for solutions like JiVS IMP may be the right path for your organization in this quest toward scalability, governance and usability.
