IBM and Amazon Web Services announced at ADIPEC that they would combine IBM Open Data for Industries for IBM Cloud Pak for Data and the AWS Cloud to serve energy customers. This comprehensive solution is based on Red Hat OpenShift and will run on the AWS Cloud, allowing clients to execute workloads both on-premises and in the cloud. The two firms also plan to collaborate on future functionality development to give users more flexibility and options for where to run OSDU applications.
“Much of the data needed to solve the complex energy challenges, such as superior subsurface decisions, already exists, yet is untapped. This is because one of the greatest values of that data is derived when it can be effectively combined, but usually, this data is locked by data residency requirements, legacy applications or proprietary data formats,” said Bill Vass, vice president, engineering, AWS.
He added, “By collaborating with IBM and leveraging Red Hat OpenShift, we will be able to offer customers a global, seamless offering with the flexibility to run on virtually any IT infrastructure and drive longer-term digital innovation.”
“Data is a critical asset to help fuel energy transition, yet too often energy companies must choose between running applications on-premises or in the cloud, and often each deployment uses a proprietary data format,” said Manish Chawla, global managing director, energy, resources and manufacturing, IBM.
He also said, “This means that rather than using all of that collective data to gather insights, augment operations and inform innovation, some of it was going unused. Our collaboration with Amazon Web Services is addressing the need to make it easier for energy customers to access their data and provides the industry with a flexible solution to meet the challenges of today, as well as more easily adapt as the industry evolves.”
According to an IBM and Reuters whitepaper sponsored by IBM, the energy industry is under pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions as demand for inexpensive energy continues to climb. Energy firms want solutions that help them achieve savings in order to free up funds, time, and resources to invest in future research and development of new, more sustainable energy sources. Data and digital technology can aid with this change, but according to an IBM report, just about half of oil and gas executives are utilizing data to drive innovation. This is partly due to the fact that most digitization efforts have been focused on proprietary closed systems, limiting the ability to combine and maximize the value of data.
The collaboration between IBM and AWS aims to accelerate the industry’s reduction of data barriers. IBM Open Data for Industries is an open-source solution based on the OSDU data foundation for the oil, gas, and energy industries. IBM Open Data for Industries is built on Hat OpenShift, the industry’s top Kubernetes platform and open architecture, designed to allow enterprises to build and operate applications globally. It is fully connected with IBM Cloud Pak for Data for easy data administration. Thanks to this agreement, customers will be able to execute OSDU Data Platform apps in the AWS cloud or on-premises while meeting data residency requirements. When combined with AWS cloud services’ wide cloud architecture, this data platform may assist energy firms minimise the cost, time, and resources required to use data to extract insight, streamline operations, and move to sustainable energy generation.
The OSDU Forum is a cross-industry partnership that provides a vendor-neutral framework for businesses to establish data platforms that comply with common energy industry standards. IBM and AWS will increase the value of this platform for worldwide customers by collaborating. The goal is for this coordinated effort to assist energy firms in meeting their current needs while also adapting to change during the energy transition.
This collaboration underscores the value of IBM and Red Hat to provide flexibility and unlock greater business value for operational data across industries.