Energy sector looks to integrated EHS IT solutions to manage risk in a complex operational and regulatory enironment

We are in the midst of a 21st Century energy boom. It has created thousands of jobs and reduced the U.S. dependence on imported crude oil. New technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) create new opportunities as well as risks. In light of recent offshore and onshore incidents in the energy and chemical industries, regulatory agencies are in the midst of making new policies and rules. How do organizations keep up with this complex, dynamic business environment?

“Risk is an integral component of a safety culture. It must be the lens through which we view the interaction between technology and the human element.”
–Brian Salerno, BSEE Director

Most organizations use spreadsheets, email and documents to manage environment, health & safety (EH&S or EHS) data. Even those that use more robust information technology (IT) platforms admit that they do not use IT to its fullest.

To better collect, manage, and use EHS information, many energy companies are migrating to integrated EH&S software applications for the first time. Others are taking a hard look at replacing legacy systems with more robust IT platforms.

The latest IT Insight column, 21st Century Energy Boom and Greater Risk Awareness Drive EH&S Software Initiatives, describes the pressure that the energy industry faces in managing mountains of EHS data while also minimizing the risks associated with everyday business. The column describes lessons learned in the Gulf of Mexico and a new risk management approach that is taking hold. Read the full article here.

The DJSI World 2014 Review Results

Each year, the Dow Jones Index Committee and sustainability investment specialist RobecoSAM review thousands of companies and identify those to include in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). Companies in the DJSI are recognized as sustainability leaders by independent rating organizations, as well.

Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index family tracks the stock performance of the world’s leading companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria.

The DJSI Committee develops seven indices each year. The following summary is for the DJSI World, which represents the top 10% of the largest 2,500 companies in the S&P Global BMI based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria.

Global Sustainability Leaders

The two figures below list the 2014 leaders in 23 Industry Groups. Sixteen companies have been part of DJSI World for all fifteen years—Baxter International, Bayer, Bayerische Motoren Werke, BT Group, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Diageo, Intel, Sainsbury, Novo Nordisk, RWE, SAP, Siemens, Storebrand and Unilever.

  

Top 10 Additions to DJSI World (by Market Capitalization)

1. Commonwealth Bank of Australia
2. GlaxoSmithKline
3. Amgen
4. Toronto-Dominion Bank
5. AbbVie
6. Caterpillar
7. Renkitt-Benckiser Group
8. Lockheed-Martin Group
9. Bank of New York Mellon Group
10. Deutsche Post AG

Top 10 Deletions from DJSI World (by Market Capitalization)

1. General Electric
2. Bank of America
3. Schlumberger
4. BHP Billiton Ltd
5. McDonald’s
6. BHP Billiton PLC
7. Telefonica
8. Starbucks,
9. NIKE Inc
10. Colgate-Palmolive

Learn more about DJSI indices and see the 2014 Annual Review here.

New Apple MacBook Air appeals to the mobile business set

In late April Apple beefed up its MacBook Air product line. The lightweight notebook computers now boast faster, 4th generation Intel processors, longer batter life, bigger flash storage, faster and better WiFi and slightly lower price tags. This makes the Air more attractive to on-the-go business travelers who need or prefer a full-fledged computer over a tablet or smartphone.

Photo: Apple

The new MacBook Air specs go head-to-head with the most powerful Windows laptops. Apple is taking the opportunity to win business users over to its hardware and the OSX operating system.

Why? Here are several issues that left market share up for grabs:

• Windows XP End of Support
• heartbleed and security vulnerabilities with Internet Explorer
• Sarbanes-Oxley compliance concerns
• increased use of Cloud applications in large organizations
• Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) and mobile apps.

Read New MacBook Air specs make for better business laptops and visit the Apple Web site here.

Those who need less powerful computing power have a number of other options, from smartphones to “phablets” to tablets and ChromeBooks. For further reading on the risks and benefits of sticking with Windows XP, and the increase in organizational use of non-Windows operating systems, see recent IT Insight columns:

• Windows XP sails into the sunset… maybe
• Can Windows and other OSs play in the same sandbox?

With Windows XP End of Support, Chromebooks are a popular option to Windows PCs

Now that Windows XP is no longer supported by Microsoft, organizations that still use the 13-year-old operating system (OS) must face reality–at some point, they must upgrade their OS, and likely their computer. When Microsoft released Windows XP to market, more organizations provided desktop than laptop computers. Using a laptop meant sacrificing features and forking over more dollars to gain mobility.

Those who have yet to “sunset” Windows XP no longer need to be tethered to their desks (See: Windows XP Sails into the Sunset… Maybe). A world of technologies became available (and affordable) since 2001, notably:

• Wireless networks (WiFi) and Mobile hotspots (MiFi)
• Lightweight notebook computers
• Smartphones, tablets and apps
• Social networks, Cloud applications and data storage
• More power-efficient chips and hours of operation between charges
• Solid state “flash” drives

Image: hp

Windows XP End of Support lets organizations rethink their IT strategies. Businesses and educational institutions alike can consider alternative Windows , Mac and Google OS and hardware. Chromebooks are a popular option, with their simplicity and low entry cost of $275 to $300 USD.

Read 10 Reasons Today’s Chromebooks Look Like a Smart Mobile PC Buy.

