Our work with the British Columbia Energy Regulator (BCER), formerly known as BC Oil and Gas Commission is an excellent example of how Fieldshare’s structured framework of workflow prototypes makes it possible to significantly reduce the complexity and demands of the end solution.
As we’ve seen time and time again, what looked like the best solution in the beginning changed over a six-month period of testing and validation. There are two causes for the change. Firstly, in the beginning the client could only assess user needs based on a still-fragmented workflow, so it was impossible for them to get an accurate picture of what the final solution should look like after a holistic (and much - needed) workflow change. And secondly, even in the relatively short period of six months the data load increased, so the requirements for a solution changed as well. This underscored the need for a flexible system.
Below, you can see how Fieldshare is built to respond to ongoing and unpredictable changes without requiring major system modifications.
The BCER was looking for a software to manage their wellsite life cycle. Ideally, they were hoping to find an off-the-shelf solution that could meet their needs, but knew this was unlikely given their unique workflow. Still, they looked at over 20 potential software solutions, of which Fieldshare was one.
If none of the software providers could meet their needs, the BCER expected they would have to go to RFP to commission a custom solution. But if possible, they wanted to avoid that route. The user group needed a solution quickly, and the organization knew an RFP and custom build would be a long process.
What made finding a solution such a challenge? The BCER has a unique workflow where they make extensive use of excel spreadsheets to manage well site information and lifecycle data. In addition to the well site data, they needed one system that could handle geospatial information, contract management, stakeholder information, external access, and workflow automation. Such a system didn’t exist. By the time they got in touch with us at Fieldshare, they were already leaning toward a custom build.
Fieldshare was presented as data governance platform that could assist in aggregating their different data types into one platform (including external access, configurable workflows, automations, and GIS capabilities). BCER started with around 200 requirements, with 30 or so being mandatory.
We started with a discovery meeting with the BCER business group, and then spent 4 weeks analyzing their workflow and their data. Afterward, we demonstrated a data model in Fieldshare that would enable them to capture and manage their data, and integrate with GIS and Power BI.
Fieldshare was able to meet 60% of their requirements in this pre-customization state.
The 60% was enough to allow users to see some benefits right away. But more importantly, it was enough to get the users into a system where we could get a holistic view of what their final workflow should look like. This is where we could start simplifying the software requirements, thereby simplifying the resulting solution and reducing the time to completion.
In the beginning, BCER believed they required 20 to 30 custom automations to help the users with data input, and had an additional 15 requirements centered around geospatial capabilities. But after using the Fieldshare platform with their data in one place, it was clear the BCER could cut these requirements down by 50%. The reason for the discrepancy is that in the beginning, requirements were derived from a workflow using multiple excels and multiple apps. Now, with their data and information consolidated into one place, many of these requirements because unnecessary.
Using a staged approach, we worked with BCER to identify how we can get the system up and running faster and improve their abilities to use the software and test it. Then, with the users already active in the Fieldshare platform, we built the remaining 10% of the mandatory workflow and got these new features up and running within 4 months. BCER had been expecting around 18 months to custom build the same capabilities.
Because Fieldshare is a modular platform, as the requirements of the BCER have changed over the past two years Fieldshare has been able to provide timely and affordable customizations on an as-needed basis. These are in addition to user-controlled fields and many configuration options that are available as a standard part of our platform.
As for the geospatial requirements, geospatial workflow, and automation requirements, these were never incorporated into the workflow. It was something the users wished to have but never thought about the execution in detail. After using the Fieldshare platform, the basic features in Fieldshare had enough GIS capabilities to satisfy the user group without needing to custom build anything.
In conclusion, Fieldshare has demonstrable experience and expertise working with clients to produce a streamlined solution, and has a reliable methodology to help you eliminate unnecessary requirements. By using an existing and extensible platform as a starting point, we get clients up and running faster, get feedback earlier, and make our solution more affordable without sacrificing efficiency or effectiveness for our users.