Global Support for a Complex Sector

Designing a transformation strategy is tricky enough. But when you have the added complexities of working with mixed technologies that operate in siloes to begin with, it can be a nightmare.

A world-renowned oil and gas company was struggling to stabilise their IT estate, which was the crucial first step in their transformation strategy. The situation was further complicated by stringent procedures and health and safety requirements that come with the oil and gas sector, not to mention difficulties associated with non-standard buildings, including oil rigs and other remote locations.

Put simply, it takes a specialist provider to manage everything efficiently. With their incumbent providers failing to provide the levels of service required, a change was needed.

The skills and expertise to help

In late December 2020, Aura was asked to help by one of our trusted partners, a global SI, who knew that we had extensive experience in managing and supporting multi-tech, multi-site environments and the skills and expertise to meet the client’s complex needs – that being approximately 8,000 users across 40 sites, spanning Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Realising the importance of a quick take over to avoid any further disruption, Aura’s speed and agility in executing on this project was of paramount importance. We quickly took stock of the company’s assets, which spanned various technologies – including Nortel, Siemens, Ericsson, Philips and Alcatel – and rationalised them under one contract. Our global reach and on-the-street resources allowed us to combine a central management hub with local knowledge and know-how to ensure a quick, efficient take-over of the estate.

This was not without its challenges. The nature of oil refineries and their strictly controlled environments require adherence to stringent policies. Aura’s engineers successfully completed a series of health and safety training sessions and on-site inductions in an extremely short timeframe.

Each of the supported countries also brought its own unique challenges beyond technology. Several countries had geographical demands with customer locations located outside of metropolitan areas which were difficult to reach. In Singapore, engineers were even required to schedule their visits on chartered ferries.

By mid-February 2021 – within six weeks of project kick off – the service was live.

A comprehensive support model

As well as on-site resources and parts replacement, Aura provided a dedicated Service Delivery Manager who oversaw the migration, escalations and hard and soft MAC provisions across the multiple platforms to ensure a smooth transition – in line with the client’s global strategy.

To provide the best services for all regions, the support model was designed with local experts whilst maintaining central management and a consistent SLA and commercial model across the whole estate.

The client also has access to Aura’s expertise for additional projects. That’s bolstered by the option of complementary services, such as an upgrade to the Aura Insight suite of services that will bring global visibility to the client’s estate.

Invaluable industry experience

One of the key reasons why the client chose Aura was our track record and expertise in delivering exceptional services across a multitude of sectors. With invaluable experience in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, we had a number of transferable skills that we could apply to the unique challenges brought by oil and gas.

With the agility to quickly skill up engineers to pass induction training, enabling access to obscure sites, for example, we met health and safety requirements across the global estate without any problems.