In the energy and resources sector—where safety, operational excellence, and project execution are non-negotiable—the next frontier of transformation is not just about smarter, bigger machines. It’s about empowering the knowledge worker with a unified, intelligent, and secure platform for information.
The next generation of information management (IM) acts as the central nervous system for capital projects, operations and maintenance, supply chain, safety, IT, and other departments. It’s no longer just about storing documents or managing workflows. It’s about connecting people, processes, and data across the enterprise to elevate human potential and accelerate decision-making, so organizations can safely execute projects on time, keep critical equipment running, automate supply chains, and grow their business.
At OpenText, we see this transformation unfolding across five key dimensions:
1. Information unification in energy and resources
Information is everywhere across utilities, oil and gas, chemicals, metals and mining, and EPCs—but it’s often disorganized, disconnected, unautomated, or unprotected. Asset documentation, equipment performance history, critical safety information, supply chain transactions, customer experience data, and more are frequently isolated in silos. The future of safely delivering energy and essential commodities to the world accelerates when information is unified.
For example, as a former field engineer, I experienced this firsthand. To prepare and complete an operation, I had to access at least five different systems: field tickets from our revenue reporting platform, equipment manuals from the knowledge management system, SOPs from a shared drive, safety forms from the safety system, and work orders from the maintenance system. A unified platform connects ‘like’ forms of information—in this case documentation—into a single, accessible view, reducing friction and enabling faster, safer, and more informed decision-making.
2. Service management unification across departments
Just as holes can appear in work coveralls or other work attire, information holes can form in the digital fabric of an enterprise. These gaps can disrupt workflows, delay decisions, and increase operational risk.
The next generation of IM helps weave a stronger, more resilient digital fabric by unifying service management across departments. Through integration with observability and service management tools, organizations can reveal hidden assets, identify information gaps, and resolve issues faster. These tools provide real-time visibility into the health of the overall digital fabric, enabling teams to act quickly and decisively. This unification transforms service management from a reactive function into a proactive driver of efficiency and digital resilience across every department in industrial operations.
3. Modern user interfaces for the energy and resources workforce
Today’s workforce and the broader ecosystem of customers and partners expect intuitive, responsive, and personalized digital experiences. The next generation of IM delivers modern user interfaces that adapt to the needs of engineers, operators, safety managers, executives, and external collaborators alike.
Whether AI intelligent assistants, mobile-first dashboards, or self-service portals, these interfaces reduce digital friction and make it easier to engage with complex systems. For customers and B2B partners, this means faster access to documentation, real-time updates on service requests, and seamless collaboration across complex industrial workflows.
By simplifying access to information and streamlining interactions across the enterprise and its ecosystem, modern UIs empower everyone, from field technicians to supply chain partners, to focus on what matters most: safety, uptime, performance, and trust.
4. Digital workers and process automation
Manual, repetitive tasks are not only inefficient—they’re risky. The next-generation IM platform introduces digital workers that automate knowledge access, deliver supply chain insights for critical spare parts and services, detect threats, predict equipment failures, and more. These AI-powered assistants operate 24/7, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and speed across essential business processes.
This automation frees up human talent to focus on higher-value work while reducing errors, accelerating execution across capital projects, maintenance, and operations, and ultimately improving safety and reliability.
5. Make it all secure
In an era of escalating cyber threats and increasing regulatory scrutiny on critical industrial infrastructure, security must evolve to anticipate, protect, and simplify. The next generation of IM is built on a foundation of optimized threat detection, comprehensive protection, streamlined compliance, and proactive risk management.
A comprehensive cybersecurity platform helps industrial organizations anticipate cyber risks with advanced insights, protect against emerging threats across identities, data, and operations, and simplify security through integrated, robust tools that reduce complexity and support regulatory adherence so critical industrial operations are never compromised.
Learn more about OpenText industry solutions for energy and resources
