Operational data can be very messy and often times lives in many different places: internal systems, spreadsheets, email messages, handwritten notes, even mental notes, and more. You need a way to manage all this information so it's available to you and your authorized users at any time for any reason.

By pooling all your operations data together into a cloud-based platform and utilizing cloud applications, you can simplify and cut down on the number of systems you need to support your operations. We've all heard the saying 'sometimes more is less' right? It totally proves true when it comes to your operational data; simplify where it's all combined and stored to get the most from it all.

There are some things you need to be notified of somewhat quickly, but not instantly. But some things you need to know instantly. Like where your keys are when you’re late for work. But if you work for a municipal gas company, an over-pressure situation takes priority over pretty much everything else for safety. And instantly, is just barely fast enough.

It’s why so many companies are digitally transforming their line monitoring—and Emerson's DeltaV™ SaaS is leading the way.

Sensors placed at critical points throughout your system, you—and all authorized personnel who need to respond—will be notified quickly when an over-pressure situation happens. That way you can make adjustments, in person or remotely.

You may assume a cloud-native based SaaS SCADA platform is just another operational system like all the others. After you utilize data visualization tools and cloud applications embedded in Emerson's DeltaV™ SaaS SCADA you realize you can turn your data into knowledge for faster and better business decisions.

That is what advanced analytics is all about! It's getting that next level of analytics from your remotely located assets and using that data to help you quickly turn knowledge into wisdom; or actual decision making data, and in some cases, actually driving the decisions to be made autonomously based on the historical data and what the machine can learn from how things were previously corrected so many times before; so you, and your people can focus your day on your core business.

There's a new sense of confidence that companies can remain operational with improved efficiencies by employing digital tools, reducing costs, and acquiring the best assets. For a long time, companies kept operations going during challenging times by decreasing operating costs, deferring maintenance expenses, divesting properties with higher costs, cutting production, and laying off personnel. Instead of relying on these traditional methods, focus on creating digital operations by deploying and utilizing the right IIoT (industrial Internet of Things) strategy for your organization.

Taking advantage of IIoT technologies and strategizing your digital journey to improve work processes, add security, increase production, free your workforce, and begin the path to operational excellence that delivers stronger, more sustainable returns that can easily be layered on to your current SCADA system to bring it to the next level of insights, mobility and actionable analytics.

The water management industry continues to be plagued by multiple challenges, including aging infrastructure combined with an aging workforce that puts our water supply systems at even greater risk due to the loss of critical expertise and other hurdles like natural disasters including wildfires, floods, and drought that can significantly impact the safety of our water systems.

Water management operations will need to unleash the value of data by using analytics and other technologies to drive better decision-making, optimize and prioritize system investments, and drive cost efficiencies that create safer operations.

Thankfully, technology is evolving in giant leaps and bounds today. It's a great time to be alive and witness the new advancements every day. But with all the change it can also leave some producers and operations wondering when the right time is to replace the old with the new really is; given that some tech is only 'new' for a week or two, and then will be quickly outdated by something bigger, better, faster, smarter and will have more shelf life.

When producers invest in new technologies for their business, they can expect more profits, more production, and more sustainability but deciding when to purchase tech, and which tech to invest into that won't be outdated in a year (or these days a week), makes it more of a challenge to get right. And then of course, it comes down to what to upgrade, and as with everything in life; it comes down to 'how to leverage all that new tech'. Will the 'how' be so complicated it will eat away your team's time or quickly add value that contributes to fast gains?

Some of us (myself included) tend to lose random things around the house like the TV remote, keys, or phone that stress us out as we tend to frantically search for these lost items. Fortunately, we live in an era when automation exists, and you can get key finders, click a button to make your TV remote make a sound, or set other devices to find missing items saving us time and stress from searching for them.

For the remotely located production sites, tracking the location of assets can also be a challenge. Using Emerson's DeltaV™ SaaS SCADA Asset Protect, a fixed asset management software you are able to track all kinds of equipment. For an example, when a compressor isn't being used, sometimes it gets moved to be utilized at a different site. In my experience, the only person who would have known about this relocation would be the area foreman.

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.

What kind of risk taker were you as a kid? Were you the one who built a rickety ramp out of plywood, braced it up with some loose bricks you found in the yard and wheeled your bike bravely up to the top?