The rapidly evolving tablet and mobile devices have proven their overwhelming popularity, not just as entertainment devices but as valuable productivity tools for enterprises and professionals. Furthermore, mobile computing is becoming an integral player in the Information Technology industry, thereby influencing the design of software applications required by oil and gas organizations.

The new generation of tablets and smartphones can be effectively utilized for real time data monitoring and reporting. This can be achieved through the deployment of Upstream software solutions, such as GIS supported reservoir performance monitoring applications, management reporting dashboards, and engineering analytical tools.

This paper provides an overview of an assessment project initiated by Saudi Aramco to evaluate the development and deployment of oil and gas Upstream software solutions on mobile devices. The assessment focused on capitalizing on the capabilities of these devices for adding business value and building in-house expertise in the area of mobile application development. The paper will summarize the assessment findings and recommendations for the future direction of applications development methodology and requirements.

Keywords:
data security, application development, data mining, tablet device, assessment, proxy authentication, upstream oil & gas, information, application, browser
Subjects:
Information Management and Systems, Data security, Data mining
Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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