IT Support for Oil & Gas: Planning Ahead is Crucial

Posted by tomcooper on July 11th, 2016

In an industry not normally perceived as a tech company, oil & gas companies may be one economic giant who cannot put the importance of their computer networks high enough in the operational heirarchy. When the infrastructure and economies of entire nations hinge around the reliability of the company's ability to deliver high volume on a consistent basis, no matter what the situation, the importance of a computer network becomes more than a database and access point for producing inter-office communications.

Emergency Response and Recovery

Cloud computing services, when supported with the highest level of intelligent IT support, can be a crucial part of the emergency reponse and recovery system for an oil & gas company. When necessary data and software are stored in a single location, the possibility of losing operational time in case of natural disaster, corporate espionage or simple hardware failure rises exponentially. When the loss of systems means a lack of production or delivery, the spiral that effects more than the ability to produce a single product is put into motion.

An Edmonton based IT consulting company with cloud computing services will be able to protect key files in multiple locations, have monitoring systems in place, and be able to repair crashes on the internal network before they materially affect the output of the plant or pipelines. Files can be rebuilt on local networks by simply downloading patches for corrupted or missing files from secure off-site servers. Seamless and uninterrupted service is the goal. 24/7 active monitoring and commensurate response is the answer for the needs.

Understanding the Network and IT Consulting

As the business continues to expand and technology improves, it is key for corporations to keep knowledgeable and fully trained people in place where sensitive data and computer networks are concerned. Edmonton computer consultants, with a background in servicing the oil & gas industry, have built unique understanding of the networks created to monitor output, transportation, demand, and global interaction. When a corporation grows beyond a few locations often used by small businesses, the IT consultant hired to handle the higher demands of of electronic interactions must stay up to date on both industries in order to provide the best possible service and protection for the client.

Large networks have unique construction and need dedicated managers to maintain integrity and respond to sudden changes in growth and service. When seeking to hire an IT consultant, ensure the company has the requisite background and support to handle the demands of your business.

Diversify Data Locations

Perhaps expanding to cloud computing services is new for the burgeoning oil & gas company. With company locations situated in a single region, the importance of maintaining redundant cloud computing storage locations may not be readily apparent. However, when a region suffers a major natural disaster such as fire, earthquake, floods or a storm, if company data is protected at additional cloud locations away from the threat, there is a much higher chance that sensitive documents, information and back-up security will remain intact and accessible from anywhere in the company structure without loss of production or interruption of service.