Having seen many software additions, upgrades, and switchouts over the last few decades, I have seen a trend to 'hold off' on these types of major projects in the last few years. It could be due to the upgrade fatigue, the ever increasing cost of I.T. and I.S. within an organization, cost of conversion of data, lack of staff, cost of retraining, and also the cost of re-integrating to other systems. While these are real challenges for an organization, waiting until the software is unsupported or near the end of its useful life, may also present other factors that end up costing the organization more in the end. Inability to collect that 'extra' data for analytics, having transformation or external integration tables or lists, for moving data across systems, and having a user interface that is not adaptable to the newer technology that can provide a better user experience. We tend to add layers of Crystal Reports, Power BI reports, or even Power Apps to make these older systems stay on the acceptable scale. When this customization effect gets more and more mature, it is that much more difficult to change out and indirectly increases the costs of that application (or even just the data that is being collected). People and resources that worked on these integration efforts, have moved on, leaving very few people in the organization with the knowledge of how anything works, and why it was done in the first place. We continue to pump field data to Data Lakes for even more custom reports, perhaps combined with maintenance or SCADA data, and even financial data from production accounting or true financial systems. Organizations can, and do bring in, data architects and data scientists to help out with managing the data and information. This of course, adds to the expense of I.S., initially as a project, then often gets carried forward as a G & A expense. Smaller organizations may not have the desire or resources to do this. When organizations question if an upgrade or changeout is warranted, I hope they look beyond the application itself and take the time to identify other cost efficiencies and opportunities they could be enjoying with the right software.

First of all, what is application overload? Application overload is the over abundance of the number of applications a division or company has. Many companies obtain an application for nearly every task. Acquiring a new application is made easy with the Software as a Service model. Also the price of individual applications have dropped with increased competition from software vendors. But why is having numerous applications a problem? Many issues are encountered with an increased number of applications. Actually, these issues tend to become increasing more complicated and costly with an increase in the number of applications: Managing those applications (cost of individual ownership is high, including SaaS applications. The need to enter the same data in multiple systems Decrease in user productivity because of an over-abundance of tools (study by Pegassystems) Reporting across multiple applications is complicated Inbound/outbound data integrations among applications (usually point-to-point) quickly multiple in numbers and complexity A new breed of applications has emerged called low code/no code. This category allows for rapid application creation and modification with drag and drop widgets. Low code still needs a developer to glue together components, package and deploy. The “no code” category is similar but can be used by nontechnical business individuals. This new segment of applications allows businesses to create and deploy applications faster than ever before, but still requires the IT to maintain and support the new application. Also, most of these applications focus on the user interface. While, this point is not a negative aspect, the focus is not on the data elements or data sets that define your business. Adaptable Applications Need to Focus on Data Sets The key for any business is to provide meaningful KPIs or metrics. These metrics help the business to analysis and measure their daily performance and potentially identify adjustments to make their business better. Now if a company can quickly change this measurement model, a significant increase in flexibility would allow the business to better handle to new challenges. The following 2 points are key to create a versatile environment: 1. Easily change their data sets While having a flexible application that allows you to change your user interface (ie. adding a new widget or changing your layout) is very useful, changing the underline data set is key to the business. These low code/no code do allow for this, but usually is very slow to change a single element, and painful to change an entire dataset. 2. Having a central, or a single repository A single data repository is key for an adaptable application. Many separate datasets is the biggest issue with application overload. Separate datasets result in enormous expenses to your business, including: expensive data integrations, expensive potentially creating a data warehouse for reporting complicated reports data inconsistencies among applications EfficiencyStudio places focus on datasets and data relationships The key for adaptability is the data and the relationships. A single central repository is a data strategy that simplifies all aspects of your business. But, is this strategy possible? EfficiencyStudio focuses on bringing all operational data into one datastore. EfficiencyStudio manages these datasets by : 1. Having a flexible definition of core entities or dimension table. An example of these core entities would be a tank, meter, storage, well, or generator. EfficiencyStudio allows one click modifications of these core elements, and allows you to easily create new entities 2. Quick and rapid loading of facts. Users can quickly load operational data User can quickly modify the definition the of the fact tables, and manage the relationship between the fact and dimension tables (in-other-words, change relationships between core entities and operational data) Easily change user navigation between operational data and core entities Benefits of Data Unity A single central repository for your operational sounds to go to be true. This approach is very different from the typical data landscape of businesses today. But, if we can achieve this utopia, what would be the benefits? Reduced applications Less applications means less cost, less time spent on dealing with managing multiple vendors. Users will spend less time switching between applications 2. Reduced data integrations between application Application integrations are huge investments companies spend money on to glue together applications 3. Single source of truth for your core entities Nobody wants multiple copies of core data to sync or validate among systems 4. Simplify reports, KPIs and metrics 5. Create Reusable mechanisms, such as workflows, alerts, notifications, & MOC on all your data These points are huge advantage over a typical application infrastructure, but with a cost. The downside to this approach would be the feature rich widgets which you would acquire with using a custom developed or a low code/no code solution. Purchasing an application which is very tailored to solving a specific task would also be a richer experience to the user. In summary, the dilemma is multiple feature rich applications vs an uber-flexible system. Eventually, a best-of-both worlds might exist, but software will need a significant evolution to accomplish this. You will need to choose the approach best for your business.

