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Five Ways Cloud Computing Can Benefit Oil, Gas, and Mining Companies

Presented by Green House Data

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Green House Data 304 Progress Circle Cheyenne, WY 82007 GREEN HOUSE WHITE PAPER DATA

Introduction What Can Go in the Cloud? Within the last few years, cloud computing has come out of the fringe The cloud can be configured to and into the forefront of the information securely deliver applications technology world. For industries yet to throughout the enterprise. fully embrace the cloud, real benefits are waiting to be realized. There are five main Infrastructure as a Service ways that the cloud can help the energy is ideal for: industry in particular, from oil and gas companies to global mining operations. • Accounting, revenue distribution, and reporting The cloud is revolutionizing IT across virtually every industry. The concept is simple: instead • Land management of a single server running a single operating system and only using 10-20% of its potential • Asset management computing power, a piece of software called • Data acquisition, storage, a hypervisor allows multiple virtual machines and analysis to run on a single server, increasing resource utilization to 80% or more. Alongside • Customer relationship virtualization tools come new abilities for management automation, economies of scale, and simplified • Supply chain tracking management, allowing IT departments to quickly deploy new virtual data centers at • Document sharing and a fraction of the cost required to procure change tracking physical equipment. Infrastructure as a Service • Imaging technology (IaaS) companies provide this infrastructure with guaranteed levels of uptime and security.

In a fast paced and data-oriented field like measurement, and analysis tools needed to the energy industry, a public, private or compete globally. Maintain equipment at a hybrid cloud allows the type of collaboration, higher level to avoid asset maintenance costs. Gain insight into worldwide supply chains and big data generated from thousands of workers Maintain equipment at a in the field. Eliminate inefficiencies and be the higher level to avoid asset first to reach resources. “ maintenance costs. Gain insight into worldwide supply Here are five ways cloud computing can help chains and big data generated energy and mining companies: from thousands of workers in the field. Eliminate 1) Real-Time Data and Analytics inefficiencies and be the first to reach resources.” The scalable nature of the cloud means additional resources can be added at any

2 greenhousedata.com GREEN HOUSE WHITE PAPER DATA time. For large data sets, large storage arrays what sites are drillable, and when equipment and elastic computing enable real-time data requires maintenance results in significant cost analysis. Whether the cloud hosts imaging savings and more streamlined operations. technology for forecasts and deep drilling, geological data, fluid dynamics simulations, 2) Enterprise Resource Planning or energy trading information, flexible (ERP) Software infrastructure is the most cost-effective way to crunch serious numbers. The cloud allows access to powerful Enterprise Resource Planning software for Figure 1 any user with a network connection. Importance of Reasons to Switch to Cloud Computing (% who rated “Critical/Very Important”) Dynamics, SAP, and Oracle are all popular solutions for ERP, allowing companies to

72% 72% 72% via automation via expenditures maintain a database with information from 67% 67% react to market changes market to react 66% 66% availability

reducing capital reducing every side of the business. increasing efficiency increasing

57% compliance controls compliance improving agility to agility improving

increasing app increasing ERP software includes data, visualizations, security & security projections, reports, and more from cost

36% efficiency planning, marketing and sales, inventory management, and logistics. Revenue energy distribution and reporting is simple with insight into where every dollar goes. ERP tracks cash, raw materials, order status, and even payroll, all from a single interface. http://resources.idgenterprise.com/original/AST-0063424_VMwaDell_plybk0601.pdf 3) Collaboration, Administration, and Marketing Frameworks like Hadoop allow enormous datasets to be sorted through and analyzed for Although some of these functions can valuable insight. 3D and 4D modeling software be handled by ERP software, additional can be installed on cloud computers without applications enable cloud-based collaboration, purchasing expensive powerful desktop document management, administration, and machines or servers, and the resulting large sales and marketing support. Software as files can be stored forever in the cloud. a Service companies like Salesforce have delivered Customer Relationship Management Asset management is another category (CRM) tools for many years. CRM tools can ideal for cloud computing. With the rise of be customized and installed in private clouds the Internet of Things and tracking codes, as well. A CRM makes it easy to keep an eye equipment is either connected directly to a on interactions with current and potential network or otherwise tracked using connected customers, helping sales, marketing, and devices. The cloud can keep track of every customer service communicate and work asset in the field, from truck fleets to rig together. tracking to land and right-of-way information. Knowing when and where to send assets, Document sharing and management in the

