TULSA, Okla., Feb. 27, 2014 – Stonebridge, the award-winning business consulting and technology services firm, today announced that it finished 2013 with a strong Q4, resulting in 15 percent revenue and earnings quarterly growth over the previous year.
Stonebridge’s double-digit year-over-year quarterly growth was attributed to the company’s Oklahoma and Texas business units posting a 30 percent and 15 percent increases in revenue respectively, as well as its property & casualty business unit achieving 65 percent revenue growth.
Stonebridge CEO James Ivy said, “Our Q4 performance last year was one of our strongest in company history and was primarily driven by last year’s focus on providing advisory services to upstream and midstream oil and gas companies. Our success in O&G advisory services also fueled growth in our traditional technology services business, which serves to validate our market strategy of becoming the leading professional services company for upstream and midstream oil and gas companies in North America.”
Notable Stonebridge accomplishments in 2013 included:
- Opened a new regional office in Oklahoma City. The pace of growth in the Stonebridge’s oil and gas consulting business was the impetus behind the decision to establish a permanent presence in Oklahoma City, which is home to several of its clients. Stonebridge, with headquarters in Tulsa, has regional offices in Dallas, Houston and Oklahoma City. The company expects to open additional regional offices in 2014.
- Launched Remedyforce Professional Services, a service line to help businesses implement BMC Remedyforce Service Desk, the cloud-based IT help desk solution designed for mid-market and emerging enterprise organizations. Remedyforce Professional Services provides expert advisory technical services to accelerate the implementation of Remedyforce and its adoption by IT support staff and end users. Stonebridge’s Remedyforce practice also achieved 200 percent quarter-to-quarter growth in clients, revenue and staff in the first half of 2013.
- Achieved renewal of its Microsoft Partner Network Competencies. With the renewal of its multiple Gold Competencies, Stonebridge retained the distinction of being in the top 1 percent of Microsoft partners worldwide that have reached this proficiency level in Microsoft solution development. Stonebridge remains the only Microsoft Managed Gold Partner based in Oklahoma.
- Launched SharePoint SmartSource, a managed services program that provides the first true “on demand/fractionalized resource” offering in the SharePoint support market. SharePoint SmartSource is the only SharePoint managed services offering on the market with no minimum support restrictions.
- Joined the Windows Azure Circle Partner program, a group of specialized Microsoft partner organizations that provide deployment planning services for organizations interested in moving to the cloud utilizing Windows Azure.
The company also made significant high-level personnel announcements in 2013, including:
- Adam Hutchinson joined Stonebridge in March 2013 as Vice President, Oil & Gas Solutions. Hutchinson reports to CEO James Ivy and is based out of Stonebridge’s corporate headquarters in Tulsa.
- Samir Kumar was promoted in March 2013 to Stonebridge Vice President responsible for executive management of the company’s BSM and Property & Casualty (P&C) business units. Kumar reports to CEO James Ivy and offices in Tulsa.
- Robert Lovelace joined Stonebridge in April 2013 as Practice Manager of Well & Pipeline Lifecycle. Lovelace reports to Oil & Gas Solutions Vice President Adam Hutchinson and is based in Tulsa.
- Mark Brannon joined Stonebridge in October 2013 as Oil & Gas Practice Manager. Brannon reports to Oil & Gas Solutions Vice President Adam Hutchinson and is based in Oklahoma City.
Specifically in Q4 of 2013, Stonebridge won competitive contracts with new clients and extended long-term engagements with existing accounts. Key Q4 contract wins and projects included:
- A major U.S.-based independent natural gas and oil producer engaged Stonebridge to provide advisory services in conjunction with full compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP). Under GHGRP Subpart W, operators of petroleum and natural gas production facilities are required to report emissions of CO2, or greenhouse gas (GHG), equivalent to 25,000 metric tons or more per year. Stonebridge is providing the client with detailed recommendations and process workflow mapping in order to capture field data necessary to meet all GHGRP requirements by leveraging existing systems. The client cited Stonebridge’s experience in GHG reporting and its knowledge of field data capture processes and applications.
- A rapidly growing independent oil and gas company engaged Stonebridge to help it design and develop an unified rig and frac scheduling solution based on the Peloton RigView enterprise application. Stonebridge will utilize its best practice-based upstream reference architecture to create a long-term architecture that supports the client’s RigView implementation. Additionally, Stonebridge will define the processes, roles and responsibilities related to rig and frac schedule management, and also map source systems and evaluate the client’s enterprise data management needs. Ultimately, the solution will enable the client’s business partners to access schedules, which will updated in near-real-time to optimize well delivery.