What is application overload? Application overload is the over abundance in the number of applications a division or company has. Many companies tend to obtain an application for nearly every task. These applications are tailored to this task and guides the user through a number of steps: 1. Entering data 2. Validating data 3. Reporting on the data 4. Scheduling other tasks These applications are extremely good at what they promise and what they do. In fact, the competition among applications is extremely high because of the number of applications available to the user in the marketplace. Result of application overload You will encounter many pains having over-abundance of applications including; 1. Managing those applications (cost of individual ownership is high, including SaaS applications) 2. The need to enter the same data in multiple systems 3. Decrease in user productivity because of an over-abundance of tools (study by Pegassystems) 4. Reporting across multiple applications is complicated A disruptive approach What are the solutions to application overload problems? 1. Manage your applications with other tools Many application exist to help you manage your applications through a common dashboard, and simplifying integration and reporting. Also, using Robotic Process Automation can minimize data entry across applications. Having an overall application strategy is also key. 2. Rationalize/reduce your applications Many companies have many MRP, ERP, CRM systems acquired through acquisition or other means. Consolidating into 1 system is key to reducing overhead. 3. Revert to using excel Most companies have used Excel to track part of their business at one point . Everyone understands and loves the flexibility of Excel. Running your entire business on a spreadsheet isn’t ideal for a lot of reasons, but possible. 4. Displace many applications with one application Applications that are extremely flexible can replace a sector of other applications. Few applications have the capability of customizing/tailoring the system to your needs for many tasks especially with a no-code or no-IT approach. The first 3 solutions are not new concepts. The fourth point describing a no code or low code platform is a new concept. Forbes states No-Code Is The Future Of Software. The key, I believe is for companies to be able to custom define their business attributes and easily change those attributes. Low code enables companies to change quicker than a traditional, structured application. Especially if a vendor needs to provide you with a patch to track additional information or widgets. But, a further improvement would be for the business experts, or non-IT individuals, to configure and make changes themselves and not involve the vendor, IT or analysts. This is approach sounds eerily similar to excel. Excel is provides the ultimate in flexibility and adaptable, but excel is terrible for any organization greater than 1. This ultra flexible system approach could drastically reduce the overall cost of supporting and maintaining an application. But, given the ultra flexible nature, why not store information related to many tasks? Combining the data from many applications into 1 nibble application not only magnifies the savings, but the user touch points and the complexity of your application stack. Also, exponentially reducing the data integrations and complexity of writing reports. Report writing could be done with a single connection to a single data mart! Tools Efficiency Studio Bubble Out Systems This disruptive approach of replacing many of your applications with one application would be be appealing to every company. But, certain companies that have highly skilled technical staff could significantly improve many aspects of their day-to-day lives and offer a huge competitive advantage. Application Overload References How apps and software are getting more complicated When Is Your App Too Complex for Power Apps? App overload: The silent productivity killer 5 Steps to Relieve App Overload and Improve Productivity How App Overload Impacts Employee Productivity Why Application Overload Is Dragging Down Employee Productivity One Integrated System vs Multiple Applications

Application technologies are rapidly advancing how the end-user does work. It is said that the best employees are those that can learn, unlearn, and relearn. There is no steady state for the average employee anymore. Data management and data analytics have been intertwined in business processes and practices. No longer can you simply perform traditional month-end processes. The smart user optimizes those processes using advanced tools. Case in point: many large oil and gas producers have been gathering all of their utility bills and looking to optimize power consumption. For example, if they are paying four times more for power between the hours of 5pm to 8pm, companies will schedule higher power consumption outside of these hours. This may include pumps, mixers, or other equipment that uses a majority of power on site. Having data in consumable data sets allows the employee to make value-add decisions for an organization. If you had power consumption and cost at an hourly interval, imagine how you could save your organization 10% or maybe 20% power costs? Now take this same paradigm to water or other consumables that cost your organization a lot of money. Gartner Group The Gartner Group has published the top Strategic Technology Trends for 2022. They highlight the fact that companies must adapt to the changing technologies to stay competitive. “CEOs know they must accelerate the adoption of digital business and are seeking more direct digital routes to connect with their customers,” says David Groombridge, VP Analyst, Gartner. “But with an eye on future economic risks, they also want to be efficient and protect margins and cash flow.” Efficiency Studio Foresight recognizes that smaller E&P companies may not have the resources at their disposal such as IT departments with Business Analysts, Data Architects, or database analysts. By working with partners, Foresight has built a low/no-code solution to allow end users to build their own Composable Applications with a little help from our expertise. Efficiency Studio is a cloud-based solution that is user customizable to fit most of your operational datasets into one place. Call us today to start the conversation to improve your bottom line.