The Pandemic reveals Digital Shortcomings of Unprepared Companies

Posted: 1^st July, 2020

We have just emerged from a 2-month lockdown recently. As I was siting with a cup of coffee in a café while enjoying the outdoor breeze, I felt a sense of relief that things are now starting to get back to normal. It was like we had just completed a nation-wide remote working experiment in two months. Some companies have transited to large scale remote working smoothly while others experienced a very abrupt transfer. Without an already established digitalized operations, enabling the entire workforce to work remotely overnight was indeed a tall challenge, especially for companies still falling short with digital transformation.

Scaling digital initiatives in days or weeks
In a recent article from Mckinsey, it was mentioned that companies in the top decile performance had already been moving faster along their digital journey, long before the pandemic. Businesses that once mapped digital strategy in one-to-three-year phases must now scale their initiatives in a matter of days or weeks.

Years ago, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) started their digital transformation initiatives as a means to build resilience and agility to help navigate across levels of uncertainty in a highly competitive market. At that time, ADNOC needed a way to integrate and align all their interdependent operations, to help identify new efficiencies, reduce costs and maximize profit. Leveraging AVEVA’s cutting edge technology and industry expertise, ADNOC created a Panorama Digital Command Centre – a fully integrated, real-time data visualization system that brings together more than 120 dashboards and 200,000 data points on one interactive 50m screen. This real-time operational view not only brings the facility to life, but also allows them to deliver meaningful operations, expense reductions through Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to prevent unplanned downtime and optimize operations, achieving a savings of $60M to $100M.

Prepare ahead to avert the next crisis
ADNOC’s relentless focus on digital strategy over the past years has helped retain greater agility as well as closer ties with its customers during this crisis. In light of rapid spread of the virus across the globe, remote working is becoming a necessity not only for business continuity but also for worker safety. Their Panorama Digital Command centre is now proven to be highly valuable and critical in responding to the challenges of market uncertainty and Covid-19. ADNOC’s Panorama Digital Command Centre enables workers to access real-time data and analysis through a secured remote environment, allowing them to continue operating and optimizing entire value chain remotely, anytime, anywhere.

Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi, Head of Digital at ADNOC1, said: “With Panorama, we already have all the real-time data, including equipment monitoring, production monitoring, and a platform that provides regular reports on changes in the organization,” he said. “That continues, but now we have more customers because all of a sudden, with people working remotely, these reports become essential for the day-to-day running of the organization.”

Don’t wait. Accelerate your digital transformation today!

As more countries began to lift their lock-down measures, we are starting to see reports of a second wave of Covid-19 cases. Nobody could predict how this is going to evolve over next several months but you could get your company prepared now by scaling up your digital capability today. Do not take any chances – the coming months could be a case of digital or disruption. Begin your journey today.

Resources:
Read the success story of ADNOC
Watch the on-demand virtual tour of ADNOC’s Panorama Digital Command Center hosted by Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.

Reference:
1. Karl Flinders, Emea Content Editor. “Flagship digital investment at Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc pays off”.Computer Weekly. 18 May 2020.