18 • OIL
&
ENERGY
“THE CLOUD OPTION” from page 16…
Data Management
running the whole time,” McEntee said. In
such an extreme event, companies may find
their operations compromised for weeks
on end, and they should weigh that con-
sideration when choosing their computing
environment, he said. “After Sandy, we had
clients who were left without power for a
month or whose buildings washed away.
How do you recover from that?” he asked.
Since customers’ applications and
data are stored at ADD Systems’ Network
Operations Center in Flanders, N.J., their
operations are protected by the disaster
recovery infrastructure and procedures
implemented by ADDSystems. The Flanders
building has a diesel generator capable of
furnishing sufficient electricity to power
the entire building with no interruption
of service. Another feature of the NOC is
a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) that
will provide power to the computer room
if street power is lost. The UPS has the
capacity to provide power until the diesel
generator is activated and fully operational
40 seconds after the generator starts.
Additionally, the NOC has a fire suppres-
sant system, which will instantly extinguish
any fire detected in the server room. Since
security is always essential, the Flanders
building and computer room are protected
from intrusion by means of a sophisticated
keypad system, Katsigiannis said.
Even the most carefully planned facility
needs its own backup. To accomplish this,
ADD Systems has implemented a VMware
infrastructure, which can easily replicate
the servers to the sister site in Orlando, FL.
FAST, SECURE AND WORRY-FREE
Storing data in the cloud does not slow
down data retrieval significantly, provided
the customer has a good Internet connection,
according to McEntee. “Customers are not
receiving intensive data from ADD Systems.
It’s not streaming video. Data movement is
very reliable on the Internet,” he said.
Data security is excellent in the cloud, and
the greatest vulnerabilities can be on the user’s
end. “It’s important to make sure that people
are taking the necessary steps to secure their
systems passwords,” McEntee said.
Customers who choose ADD Systems’
ASP model do it for the peace of mind
more so than any cost factors, according
to Katsigiannis. “It’s the assurance of
knowing that the equipment and data is
in a secure location and being taken care
of by professionals. It’s the assurance that
you can go to sleep at night and not worry
about whether someone has backed up the
computers,” he said.
customers and we are focused on giving
them the tools to do it.” This includes
a simplified user interface for customer
service, new ways to quickly access
information, upselling tools, and many
other small enhancements suggested by
customers.
TECHNOLOGY ESSENTIALS
These are just the latest areas where
fuel companies can use technology to gain
a competitive edge, according to Scott. To
service customers most effectively, they
should deploy the essential technologies:
comprehensive back-office software;
electronic registers and mobile commu-
nications devices on the delivery trucks;
and fleet routing and GPS tracking on
vehicles. “You need to know where your
vehicles are so you can be responsive to
customer demands,” he said.
Scott said companies should also be
optimizing their delivery routes. “If the
drivers are just deciding where they want
to go without optimization, you could be
missing important savings in fuel costs
and fewer drops,” he said.
Companiesthatusemobiletechnology
on delivery vehicles can transmit delivery
data directly from the vehicle’s electronic
register to the back-end software system
and eliminate the need to key in delivery
data. “We like to say, the best data entry
is no data entry,” Scott said.
He said drivers and technicians
are becoming more accustomed to
their easy-to-use mobile and routing
technology and appreciative of how it
saves them time. “Instead of coming in
and grabbing a cup of coffee and sorting
their own tickets, their route has been
created for them,” Scott said. “They just
grab their mobile device, place it in the
vehicle dock, which is hooked up to the
meter, and with the GPS built into the
device, they have turn-by-turn direc-
tions to all their stops. We’re trying to
take a lot of the thinking out of it so
the drivers are enabled to deliver fuel
and provide good customer service. The
mobile device tells them where to go
and how much to pump, and it sends
information back to the office with
just a few touches to the screen on the
mobile device.”
Cargas Energy uses mobile devices
that can transmit delivery data from the
truck’s register to the back-office system
throughout a delivery shift, Scott said.
“I can look at any route or vehicle and
see what they have pumped during the
day. Companies that want to can post
deliveries throughout the day.”
LESSONS FROM THE SUPERSTORM
One recent event that highlighted
the importance of effective technology
solutions was 2012’s Hurricane Sandy,
which clobbered fuel companies from
Connecticut to New Jersey. “That storm
reiterated the importance of backing up
mission critical data and having a disaster
recovery plan in place,” Scott said. “We
continue to look for ways to leverage
cloud computing where it makes sense,
and have data and servers hosted in the
cloud, where it can be even more secure
than having the data on hardware sitting
in the office.”
Cargas Energy software can work
either on a server hosted by the com-
pany or in a cloud environment. “We
are agnostic. The majority of customers
use it inside their four walls on a SQL
Server with a web browser, but it doesn’t
matter where the server sits,” Scott said.
“We’re starting to see a big push into
cloud computing. The big advantage is
that reputable hosting providers have
more security and redundancy than any
company could ever have. That is their
core business, so they can be trusted.”
One potential advantage of cloud
computing is a rapid rollout. “In a
typical deployment model, you’d buy a
server and work with an outside firm or
internal IT to get the software installed,”
Scott said. “That can take months to
finish, but in the cloud you can be up
and running in days, so your time to
value is much faster.” Companies can
also offload server maintenance and
other IT chores that are traditionally
absorbed by the company.
Companies that choose cloud com-
puting are highly reliant on Internet
connectivity because the connection
is the only path to company data. “The
quality of the Internet connection is of
the utmost importance, and it’s wise to
have redundancy,” Scott said.
MOVING FORWARD
Cargas plans to continue to integrate
customer feedback into their product
roadmap. “Listening and enhancing
the functionality of our software is an
evolving process. We are committed
to serving the demands of this rapidly
changing industry with solutions that
yield a healthy return and more profitable
operations,” Scott concludes.
“CHANGING WITH THE TIMES” from page 15…