- An independent oil and gas company based in Houston selected Stonebridge to implement an upstream information architecture to promote more efficient and accurate management and consumption of data throughout the organization. The project also involves the implementation of several major E&P systems, including Enertia for financial accounting, Merrick Systems ProCount for production accounting, and Peloton WellView for well data management. The solution will be built on the Microsoft SQL Service Master Data Services data hub to enable cross-functional reporting and advanced analytics via a master data management (MDM) approach. The client selected Stonebridge because of its deep knowledge of the well lifecycle and its business intelligence expertise.
- Stonebridge delivered an enterprise data management study for an Oklahoma City-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The study focused on the client’s Utica Shale play efforts and how to achieve a unified view of information from disparate data sources for key information consumers across its engineering, geology, accounting and land departments. The client selected Stonebridge for this project based on its deep experience in architecting enterprise business intelligence (BI) solutions for upstream oil and gas companies.
- Stonebridge completed the implementation of Guidewire ClaimCenter for one of the nation’s largest auto insurance companies. This Q4 milestone is part of a larger, multi-faceted business relationship between Stonebridge and the client. Stonebridge is also providing strategic support and management for a large, multi-phase enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and business intelligence (BI) infrastructure project. The client engaged Stonebridge to assist as a strategic development partner and provide expert consulting and technical expertise to facilitate the cleansing, loading and delivery of enterprise data for reporting and analysis. Additionally, Stonebridge will continue to support the client’s Guidewire implementation through 2014.
- Stonebridge delivered a SharePoint intranet for an oil and gas exploration company based in Oklahoma City. The client engaged Stonebridge to help implement SharePoint to replace its existing custom-developed intranet platform. In this project, Stonebridge replaced the client’s existing paper-based help desk request form and associated manual processes with new online forms and workflow hosted by the SharePoint intranet. Additionally, Stonebridge collaborated with the client’s marketing group to create a custom visual brand for their SharePoint intranet. In a separate project, Stonebridge also implemented an OpenText Content Server integration with the SharePoint environment to enable SharePoint user access to SAP content stored in the OpenText environment.
- An Oklahoma City-based oil and gas startup company engaged Stonebridge to create a streamlined workflow for capturing well-related activities from “prospect to spud,” including compliance for permit filing per federal and state regulatory agencies. As part of the overall workflow, Stonebridge created department-specific sub-processes for pre-drilling activities, including bi-weekly unit selection, plat, marketing/midstream planning and authorization for expenditure (AFE) processes. To enable the client to manage well activities, Stonebridge developed a well tracking solution that aggregates current well status and highlights pending activities. The well tracking solution also enables management to monitor overall organizational effectiveness via pre-defined key performance indicators (KPIs). As part of the same engagement, Stonebridge also developed standardized forms and reports related to well activity and workflow, including field review, property number/AFE number request, midstream vendor evaluation tracking and AFE approval summary.
- Stonebridge delivered an electronic well file management solution built on the SharePoint 2013 platform for a Calgary-based upstream oil and gas company. The solution, which provides a searchable repository for millions of well documents, includes a secure well portal with individual sites for approximately 13,000 wells. Each well site contains a well file folder taxonomy, well header information, production report and Microsoft Lync integrated communications functionality. Stonebridge, which won this contract in a competitive bid, was selected for its extensive project experience in the oil and gas industry, Stonebridge’s proven Well360° solution framework and high-profile oil and gas reference accounts.
- A Fortune 500 power company renewed its agreement for SmartSource Database Administration (DBA), a Stonebridge managed services offering for onsite database management and monitoring, periodic database optimization and review, and database upgrades and patches. Stonebridge has provided onsite DBA support to the client’s Oracle and SQL Server database environments since 2006. The client opted to renew the relationship because of Stonebridge’s DBA expertise, proven business value and exemplary client-centric support.
- A New Jersey-based healthcare management company selected Stonebridge to provide strategic consulting and implementation services for its cloud-based IT service desk and customer relationship management environment. The solution, built on BMC’s cloud-based Remedyforce Service Desk and Salesforce Sales Cloud, is designed to deliver enhanced ticket tracking and management; increased operational transparency; improved customer relationship management; improved reporting and analytics; and optimized business processes.
- Stonebridge delivered the first phase development of a business intelligence (BI) solution to assist a Tulsa-based diversified energy company in meeting federal reporting requirements related to pipeline safety known as Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). When fully developed, the BI solution will enable the client’s pipeline controllers to track “alarm” signals from SCADA or similar systems indicating that a safety-related parameter is outside normal or expected operating conditions. The client chose Stonebridge for this project based on a longstanding business relationship over multiple successful projects.