 

Microsoft Pulls Plug on Windows XP Support

Just last week—08 April 2014—Microsoft stopped supporting the tremendously popular Windows XP operating system. They will provide security updates/patches for another fifteen months, through July 2015.

Loyal XP users need to decide if “I’d rather fight than switch” or “I’d rather switch than fight…” and they need to decide soon, since upgrades in large organizations can take 12-18 months.

Windows XP Sails into the Sunset… Maybe speaks to the impacts and unintended consequences of the long-announced end of support.

End of support impacts millions of users. Where does that leave the millions of business and consumer users still on that operating system? Will they fight upgrading to Windows 8.1, or switch to an alternative operating system. What challenges will people face when upgrading to a new OS?

End of support has unintended consequences. First, it resulted in a resurgence in Windows 7 laptop sales and Windows 7 OS upgrades. Second, it resulted in the purchase of Windows-alternative hardware and software. End of support gives organizations a reason to evaluate whether they need laptops into the future, or if other technologies (cloud, mobile, and social) are better alternatives.

Windows XP support ending soon

Microsoft stops support for the Windows XP operating system (OS) early in April, and stops support for the associated malware software in July. Despite Microsoft’s warnings to update from Windows XP to Windows 8.1 before “end of support,” many large organizations continue to use the almost 13-year-old computer operating system. It is the most popular OS next to Windows 7. And some companies will switch to Windows 7 rather than Windows 8.x.

Image: Microsoft

Companies can

1. continue to use Windows XP and later change to another OS;
2. upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1; or
3. upgrade to an OS such as Chrome OS, Mac OSX Mavericks or Android.

Windows XP end of support allows an opportunity to evaluate how IT needs have changed in the last 13 years. Organizations can decide which new technologies—hardware, operating systems, mobile, Cloud and Big Data—will work best for them.

The next “IT Insight” column, Windows XP sails into the sunset… maybe, appears in em Magazine on April 1. Check back here or on our web site early in April for a link to the column.

Good RFPs lead to better proposals

Get all suppliers headed in the same direction.

Is a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quote (RFQ) in your future? To make sure that your RFP does not become a “Request for Problems,” consider the following advice:

1. Engage the right team. Include a cross-section of stakeholders to develop the RFP and to evaluate proposals. 
2. Send the RFP only to 2-3 qualified parties. By the time you reach the RFP stage, you should have a good idea of which suppliers can best meet your needs. Do not waste the supplier’s or your time just to get pricing information.
3. State the evaluation criteria up front. Share the “high level” criteria such as fit with business needs, ease of use, supplier qualifications, etc. Spare the details.
4. Provide project background information. This sets the stage and gives the supplier a reference point.
5. Provide a proposal outline or response template. This  permits you to compare proposals on a level playing field. A clear outline will elicit better responses and a template should make responses easier to evaluate.  Limit the response length in certain areas as you see fit.
6. Make it easy for the supplier to respond. Be specific with your request for information.  Avoid asking for superfluous information, and instruct the supplier to be brief.
7. Provide a single point of contact. Typically, Supply Chain or Procurement is the contact. The single contact will ask the end-user of the product/service for help in answering questions in their domain. This levels the playing field and keeps politics out of the equation as much as possible.
8. Request customer references–and check them! Assume that suppliers give only positive references. If you have contacts within other organization, then call them as well. Ask the same questions of each reference, including questions like, “Would you choose this supplier if you had to do it again?”
9. Impose a “quiet period” from the RFP issue date through supplier selection.
10. Provide feedback to ALL suppliers. After selecting a supplier, remember to give feedback to those who did not win the bid. Surprising, many organizations forget this common courtesy.

See the IT Insight archives for further reading on this and other topics related to software evaluation, selection and life cycle management. 

© 2013 Lexicon Systems, LLC.

The EHS and Sustainability Software Market Grows Up

The environment, health, and safety (EHS) and sustainability software market is maturing as it reaches the 30-year mark. The industry began with a few small software applications used by a handful of EHS professionals—with little or no data sharing. Today, it is a multi-billion-dollar market with thousands of applications ranging from point solutions to enterprise-capable, Web-based solutions–and plenty of applications in between.

I have observed increased spending on EHS and
sustainability software over the last few years…

Even with consolidation, prospective buyers have a choice of many solutions aimed at different industry sectors, some capable of supporting a global, enterprise-wide deployments and others designed to address a specific issue, such as greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting. As a result, savvy buyers seek professional guidance when selecting and implementing an EHS and Sustainability solution; their solution may include more than one software application to meet current needs while allowing for future growth.

Click here to read about transformation over the years, market needs and vendor offerings, market consolidation and market growth.

Confronting disruptive innovation article available

IT departments today must deal with several emerging technologies at once–social networking, mobile/BYOD, cloud and big data/predictive analytics. All of these are disruptive innovations, aka disruptive technologies.

Many organizations encourage disruptive innovation. Take Google for instance. Can you imagine life without Google search, mail, maps, Chrome, earth and other tools? These innovations first appealed to “fringe” markets of “techies” and later moved to the mainstream. simply did not exist just a few years ago, and they have changed the way we live and work.

Other organizations encourage the opposite–sustainable technology that improves the performance of existing products meant for the mainstream. Take Microsoft Office for example. Yes, the interface has changed dramatically over the years and we see new features, but this is a mainstream product with a purpose that changes little.

Read Confronting disruptive innovation to learn more.