Newer computing technologies, such as blade servers, are pushing the limits of existing IT infrastructures at energy companies. Power and cooling requirements have skyrocketed, and energy companies are forced to spend millions to retrofit their existing systems. As companies outgrow their established infrastructures, they have begun to look for some IT alternatives. One old solution that is getting new traction is to outsource IT functions. CyrusOne, a Houston-based firm that works this niche of the business, counts about 70% of its revenue from the energy industry. The company, which sees itself as the utility for the petrotechnical industry, manages systems in more than 400 locations throughout the world. "We basically provide the infrastructure underneath greenfield, brownfield or operations applications," says Blake McLane, vice president of strategic business development. Energy companies are heavy users of applications that require fast and accurate decisions and real-time interpretation and analysis, he says, and these applications put significant demand in a couple of areas. One is the ability to have a centralized data repository, whether it's used for collaboration with internal employees or with partners. Companies need a central place to share and securely manage large volumes of data. Connectivity is the second big demand, and it is driven by collaboration and the need operate in remote areas with limited personnel. The industry was slow to adopt the practice of moving proprietary data outside of its walls, but today there is a tremendous surge in that direction. Spurred by the substantial upfront and ongoing costs and complexities of sophisticated IT systems, companies have overcome their fears of physical security and physical management outside of their organizations. Also, the financial side of the business is increasingly pushing data integration: "We're seeing that audit compliance and the ability to accurately report reserves are huge issues. The months it has taken for reserves to get reported into the companies' financials is becoming less and less acceptable in the open financial markets." CyrusOne provides services to firms ranging from small independents to majors to supermajors. "For independents we provide access to technologies that require millions of dollars of capital. They can use the infrastructure as they need it, on a demand basis." Benefits are deferral of significant amounts of capital, and the ability to scale up and scale down. Today, very small companies and joint ventures are able to make more competitive decisions on leases and use the same tools as the larger companies. The biggest firms are also clients: a year and half ago, CyrusOne entered an alliance agreement with Schlumberger. "Support technologies drive increased infrastructure, and also require a new skill set," says McLane. Energy firms, even the very large ones, typically don't have those skill sets, and they also contend with the challenge of an aging workforce. "We guarantee availability and performance, and relieve companies of the need to have entourages of people to support infrastructure." In the future, McLane sees an industry-wide transition to a number of data megacenters around the world, provided by service companies. Concurrent with that, energy companies will start to buy subscription-based services and get out of the business of buying computers.
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