ONE TEAM, ONE PLATFORM

Portals’ purpose is to fulfill the information needs of the business with several embedded services, culminating in a ‘Single Source of Truth’ for operational data. Through these services, our clients and colleagues are empowered with the right information at the right time! Data is critical for success in any organisation. Vast amounts of data are generated during operations, transit, logistics, and vessel maintenance. Data supports informed decision-making, which drives efficiencies and reduces costs. It is important that in data, all can agree on what is correct. Oftentimes, data is replicated in spreadsheets, reports, and other systems. With data replication, which version of data is correct? It is important that everyone has a common understanding of what is true. This is a ‘Single Source of Truth’ (SSoT).

Many businesses expect immediate results from data mining, without first establishing a cohesive data strategy. The ‘data-first’ strategy at Stena Drilling ensures that maximum value can be derived from our digital commodities. We invest considerable time in collating data through manual and automated mechanisms. Despite a successful track record in utilising data, it was understood that an evolution in data architecture would bring immediate value.

This evolution began with a landscape analysis of all software solutions across the digital ecosystem. The evaluation highlighted that several core business systems, we coined Master Systems (responsible for managing ‘Master Data’), required modernisation. Several were replaced to achieve the desired data-driven ecosystem. Immediately, the overall data quality improved, with business rules governing how users create data, and reduced time spent manually entering. Our ‘data-first’ philosophy stipulates that data must be viewed as a highly reusable commodity.

Ensuring all new and existing system vendors provided secure, easy access (data must be accessible) was paramount to achieving our goals. Furthermore, the generated data was increasingly available through sophisticated replication engines with redundancy between offshore and onshore instances.

Following a year-long technology refresh programme, where we replaced legacy systems with future-fit solutions; ecosystem foundations were in place to establish a ‘Single Source of Truth’. This ensures all business stakeholders have secure access to the same, accurate, and up-to-date information, regardless of location. By creating a ‘Single Source of Truth’, we could eliminate confusion between stakeholder groups associated with multiple sources, mitigating errors, and increasing collaboration among team members. For this vision to be realised, modern tooling and approaches were required.

Solutions to create a modern data architecture are constantly evolving. Enterprise Architecture experts recommend that technologies are re-assessed every two years to ensure the ecosystem is ‘future fit’. DigiMAX (the codename for Stena Drilling’s data platform), was built utilising cloud-based technologies. Microsoft’s Azure ‘Platform as a Service (PaaS)’ provides a scalable cost model, enhanced security, and agility. Azure’s development services, with reduced costs and available learning modules, enabled our competencies to grow in conjunction with the delivery of new data-driven products and services.

Coinciding with the establishment of DigiMAX, a Business Intelligence (BI) function was established, focused on standardising automated business reporting and governance. A cross-functional team ensured strategic alignment across all departments. Like many companies, we adopted Power BI, with a user-friendly interface, mobile access, and integration to other services, such as Power Automate; it enabled us to deliver contextualised reports like never before!

For Portal to succeed, strong data foundations
must first be in place.

With the introduction of Power BI and a dedicated ‘data-first’ team, colleagues and clients naturally began requesting more complex reporting and analyses. Many of these requirements were delivered as new Power BI reports or added to those already being used; in-line with our agile approach to service delivery. Whilst extremely useful, Power BI visualisations could not deliver on several strategic initiatives focusing on a ‘data-first’ approach to improving performance and remote operation monitoring. The foundations of the data platform were in place; however, it was clear that an information gap still existed.

Alternate solutions with a direct link to DigiMAX would be required to fill this gap.  We have a proven track record of developing and delivering software solutions at Stena Drilling. During the technology refresh programme, we introduced Care Observations, the digitised entry point for over 350,000 fleet-wide observations annually, and, more recently, Innovation Hub. ‘Portal’ is our third software solution and encompasses all the learnings from the last three years.

It is widely accepted that a more connected business is a better business, and a platform such as Portal enables this vision to be realised. Launched at the beginning of 2023, all Stena Drilling employees now have access to Portal. The embedded information is continuously updated from real-time sources as new data becomes available within DigiMAX. It enables those in operational roles to always keep a “finger on the pulse”, a level of awareness that has historically been challenging to deliver.

Power BI reports have been moved from siloed repositories to ‘Portal’, enabling business users to view what reports exist in a ‘one-stop-shop’ and request access if the content would benefit their role. Most of the content within Portal is open to “general” users by default. We believe that data transparency drives efficient business practices and stimulates innovation. Portal was created to aid the business in becoming increasingly transparent with performance data. As a result of greater transparency and awareness of shared goals, new ideas to improve outcomes have been identified whilst also building trust that performance is being evaluated fairly between crews, teams, and vessels.

FOR BUSINESSES JUST STARTING THEIR ENTERPRISE DATA JOURNEY, HERE ARE A FEW TIPS:

• Customer first! Always listen to your customers’ needs to deliver the best results.
• Create and own your data strategy.
• Continuously re-invent your data architecture. Be future-fit!
• Cross-functional teams enhance collaboration.
• Continuous learning. Data literacy is a core competence for modern employers.

The launch of Portal is just the beginning; this is an evolving platform built on strong data foundations. With the introduction of components such as ‘digital twin’ and ‘dashboard marketplace’, Portal will continue to enable Stena Drilling in becoming a connected, data-driven business.