SharePoint Changes Data Management

SharePoint Will Change the Way We Manage Data

Written by Ken Fleeman

ABARTA Oil & Gas is about to roll out Microsoft SharePoint as our company wide platform for digital document management.  Coupled with Microsoft 365 licensing, AOG employees will be able to securely access their email, calendars and documents from any internet browser.  Document creation and editing can also take place online without a local MS Office Suite installation.

SharePoint is web based so it provides instant familiarity for browsing and searching company datasets. SharePoint uses a social media style homepage for every user.  From that homepage you can communicate with coworkers, set up RSS feeds, tag and comment on documents and set specific alerts so you will be notified when something changes that you need to know about.  Alerts can come instantly or you may opt for either daily or weekly summaries.

SharePoint is also a powerful collaboration and project management tool.  Project sites are created using existing templates.  Team members are added from your contact list and in minutes the team starts working with a calendar, to-do list, file storage and discussion board dedicated to the new project.  As teams are forged and projects develop so can SharePoint.  Users will ultimately add workflows, forms and dashboards in their project sites to improve efficiency and accountability.

We are excited about the opportunity SharePoint offers to better connect with our field offices and eventually our venture partners.  Access to data across departmental boundaries is currently limited by the traditional roadblocks of licenses, proprietary data formats, non-indexed directories, network storage and bandwidth.  We will continue to use the legacy systems (Excalibur, GeoGraphix, Petra, Aries) to create work product.  The shareable output, however, will reside in SharePoint.  Imagine access to Geology, Operations, Engineering, Land and Accounting data in a consistent and familiar environment.

The benefits are numerous and game changing.  Improved group interaction and idea sharing, indexed, searchable files, customizable website format, standardized datasets shared by legacy software, secure world wide access and the concentration of corporate knowledge will transform the way ABARTA Oil & Gas does business.

Filing Can Be Fun!

High Density Filing System Makes Filing Fun!

AOG’s summer interns, Erica Taylor and Maddy Mulert, along with Shelly Kerr, Michele Frederick, Ruth Miller, Sandy Doyle, Denise Bombalski and Tracey Mulert, have been working steadily to re-label, fill and organize the new high density wheelhouse filing system at our new office at 200 Alpha Drive. This system, much like what you see in a doctor’s office, allows for compact storage, combines the contents of 38+ filing cabinets and houses nearly 8,000 files used in our previous location.  Many of our files are digitized, but original documents must be retained and kept on site indefinitely.  So the volume of our files keeps increasing.

A hand crank makes moving each carriage easy.

The high density filing system is comprised of eight double-sided shelving units that are installed on tracks in the floor and can easily move and lock with the hand crank located on the end of each unit.  When fully loaded, each carriage may weigh as much as 4,800 pounds.  By using the locking mechanism, several people can be working in different sections of the system simultaneously.  The filing system offers great flexibility, easy access and a seamless integration for new files.

Looks kind of like a hospital, right?

Instead of viewing file tabs from the top, new tabs were inserted into every stored file so the tabs can be clearly visible from the side and provide easy access. The new system is more convenient and well-organized with the color-coded labels extending from each file.

The Land Department uses the new storage to house all of their 3,400 legal documents, including lease files, venture files, right-of-way files and title leases. Geology utilizes the space to hold log files for over 2,300 operated and non-operated wells. Lastly, the Engineering Department uses the storage to hold their 2,100 well files.

With plenty of room for growth, the high density filing system reflects the positive outlook AOG envisions for the future.