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Knowing when and where to send assets, what sites are Public, Private, or Hybrid? drillable, and when equipment “ Executives might be rightly requires maintenance results nervous in putting their data in in significant cost savings and the hands of an outside company. more streamlined operations.” Cloud services come in three generic flavors: public, private, or hybrid. Each has different cloud helps enable workflow rules for change privacy and security implications. management. Multiple users can edit a single file at the same time. Large files like maps, Public clouds run on shared CAD files, and datasets can all live in cloud infrastructure. Your virtual storage with automated backups. Microsoft machines would reside on the SharePoint, a popular productivity application same server as others. The data that plays well in the cloud, is designed to is completely separate. Power foster company-wide file management, up servers as you need them and in-house social networks, enterprise search, Pay as You Go, if you like. Public and business intelligence. clouds are all about flexibility. 4) Data Security, Compliance, and Availability Private clouds are the equivalent of an in-house data With sensitive information like land leasing, center, but hosted remotely. product treatment, and proprietary processes, All data and virtual machines energy companies need secure networks are stored on dedicated and applications. They also have compliance infrastructure. This is ideal standards like NERC Critical Infrastructure for applications with security Protection (CIP) to contend with. Upgrading or compliance standards. and maintaining infrastructure to these standards can be a difficult task, while IaaS Hybrid clouds are a mixture of providers often meet or exceed compliance the two, allowing private standards with traffic monitoring, antivirus virtual machines to connect and antimalware, alerts, and physical facility with additional public resources security. when necessary. Sensitive data can be kept on dedicated, IaaS providers engineer their data centers to private servers, or even in-house high redundancy and availability standards. at legacy data centers. Hybrid is Most cloud contracts include a Service Order the perfect mix of flexibility Agreement (SOA) that describes the expected and security. amount of downtime (usually less than half a percent) and what compensation customers

4 greenhousedata.com GREEN HOUSE WHITE PAPER DATA can expect if the downtime exceeds this The Bottom Line limit. With highly redundant infrastructure, it is unlikely that a will experience The cloud at its simplest is a scalable and failure due to a single piece of equipment. cost-effective replacement for in-house data Even power outages can’t take down centers. By putting additional computing IaaS data centers, as diesel backups and resource at the fingertips of energy companies, Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) kick in to however, powerful benefits can be realized keep servers up and running. including automated financial, customer relationship, and supply-chain management; These factors combine to make a remote data more efficient operations; and flexible, fast center a viable location even for sensitive business reactions based on real-time data. information.

5) Reduced Environmental Impact About Green House Data - Green House Data provides VMware powered cloud The energy and mining industries are often hosting and colocation backed by 24/7 live support. Headquartered in Cheyenne, looking for ways to make their operations , the company has data centers in greener. Virtualization can help increase server Cheyenne, Portland, OR, and Newark, NJ. efficiency by up to 80%. Because a server The facilities are HIPAA and SSAE 16 Type draws the same amount of electricity whether II compliant, powered entirely by wind and it is 20% or 80% utlized, higher efficiency solar power, and designed to be 40% more energy efficient than comparably leads to less energy use for the same amount sized data centers. of work. Wyoming Office Many data centers also strive for highly energy 304 Progress Circle efficient operations by using outside air to Cheyenne, WY 82007 cool their equipment, purchasing efficient Office equipment, isolating the hot air expelled from 110 16th St, Suite 1240 servers, and more. This is in their best interest Denver, CO 80202 because the less energy used by a data center, the greater the cost savings. T: 866.995.3282 F: 307.316.0404 E: [email protected] Building a virtual data center in the cloud can be a quick and easy way for oil, gas, and mining companies to reduce their carbon footprint. Replacing just 50 servers with a virtual environment is the equivalent of planting about 450 trees.

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