IBM and Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), announced the two companies will combine the benefits of IBM Open Data for Industries for IBM Cloud Pak for Data and the AWS Cloud to serve energy customers.
The solution is built on Red Hat OpenShift and runs on the AWS Cloud, simplifying the ability for customers to run workloads in the AWS cloud. The companies also intend to collaborate on further co-development to provide greater flexibility and choice on where to run OSDU applications. An IBM and Reuters whitepaper, sponsored by IBM, found that the energy industry is facing pressure to reduce greenhouse gases as demand for affordable energy continues to rise.
Energy companies need solutions that help drive efficiencies to free up capital, time and resources to invest in discovering new, more sustainable energy sources. Data and digital technologies can help to navigate this transition, hence an IBM survey found that less than half of oil and gas executive respondents are using data to drive that innovation.
This is in part because most of the digitization efforts have been in proprietary closed systems, hindering the potential to combine and maximize the value of data. The collaboration between IBM and AWS aims to accelerate the reduction of data barriers in the industry.
IBM Open Data for Industries is an open-source solution using the OSDU data foundation for the oil, gas and energy industry. IBM Open Data for Industries is entirely integrated with IBM Cloud Pak for Data for easy data management, and built on Red Hat OpenShift.
With this collaboration, customers will gain the flexibility to run OSDU Data Platform applications in the AWS cloud or on-premises while addressing data residency requirements. Combined with the expansive cloud infrastructure of AWS cloud services, this data platform can help energy companies reduce the cost, time and resources needed to leverage their data. Bill Vass, vice president, engineering, AWS, commented:
“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. 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.”
IBM and AWS collaboration will accelerate the value of this platform for global customers. The goal is to help serve the needs of energy companies today with the flexibility to adapt to change amid energy transition. According to Manish Chawla, global managing director, energy, resources and manufacturing, IBM:
“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. 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.”
The collaboration underscores the value of IBM and Red Hat to provide flexibility and unlock greater business value for operational data across industries.
