Al-Wuhaib heads up the IT division for Aramco

CIO Saudi met with the VP for IT at Saudi Aramco, Abdulrahman Al- Wuhaib to discuss how he and his team are taking the enterprise forward through technology adoption and business best practices.

Q: Saudi Aramco has been at the forefront of conducting its business electronically. Based on its success, how did Saudi Aramco manage this transformation?

Historically, Saudi Aramco has always been keen on the effective utilization of technology in meeting its business objectives. One of our strategies is to automate company business from the reservoir all the way to the customer, along what we refer to as the “value chain,” The advantage lies in the efficient management of the whole business value chain as one integrated process - from the well head all the way to the customer.

We started introduction of Web based technologies to automate our processes in early 1990s. We have implemented strong telecommunications infrastructure that connects every company site with high speed digital communications. We realized from early on that success in conducting business electronically will not come from technology alone. It comes from the combination of good traditional business strategies, having the right competent human talent and using technology to craft better ways of doing business.

Al-Wuhaib is looking towards e-business for further growth

Q: IT plays an important role in enabling electronic business in any corporation, what role does the IT organization within Saudi Aramco play for enabling the business of the largest oil and gas company in the world?

Today, information technology directly influences how a company creates value to compete and lead in its business. IT is integral to business strategy. We know that the value contribution of IT to the business is a continuous process triggered by the proper alignment of IT systems and services with business objectives. Here I must emphasize that a company’s mind-set about IT can significantly increase or decrease the role that IT can play in providing a strategic advantage for the organization. At all levels of Saudi Aramco management, there is a clear understanding of the key role that IT plays in enabling the oil and gas business.

Therefore, IT creates a homogeneous and continuous electronic environment that integrates all the business processes internally and externally. The IT organization must ensure that the proper exploitation of technology in business results in minimizing duplication in many activities - in data collection and internal processing and cease reinventing the same information over and over.

Consider our ERP implementation which was a major culture change that involved the standardization of many company processes. From re-engineering how we do business to automating processes and sharing information to improving decision making by simplifying our complex and diverse business environment, the company gained significant benefits by making the right information available at the right time to decision makers.

Q: Saudi Aramco has been known as a leader in the use of new technologies that add value to its business including as you mentioned a large scale ERP implementation. What are some of the business benefits that Saudi Aramco gained by adopting these technologies?

Aramco is the largest oil producer in the world

First, I have to say that with all the technologies available today, we should be cognizant of selecting the technology where we are able to use and exploit with ease. This is perhaps a more subtle challenge for the technology implementers than the users. In essence, technology should be invisible to the user. Conducting business electronically has become more than just a choice. It is essential for business survival in a world that revolves around technology and constantly changing innovative solutions. In this regard, it is interesting to see how increased computer power, improved computing price-to-performance ratios, advanced visualization techniques, and integrated data stores and interpretation tools are proving to be powerful technology enablers across exploration, drilling, and production workflows.

Q: What are the main business strategies allowing the IT organization to meet this challenge?

We recognize that our primary focus as an IT organization is to enable Saudi Aramco’s business by providing the right IT solutions at the right cost. We continually evolve our flexibility and rapid delivery of required solutions in line with business needs. We continue to optimize our IT financial performance by focusing on value added functions and looking for cost efficiency opportunities. In addition, we regularly refine our organizational structure to further optimize internal business functions and processes thereby improving internal efficiencies and satisfaction with our services. Most importantly, we promote a work environment where both the organization and the individual are continually learning and growing.

Q: Saudi Aramco has been playing a key role in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for partnering with local providers. What are some of IT’s contributions for meeting this objective?

IT continues to work closely with service providers in the Kingdom to enhance and optimize our services. We build strong relationships with in-Kingdom suppliers of computing and communications services. We continue to buy and lease communications equipment and services from local providers and are focusing more on software development capabilities in the local market. This is very important for us. We regard the growth in the number of IT software developers in the Kingdom as a win-win situation for Saudi Aramco and the economy as a whole. Developing our local economy is one of our corporate imperatives, and we strive to grow a healthy and robust IT business in the Kingdom.

Q: With the wide range of available solutions form various providers, how does a company ensure that it is selecting the right IT solution?

This is indeed an interesting and challenging area for any IT organization. We take a systematic approach in evaluating technologies and solutions based first and foremost on meeting business needs. We look for solutions that provide the best fit for our needs knowing that there will be some level of customization required. Here, I must emphasize that the degree of customization should be minimized as this will lead to added costs and increase the time to implementation. With the rapid change in technology and business environment, the window of opportunity for IT benefit realization is very short and it is thus essential that we deliver IT solutions in the shortest possible time.

Q: Today, information security is a major challenge, especially that all businesses now are connected to the Internet. How has Saudi Aramco met this challenge and what have you done to mitigate it?

Information Security is a fundamental element in conducting business electronically. Protection systems require continual upgrades and become obsolete quickly as hacking techniques and virus attacks become more sophisticated. We always have to keep in mind that protection systems are expected to become more complex and more specialized.

To meet these challenges, we have focused our effort on addressing the three main elements in information security namely, people, processes and technology. We have created policies that clearly define acceptable use of information resources in addition to policies governing the well- being of our infrastructure in terms of protection against information security threats. We also carried out very strong and widespread awareness campaigns to educate company employees about security threats. In addition to deploying proven technologies in this area, we created a 24 x 7 Information Protection Center that monitors security threats such as viruses or attempted penetrations and automatically raise alerts. This Center is operated by very capable professionals who are certified in this field.

Q: What are the enabling infrastructure elements to successfully implement corporate-wide electronic business environment?

A company has to first perform self-analysis to identify a clear strategy and set objectives for electronic business, especially if it intends to sell and buy online. Many internal processes have to be changed to fit the online model. A company cannot just add the Internet on top of an existing business model. It has to make sure that it has a realistic business model, and then digitize it. As is commonly known by now, if a business process is not working off-line, then we cannot expect it to work online.

In my opinion, the enabling infrastructure highly depends on the availability of four critical elements:

1. Robust communication infrastructure, 2. Tight integration of systems and applications, 3. Information security, and 4. Most importantly, a talented and capable workforce.

Q: With people talent being highly important, how did you acquire the right expertise to properly implement the required elements?

Based on our experience, acquiring the right expertise for a new technology or a technology in high market demand is always a challenge. We experienced this challenge during our SAP implementation. We had to engage our people in aggressive training programs to build their knowledge base in the new technology. This was also complimented with external subject matter experts in certain fields.

Q: Finally, what do you consider the key success factors in any electronic business implementation?

Focus on results that matter to the business as a whole and not technology. We should always keep in mind that although IT is an enabler of a company business, it can also be a barrier to transformation if not brought under control and focused from business and customer perspective. When we consider business process reform, it must go beyond IT, to address organization and resource management effectiveness.

We need to drive the success of IT deployment by having business cases and portfolios for treating IT as an investment and having performance focused, business driven architecture that links IT components to results; and the implementation of appropriate IT security measures. Finally, we should have the willingness and commitment to drive the speed of adopting the change practices brought about by any new technology.