The Big Climb: sustainability through information management

Phil Schwarz at OpenText explains how sustainability and productivity can be boosted by effective information management

 

Ernest Hemingway once wrote that ‘The Earth is a fine place, and worth fighting for’. I was reminded of this late last year, when I was travelling back to Alaska from an invigorating and inspiring OpenText World in Las Vegas in October. On my return journey, I saw one of those beautiful sights in nature that takes the breath away: snow covering the Chugach Mountains surrounding the Anchorage area.

 

Taking in this view, I thought first of Hemingway’s words, that this is a world worth fighting for, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. And I also thought about what our guest keynote speaker at the event had said, something which was still fresh in my mind as the flight made its way above the mountains.

 

Alex Honnold is a professional rock climber and philanthropist. At the event he discussed what it means to be agile and prepared in harsh conditions, and how human beings can adapt to solve problems and reach new heights.

 

Honnold’s story was drawn from his own personal experience in tackling some of the most challenging peaks in the world, but it also provides a perfect analogy for the challenge businesses face when it comes to managing the information in their systems. And when it comes to climate change, perhaps the highest mountain humanity must climb, the analogy is even more apt for energy companies.

 

Let me explain.

 

The journey up the mountain

To translate the analogy, the top of the mountain represents the strategic objectives of the business. Every company has their own objective they are climbing towards. In the age of data, information is obviously important to the climb, but what’s really important is using the right information at every step. This introduces the importance of information management to the journey up the mountain to reach our strategic objectives.

 

As per Gartner, information management can be defined as “a method of using technology to collect, process and condense information with a goal of efficient management.” Linking this back to climate change, the ability to organise, integrate, and protect your information is integral to the success of the modern energy company.

 

Reports indicate that as much as 20% of the world’s information is structured data, which includes information contained and displayed in rows, columns, tabs, or another pre-defined way. There are, of course, several software domains, such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Maintenance, Customer Relationship Management, Human Resource Management, Supply Chain Management, and many more that specialise in collecting and processing this type of information.

 

In mountain climbing, the climb up the base of the mountain represents this structured data. At this stage, the lay of the land is clear, the path forward is structured, meaning the footing is stable and there are fewer hazards to contend with, enabling speedy progress initially.

 

But once you get past the base camp, the journey up the mountain begins to get more complicated. This part of the climb represents the remaining 80% of data that is unstructured. If organisations holding this data are not properly equipped with the right tools, they will find it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to reach the strategic objectives at the top of the mountain.

 

This next portion of the climb is tough. It is unstructured in nature and as such there is no clear path forward. Hazards begin to present themselves, and as business leaders, we are surely all familiar with that feeling of uncertainty around how to move forward when challenges arise.

 

How information management can help

The CIO of Equinor recently revealed that 80% of employees’ time in the energy sector is spent searching through unstructured information. The is obviously hugely unproductive, and serves to delay the completion of projects, contribute to unplanned asset downtime, and introduces safety and compliance risks.

 

This problem is compounded by the fact that 80% of the data organisations hold is unstructured and delivers an imperative for companies to find a reliable information management solution. Such a solution is vital to managing the unstructured data they hold and integrate it with structured business applications, enabling their team members to utilise seamless information on their climb towards the goal of strategic objectives.

 

Information management technologies and best practices are now available which can enable business leaders to navigate the full climb of their journey, because their employees are constantly working with both structured and unstructured data in the analysis and execution of business processes.

 

Energy companies have numerous structured data applications that are vital to the functionality and success of their strategic objectives. Information management technologies and best practices are required to support them in the portion of the climb represented by that 80% of unstructured data, ultimately helping them achieve those strategic goals.

 

Ultimately, as the energy industry pivots its strategic focus to the twin challenges of maintaining and decarbonising energy flows, information management will become about seeing a clear, data-driven path to a more sustainable future. The world’s need for energy is continuing to accelerate at a time in which we drastically need to reduce emissions to combat our impact on the environment.

 

A clear and conscious strategy is required to overcome these dual challenges, and that means that this race up the proverbial mountain is just as much about information management as it is about energy use itself.

 

Companies need to find a solution which empowers them to provide energy safely, reliably, cost effectively and sustainably to their customers and to the world. With the right information management solution, organisations can unlock the potential of their teams, boosting productivity by simply and securely capturing, governing, and exchanging information so they have the right information to move forward.

 

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Phil Schwarz is Senior Industry Strategist, Energy & Utilities Sector, at OpenText

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com