THIS month, Infotechnics marked its 20th year in business. Founded in 1999, the company has been highly successful in delivering operations management software to oil & gas operators and power companies worldwide.
Brian Pacitti, Director at Infotechnics commented, “Although it doesn’t seem long since everyone was playing Snake on a Nokia 6120, the world has changed at rapid pace. In 1999 people were still watching films on VHS and Europe had just started using the Euro.”
Back then, the use of technology in operations management was typically limited to documents and spreadsheets. Pen and paper were often the prevalent tool used by operators in the control room.
Brian explained, “When we started in the late 90s, operational logging and handovers were simple processes. We sold a simple system to meet that simple requirement. It allowed users to log what they were doing on shift. This then turned into an effective shift handover, supported by the electronic logging tool. Even the name of the tool was simple. It was called ‘Logbook’ – obviously back then there was no consideration needed on how users would find the tool by Googling ‘Logbook’!”
As technology improved, and awareness of how it can be used to enhance safety and operational performance increased, Infotechnics has continued to evolve its product suite. The core application, Opralog, is now used by hundreds of plants globally and the company has also led the way on implementing mobile solutions for major oil & gas operators both offshore and onshore.
Today, the company has 2 UK offices and has just recorded its highest annual revenue since inception.
Brian commented, “It’s been fun but not always easy. Over the last 20 years we’ve encountered numerous challenges and had to adapt to changing customer requirements and market conditions. But I’m glad to say that nearly all of our early Logbook customers are still with us today and have been an essential part of the Infotechnics journey. We’ve been fortunate to work closely with many of the world’s largest energy companies, supporting them improve safety and plant efficiency. Because of this experience our products have always been well aligned to the needs of the market – moving forward we’re well positioned to take the next step and have many more successful years ahead of us.”
