5 advantages of clouds for the oil and gas industry

Ukrainian oil and gas industry now has certain systemic problems that reduce its efficiency. Their IT is about outdated equipment, insufficient investments into powerful resources, and the riskiness of running the oil and gas business. Let us look at how cloud technologies can help here.

The oil and gas complex (OGC) in Ukraine is becoming more and more technologically advanced: simple mechanisms are being replaced by the latest technologies. For example, gas stations with manual control have turned into systems that require minimal human touch, and all work is automated.

Also, oil and gas enterprises, even of the smallest scale are the business that is often associated with risks. First, products themselves are highly valued and crucially important for the economy and the entire country in general. So, the competition in this field is extremely high. Secondly, storing important data (databases, document archives, accounting software, specialized applications, etc.) on office servers is not a very secure solution. Unauthorized persons or intruders can gain access to the servers and all the data that is extremely difficult to recover.

Since the OGC requires specialized software, powerful IT resources are needed, which from time to time need to be scaled. Physical resources, of course, can also be scaled, but it requires additional money and time.

Also, an equally important need for the industry is mobility. For example, the introduction of the latest mobile laboratories for studying the quality of petroleum products has led to the need to organize work differently. Also, it is important to be able not to carry additional IT equipment to store the collected data. And also to share data with all employees in a single space without delays.

Also, the entire oil and gas industry is based on the collection and processing of large amounts of information. These data include:

• monitoring of oil and gas wells, pipeline and gas compressor stations;
• data collection and control over setting-ups;
• archiving and storage of previous indicators;
• involvement of process automation services, analytics systems, etc.

So what are the main IT challenges facing the oil and gas industry?

• Provide efficient and stable management of oil and gas equipment from anywhere in the world.
• Reduce expenditures on IT equipment.
• Establish management and automation processes for oil and gas companies.
• Ensure continuous communication between all parts of the industry.

Cloud technologies simplify and improve the operation of oil and gas companies of all sizes. They solve several tasks at the same time and provide several advantages:

1. Provide reliable and secure data storage

You can transfer an entire company's IT infrastructure to the cloud, as well as individual applications or specialized programs, such as a CRM or ERP system, accounting, telephony, etc. All data is placed outside the office or even the country, so it is protected from access by intruders and form physical losses.

2. Save money on IT equipment and its maintenance

Even the smallest oil and gas companies need powerful equipment to ensure reliable operation. The bigger the company is, the more resources it needs. With clouds, you save money on purchasing, maintaining, and replacing equipment. Also, you pay only for the resources that you use.

3. Provide mobility and 24/7 data access from anywhere in the world

Working in the cloud is convenient for each participant of the enterprise-supplier-customer chain. And not only because there are no bulky and noisy servers in the office.

Clouds offer a high level of service availability, the ability to work from anywhere in the world, and instantly track all changes in workspaces. Also, thanks to the cloud, there is constant communication between employees, and each of them quickly receives information about cooperative processes.

To access the cloud, you only need the Internet. You can connect to a remote desktop, even from your phone, and not lose control over the workflow.

4. Allow you to scale IT resources according to your needs

From time to time, appears a need to change the number of resources. Physical servers, of course, can be scaled, but each time you need to spend time and money on new hardware. Or sometimes it happens that some resources remain unused.
In the cloud, it is easy to scale any resources: you only need to contact our technical support service, and in a few minutes, you will receive a new configuration of the service.

5. Provide additional protection for your data (snapshots and backups)

System snapshots and the ability to make backups will help you achieve even more reliable data storage:

• snapshots are images of your virtual machine disk. They help restore the system to the state it was in when the snapshot was taken. The cost of our two virtual servers TuchaFlex+ and TuchaBit already include snapshots. So, you have the guarantee that the last two snapshots of the system will be saved;
• backups are copies of your data, provided by the service TuchaBackup, and stored in reliable data centers outside of Ukraine.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation — one of the largest oil and gas companies in the United States, actively uses cloud solutions. It stores in the cloud specialized programs, applications for online control over drilling processes, as well as data that employees collect from drilling equipment.

M.G. Bryan Equipment Co., from Texas, is a manufacturer and supplier of specialized equipment, spare parts, and services for oil and gas. Thanks to clouds, this large-scale company has developed solutions that allow it to manage its fleet and hydraulic fracturing machines with the greatest efficiency.

An oil and gas and petrochemical company Petroleos Mexicanos (or PEMEX, Pemex) uses the cloud to store large volumes of archives and graphic data of ultra-high quality, which are constantly updated.

Our services will help you effectively solve the tasks of the oil and gas industry:

• TuchaFlex+ — virtual servers of various configurations with platforms outside Ukraine (mainly in Germany). This service is a kind of constructor that can be assembled according to your needs. All resources are easily scaled, and the guaranteed availability of the service is 99.9%.
• TuchaBit — servers of balanced configuration with platforms in Ukraine. The service allows you to deploy virtual servers based on Microsoft Windows and combine them into isolated networks. TuchaBit offers the following features: 99.0% of guaranteed availability and a Windows Server Datacenter license that is included in the price of each server.
• TuchaBackup — cloud storage for storing backups on remote servers outside of Ukraine (mainly in Germany). With the service, you can bring databases of accounting systems, CRM and ERP systems, mail archives, and so on to the cloud.
• TuchaHosting is a service for stable and fast hosting of sites with a moderate load with 99.9% of guaranteed availability.

A special calculator will help you calculate the cost of any service. Or, you can do even easier: call or write to us! We will provide detailed information about each service, select the best solution and calculate the exact cost of the service in the desired configuration.

Cloud technologies are an affordable and cost-effective solution for oil and gas companies that are interested in improving productivity. Clouds solve several tasks at once: they safely host data, provide mobility and stable operation of an entire company. And most importantly, they help improve workflows with minimal budget expenses.

If you have not already moved your enterprise's IT infrastructure or individual departments to the cloud, then it is time to act. And we will help you choose the best solution for any task, so contact us 24×7!