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Summary
Asset integrity is the ability of an asset to perform its required function effectively and efficiently while protecting health, safety and the environment. Asset integrity management helps ensure that the people, systems, processes and resources that deliver integrity are in place, in use, and can perform as required over the whole lifecycle of the asset. Asset integrity management is one of the biggest challenges and primary concerns for asset-intensive industries like oil & gas.
Good asset information management (AIM) is essential for asset integrity management. It ensures that asset information is always complete, accurate, and consistent. It also ensures good usability, which includes convenient access, contextual support, and the ability to securely share information with colleagues and external parties involved in the organization's asset management efforts.
Establishing an effective AIM environment is not easy. Asset information is complex, with many relationships between structured and unstructured content that must be carefully managed throughout long asset lifecycles and plant modifications. Organizations need enhanced information management solutions to address these complexities.
A recent ARC briefing with OpenText executives demonstrated their understanding of asset integrity management and their apparent dedication to providing the capabilities to ensure asset information quality and usability. They also discussed the company's collaboration with SAP and Utopia to develop a combined master data governance solution for structured and unstructured information used across the asset lifecycle processes.
Workspaces Facilitate Information Quality and Usability
Good information management requires a seamless integration of information with every business function and user's workflow. Too often, people are forced to shift between applications and hierarchies used to manage structured ERP data and unstructured content. Recognizing this, OpenText worked closely with ERP suppliers like SAP and Oracle to enable in-process access to and management of content that is fully integrated with the data structures that customers develop to manage their ERP business processes.
OpenText Workspaces Integrate Process and Document Workflows
In-process information management offers several benefits for asset integrity management. First, it adds implicit context that improves understanding and navigation, so people are more likely to find and use the correct information. Second, it improves information quality by reducing information duplication and making it easier for people to take care of the information they use.
As OpenText's workspaces leverage features from the company's entire portfolio of content management solutions, they are also automatically linked to other capabilities that enable the organization to extend these benefits to external partners. The solutions also provide automatic audit trails of all changes to asset information to support growing compliance requirements.
Asset Integrity Management Involves Multiple Processes
Asset integrity management relies upon the tight integration of several complex, end-to-end business processes. This includes Asset Planning and Project Management, Asset Management, and Environmental Health and Safety.
OpenText Workspaces Support All Asset Integrity Processes
OpenText offers blueprints – or solution accelerators – that deliver content management and collaboration workspaces for each of these critical processes. This improves performance in each of the individual areas and ensures a "single version of the truth" for the content being used by everyone involved in the asset integrity program.
OpenText, SAP, and Utopia Offer a Complete Solution
OpenText, SAP, and Utopia recently announced a partnership to develop a solution designed to ensure synchronized management of structured and unstructured asset information throughout the asset lifecycle.
The partnership utilizes newly developed capabilities within SAP's Master Data Governance (MDG) application. Master Data Governance solution extensions, developed collaboratively by SAP and Utopia, should greatly simplify the challenge of managing the structured asset master data in SAP Plant Maintenance (SAP PM).
This suite of pre-configured master data governance (MDG) data domains for enterprise asset management (EAM) includes data structures, industry templates, best practices, workflows and user interfaces for all essential SAP EAM information elements.
SAP Master Data Governance Integrates with OpenText Workspaces Enabling Governance of Structured Asset Information
SAP's products underlie the process workflows and the management of structured information. OpenText augments this with fully integrated workspaces and content workflows that fully align with the business objects in SAP MDG and EAM.
An Integrated Staging Area for Structured and Unstructured Asset Information Management
By synchronizing the capabilities of OpenText workspaces and SAP Master Data Governance, asset intensive organizations are now able to realize a holistic approach to asset information management that address the spectrum of structured and unstructured asset information. Utopia's expertise in EAM and master data governance methodology addresses organization-specific business processes and integration of other systems of record.
A dynamic staging area is central to this combined solution. It provides a managed buffer between "in-process changes" and the "as-built" information used by operating, maintenance and safety groups. Regardless of where a change originates (projects, maintenance, safety, etc.) the staging area provides the workflow to help ensure that it is complete and fully approved before it appears as as-built information. OpenText's workspace solutions and SAP Master Data Governance support this workflow and enable the required collaboration across internal and external personnel.
OpenText Workspaces and SAP Master Data Governance Support All Asset Integrity Processes
Conclusion
Asset integrity is fundamental to safe and efficient operations and maintenance. Trustworthy asset information is essential and a prerequisite for organizational faith in asset integrity programs.
Based on our recent briefing, ARC believes that OpenText understands these challenges and has solutions and thought leadership that should be of interest to every asset-intensive organization.
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Keywords: Operational Integrity, Asset Information Management, Content Management, Data Management, Master Data Governance, Regulatory Compliance.