Oil and Gas ERP Selection:
6 Things To Look For
Although there’s no shortage of ERP systems available on the market, only a select few have been designed specifically for the Oil and gas industry.
Some ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) are geared toward small businesses, while others are designed for large enterprises. There are also industry-specific ERP solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of specific industries, such as manufacturing or healthcare. These industry-specific ERP solutions include features designed to support a particular industry’s specific processes and workflows. For example, a manufacturing ERP system may contain features for managing inventory and production schedules, while a healthcare ERP system may include components for managing patient records and insurance claims.
This is why your oil and gas business must not simply pick the ERP with the largest market share (like SAP or Oracle) but look at software explicitly designed for the energy sector.
As the oil and gas industry constantly evolves, it is crucial to pick an ERP management solution that can grow and change with your company. When looking for the best ERP system for the oil and gas industry, you should consider one that can easily integrate with your current systems and has industry-specific features to meet your unique requirements. It is also essential to look for a ‘future-proof’ system to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the oil and gas industry.
To ensure that an ERP system can keep pace with the rapidly changing oil and gas industry, you should choose a system with the following six key features:
Adaptable to Business Processes
ERP system for the Oil and Gas sector needs to be able to change along with company processes; software that can’t change and requires businesses to operate differently is not a good option. Additionally, the software must be user-friendly; if it’s not, it won’t be successful. Because of these requirements, niche players like IFS will continue to be important in industries – like oil and gas exploration – that need flexibility, customization, and ease of use. An ERP system must be flexible enough to accommodate changes in the oil and gas industry. For example, the system should easily adapt to changes in crude oil prices or radical fluctuations in demand.
Localized Financial Accounting
No longer is anything related to energy production local. In every respect, everyone is competing on a worldwide scale. The ERP must be equipped to deal with financial processes in any local currencies they might take place in, not to mention being able to manage the complex tax systems the company might be subject to. In addition, the ERP should be able to adjust quickly to changes in crude oil prices or sudden changes in demand, which are frequent occurrences in today’s market.
Integrated with Other Systems
The ERP software should seamlessly integrate with your other systems, such as accounting and financial software. For this reason, an ERP with a wide variety of integrated add-ons is essential. An oil and gas business should prioritize platforms with natively integrated, industry-specific features like Asset Management and Mobility Solutions, and allow bolt-on applications that may be developed for company-specific needs such as inventory optimization.
Meet Regulatory Compliance
The regulatory and compliance landscape in the oil and gas sector is constantly changing. Your ERP must be able to adapt to these changes without having to reinvent the wheel every time the EPA or tax and regulatory agencies (domestic and international) issue a new regulation.
Mobile Accessibility
A lot of the “action” in the drilling world occurs outside the office. Interfacing your ERP platform with mobile hardware and devices will become critical to the overall oil & gas technology landscape. In the future, those companies that plan for mobile evolution, e.g., the 2021 3G phaseout on tank tracking, will be best positioned for success.
Cross-department Real-time Reporting
The goal of an ERP is to rid businesses of “information silos.” These silos are typically databases that other departments can’t access, such as HR’s inability to access the Legal department’s data. The resulting frustration among employees due to the inconsistency of information makes it difficult for managers to make informed decisions. Look for an ERP with advanced reporting features to help you bridge that gap, especially with legacy databases.
What’s the future of ERP for the Oil and Gas industry?
The future of ERP in the oil and gas industry is looking very promising. In the past, oil and gas companies have hesitated to embrace ERP because of the cost and complexity involved in deploying an on-premise solution. However, with the advent of cloud-based and mobile ERP solutions, the oil and gas industry is well-positioned to take advantage of the latest generation of tech.
Cloud-based ERP software offers oil and gas companies several advantages, including lower upfront costs, reduced IT complexity, and improved scalability. In addition, mobile ERP solutions can help oil and gas companies improve field productivity by providing employees with real-time access to data and business processes.
The best way to find the right ERP system for your oil and gas company is to consult an ERP expert who can assess your specific needs and recommend a solution that will work best for you.
