Database Conversion
Turning a single user local application into an Enterprise Class application
To increase the performance, stability and security of a single user application, Industry Avenue took to
doing a database conversion and redesign, implementation of stored procedures, query optimization,
code diagnostics, data cleansing, and user authenticated logins and accounts and did this while keeping
the application running seamlessly for the user base.
Database Conversion
Company Profile
The company is the world's leading oilfield services provider. It supplies state of the art technology and
information/data management solutions for the international petroleum industry. The company has
70,000+ employees in 80+ countries around the world. It supplies a wide range of products and services
from formation evaluation through directional drilling, well cementing and stimulation, well completions
and productivity to consulting, software, information management, and IT infrastructure services. The
company is recognized as the thought and technology leader in down-hole tools & technologies and
managing information as relates to oil & gas exploration, production, reservoir management and well
completion.
Business Profile
The company was having issue supporting a critical data entry and reporting application that was used
at all levels of the company from field operations to executive management. The original developer that
created, managed, and supported this application was moved to a different role. This application was
critical to the organization, as it was the master data of record for projects, tools, services and was in
turn used for demand forecasting, revenue forecasting, production forecasting, sales force incentive
compensation and client relationship management
Technical Situation
The application started as a desktop MS-Access database for a local branch of a business unit. It was
developed for one senior manager and then was web-enabled for use beyond the original branch. As
time went on, features were bolted on and the user base grew. The application was repeatedly
collapsing under the demands from it with daily server crashes and application downtime becoming a
normal occurrence. This was especially because MS-Access is not built to handle dozens of concurrent
users with a high data transaction rate. Revenues, client relationships and employee morale were being
directly & negatively affected.
A second issue was the integrity and security of data being reported and viewed. At the time the
application relied on a “password” that was universal for access and had no means of capturing who was
logging in or entering in data. Also the entire data resided on a single “.mdb” MS-Access file which could
be very easily copied onto removable media thus compromising the pricing, client and project
information of a $2 Billion dollar business unit of a large oilfield services company.
Solution
Industry Avenue suggested the immediate solution was to first migrate and convert the back end from
MS Access to MS SQL which would make for a quicker transition than the company's standard Oracle
database for enterprise solutions. Our reasoning was since the application was already on a dedicated
server this would make for a quicker conversion. The effect was twofold. Security was immediately
implemented from a database standpoint and stability was no longer an issue. Speed however was still
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a problem and monthly generated reports that were run on an overnight batch created for some very
slow responses from the server. Optimization took in the form of first running diagnostics to document
a baseline of ALL queries and page loads. From there we attacked to the slowest performing pages and
queries by optimizing queries where possible in code and moving queries to the database as stored
procedures where possible. A complete rewrite was not in the scope from the client so these measures
were taken due to lack of documentation and a wish not to inadvertently change an operation or
calculation that would impact the forecasts and decision making of this billion dollar organization.
The next step was to implement an authentication and logging process which Industry Avenue
undertook and used the client’s LDAP directory and AD services to implement. Data entry was also
logged by user to capture inserts and last modified records.
On the data quality side, data was reviewed for duplicates, wrong entries and incorrect data. Scripts
were written to detect and flag such data quality anomalies. Data was corrected in automated fashion
where possible using a look up table for data. Where the data was not corrected thus, it was corrected
manually or discarded as appropriate
Outcome
Industry Avenue's implementation and the proposed fixes kept the application running and improved
performance in 43 out of 43 reports by a minimum of 94% in improved response time. This was a
significant performance improvement for an application in use in 70+ countries.
An application, originally given less than a year before decommissioning was given new life and ended
up lasting another 9 years. It is still in use today as the data master of record for a $2 billion dollar
business unit across a user base deployed in 70+ countries. The application has been replicated or newer
business units brought on board as a result of mergers and acquisitions, the latest being an $8 billion
dollar acquisition.
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