- A major electric utility company serving the Southwest entered a SharePoint SmartSource managed services agreement with Stonebridge. The SmartSource agreement provides 24×7 administrative, maintenance and trouble ticket support for the client’s multiple SharePoint environments. Prior to this project, Stonebridge provided support for the client’s Microsoft technology implementations, including developing a portal-based electronic content management (ECM) system and various business intelligence (BI) solutions, including a location-based BI solution to track key assets and system outages.
- A Fortune 500 energy company signed a contract extension with Stonebridge to deliver Level 3 key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards. Stonebridge completed Levels 1 and 2 development earlier this year. The project originated as an enterprise assessment to identify high-level reporting requirements and scope; define analysis themes; establish the solution architecture for automating delivery of KPI metrics to business users; and assess data quality and determine the complexity of KPI generation. In the assessment, Stonebridge identified more than 130 KPIs and designed a phased implementation plan that has served as the road map for the development of the multi-level KPI dashboard application, which has been enhanced to include additional reporting, analysis and data visualization capabilities.
- Stonebridge delivered a self-service business intelligence (BI) and data management solution based on the Microsoft BI stack to a leading Tulsa-based energy infrastructure company. The solution enables the client to monitor the performance of the underlying infrastructure supporting its Microsoft BI environment, including SQL Server, Integration Services, Analysis Services and Integration Services. The client selected Stonebridge because of its depth of experience with the Microsoft BI stack.
- Stonebridge delivered an enterprise business intelligence (BI) road map and self-service production reporting capabilities for an independent oil and gas producer and operator based in Oklahoma City. The Stonebridge solution enables the client’s users to perform deeper operational analysis and reporting using large amounts of data from multiple source systems. The project included leveraging the Professional Petroleum Data Management (PPDM) data model as the integration layer for the client’s current applications. Stonebridge also developed the data mapping and ETL processes necessary to integrate the data. Additionally, Stonebridge is assisting in the development of a mobile field data capture application that is fully integrated with the PPDM data model and source systems.
- Stonebridge implemented a SharePoint-based enterprise content management (ECM) system for asset records management group of one of the largest natural gas producers operating in the Appalachian Basin. Stonebridge initially collaborated with both the client’s IT and business stakeholders to develop a viable prototype that showcased the impact of SharePoint’s capabilities and functionality across the enterprise using the client’s actual documents. Internal feedback on the prototype was extremely positive and the client moved forward with plans to move the ECM system into production across the enterprise. As part of the production rollout, Stonebridge facilitated the migration of the client’s more than 50,000 documents with associated metadata into the new SharePoint ECM system.
- Stonebridge completed a major SharePoint portal upgrade for an independent exploration and production company focused on unconventional oil and natural gas resources. The client’s existing human resources (HR) portal, which provided enterprise content management (ECM) as well as limited collaborative functionality, was built on the SharePoint 2010 platform. Stonebridge upgraded the platform to SharePoint 2013, added new HR-related functionality such as payroll and benefits information, and created a new user interface (UI) to improve navigation and provide a consistent visual brand. Additionally, Stonebridge implemented new collaborative tools, including messaging and discussion boards, using custom-developed and third-party web parts to enhance the portal’s functionality and ease of use.
- An independent oil and gas company with headquarters in Houston selected Stonebridge to develop a portal-based financial records management solution. The proposed enterprise content management (ECM) solution, built on SharePoint, includes a retention schedule for defined financial content types; specified metadata fields for each content type; defined document lifecycle and disposition guidelines; and automated-workflow functionality to initiate disposition after retention cycles are complete. The client expects the finance records management portal to serve as the catalyst for its envisioned enterprise records management program. The client selected Stonebridge because of its status as a Microsoft Managed Gold Partner and deep experience in the portal and ECM development.
- A leading provider of technology solutions for the property and casualty industry engaged Stonebridge to provide cloud integration and consulting services for its Remedyforce Help Desk deployment. Specifically, Stonebridge will provide Remedyforce customization and tuning support that will enable the client to quickly implement ITIL-based processes and 0070rocedures aligned with its business needs. The client selected Stonebridge for this engagement based on its deep IT Service Management expertise, prior successful Remedyforce implementations and collaborative “client centric” approach.
About Stonebridge
Since 1995, Stonebridge has provided business advisory and technology enablement services that help organizations harness the power of their people, processes and technology. Our clients look to us as a strategic partner with a shared commitment to achieving their business objectives and maximizing business performance. For additional information about Stonebridge, visit our website at www.sbconsulting.com.
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