Way, way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I had a very annoying flip phone that was really only able to make and receive calls and (upon the rare occasion) get and send a few random text messages from other techie types. The main reason I found this phone so annoying is I wanted it to be able to do so much more; and it seemed like it shouldn't be all that difficult to make it happen.

But, that's all there was on the market at the time.

I continuously wondered why on earth someone didn't make them to fetch my email, or have a decent camera in them. Then it finally became a reality and just like that we all became more mobile than we had ever dreamed of being! It was AWESOME being set free from waiting for an email, and unchained from my desk where I would often be found waiting for information to be sent.

We’ve been innovating in the automation arena for decades. Still, recently, we realized that we had several departments working on this separately—and that we could benefit from pooling our efforts and getting an even bigger picture of the possibilities.

So, we asked ourselves this critical question “What should we be doing to innovate on a larger scale to help our oil and gas production customers become even more efficient?”

Have you read about the advance of self-driving cars? With an array of sensors “seeing” obstacles, speed limit signs and other vehicles, tracking the speed, noting highway conditions such as rain or sleet, and using maps and tracking to plan the route, self-driving vehicles are approaching us in their own fast lane.

You may not be surprised to find that we have the same dreams for a self-operating oil field.

Now there will still be the need for repairs of worn-out equipment, damaged well-bores, and to perform PMs such as oil changes. There’s the need to do that for vehicles as well. The autonomous oil change is not here yet, but even that might be in line for cars someday.

How do you like working from home? Since our world turned upside down I think it's been easier for some of us to adjust than others to remain, or even become more productive. Most of which completely depends on how you access your files and data to continue to WOW the boss, even in the strangest of times when people are told we have to stay home.

You need your files and data to all be easily visible from top to bottom without relying on thumb drives, portable hard drives, old drives, or clunky undependable drives that should have been replaced years ago or, worst of all—boxes of paper files (I'm cringing at the thought of that one)!

When we’re placing an order for a great breakfast, we want the server to be an expert on what’s on the menu—especially if we have special dietary needs. And we want them to listen—to be all ears.

That “all ears” attitude is me when I meet with a new client for the first time. I want to know all about their field automation needs and how we can chauffeur them to their destination. Like, be their tour guide.

I’m not pushing a widget or a program. My purpose is to learn about their business and how they are operating today.

Keeping your oil and gas production automation systems current is a delicate balance. You have to keep up with ever-changing hardware, interfaces with other software and with improvements on the one hand. On the other hand, you don’t want to spend hours with updates that save up all the changes for one giant yearly revision—that may come with unintended and untested crashes.

That’s the benefit of evergreen cloud software like Emerson's Zedi Access. It grows in tiny increments just like an evergreen plant. From one day or month to the next, you don’t notice its growth—a new leaf here, a bit thicker trunk there—but it keeps growing and adapting to changes in seasons without skipping a beat.

In 2011, IBM’s Watson took on two of Jeopardy’s top winners in a contest of knowledge and speed. After three exciting days, Watson had more than tripled the winnings of either human. Let's apply that to oil and gas production data insights enabling you to triple your 'winnings' - by gaining more production, more profits and more sustainability.

In the digital oilfield that lives on data and is powered by computers light years past Watson, end users are starting to get answers to questions they never dreamed of asking before.

Instead of competing with computers, many oil and gas producers are teaming with AI (artificial intelligence) so that everyone wins. And keeps winning.

Our software team is always busy updating our evergreen oil and gas production software applications to increase your production, profits and sustainability.

We hope you agree with our top picks!

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Oil and gas producers have been realizing the benefits of technology with SCADA, IIoT and sensors in the field for a long time now, and while these pieces have certainly been worth their weight in black gold to the bottom line (and safety) there is a new evolution coming soon to the oil field near you.

The goal line for oil and gas producers around the world is to take the digital transformation journey to ultimately gain all the many benefits of an autonomous oil and gas operation.

But should you take that journey?

This is not a journey for everyone. There is much to consider before you decide.

Back in Davy Crockett pioneer days, in order to simply wash your hands you had to haul your own water with a bucket. From the well or the stream. In the rain or snow while fighting off wild bears, boars and other frightening critters.

Today when we need to rinse some peanut butter off our fingers, we don’t pause to think about Davy Crockett, do we? We take that water flow for granted—that it’s ‘always on.’

In the pioneer days of oil and gas production data—many are alive today that remember that challenging time, about 10 years ago—when we wanted data we had to take our ‘bucket’—a note pad or even a laptop—to the ‘stream’ of data, which was the well site. A lot farther than the water well was for Davy. We risked our lives, and burned through time and money just getting to that well of data.