ADMnext helps reduce costs at a global oilfield services company

Client: Leading provider of oilfield services

Sector: Oil and gas

Client challenge: Introduce a standardized process while seeking lower application-maintenance costs and managing a multivendor landscape

Benefits include:

• An improvement in application maintenance by 20%
• Ensuring the alignment of technology initiatives with client business objectives
• Future-proofing the technology stack
• Allowing for greater scalability

The client

As a global leader in oilfield solutions employing 100,000 professionals, the client provided the industry’s widest range of products and services from exploration to production.

Building upon an existing relationship of five-plus years, Capgemini and the client signed a five-year applications contract in 2013 for the support of legacy systems and reduction in cost of managing multiple vendors. The partnership was strengthened in 2015 and 2016, when Capgemini transformed the client’s application portfolio through DevOps and cloud-assessment initiatives.

The challenge

The 2015 to 2016 global downturn meant the client began looking for ways to curb spending by seeking flexibility in support system costs. The high cost of application maintenance, a complicated multivendor landscape, and an absence of standardized processes added to the challenge.

These issues led the client to redesign its contract in 2016, representing an early extension and regeneration of our Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) contract and the movement of more work to a managed-services environment. This would provide the client with increased efficiency and higher productivity gains.

The solution and benefits

Capgemini now runs a comprehensive managed-services engagement by moving the client from an FTE-based model to an agility-based delivery model. This allows for embedded efficiencies and productivity gains with ADMnext, Capgemini’s comprehensive portfolio of ADM assets and services aimed at delivering uninterrupted value and performance. For the client, this transformation allows for fixed spend predictability and flexible delivery based upon business demands.

Capgemini provides support to the client with a focus on continuous improvement, innovation, and transformation. The implementation of ADMnext tools such as FMA, CAST, and Lean across the client’s application landscape reduces costs, delivers overall transparency, and enables greater SLA-requirement compliance. Capgemini’s work with the client allowed support across two areas: a comprehensive DevOps adoption and a cloud-first transformation with Capgemini’s Cloud Assessment (CCA).

DevOps adoption for faster release and enhanced application quality

Previous to the work with Capgemini, the client was employing a traditional waterfall model for application development. This was a tedious, time-intensive task on top of the management of the software development lifecycle for all applications. As a result, releases were inconsistent, which caused excessive downtime and was impacting the client’s business.

Capgemini’s work resulted in the maturing assessment of projects and the definition of a DevOps implementation plan. Together with the client’s teams, Capgemini implemented new, agile DevOps processes across the organization and vendor landscape.

In transforming from a waterfall to an Agile DevOps approach, Capgemini delivered the following:

• Drastically reduced user acceptance testing and production defects
• A regression test library with over 5,000 tools
• Comprehensive Agile SCRUM adoption across the entire landscape
• CI implementation (with quality gate) for every project
• CD implementation (with quality validation) for up to 80 projects
• Standardized processes and tools aligned across all units
• Accomplishing DevOps goals with a minimum number of tools.

Capgemini’s cloud-transformation journey

The goal was to move the client’s portfolio of applications from the three existing data centers to a single cloud-based environment. This reduced IT costs and complexity.

The existing application portfolio was running on multiple technology stacks and the client was looking to upgrade and repackage services by moving to the cloud. To do so, Capgemini deployed its CCA solution to evaluate and design a transformation roadmap for cloud-suitable apps with a detailed migration plan.

The result was a 20 to 30% reduction in spend, reduced hardware and OS procurement lead time, better scalability, higher security and trade compliances, and templates which allow for a defined approach to future migrations.

Capgemini’s CCA in action

To put CCA to action, Capgemini surveyed client applications and evaluated 232 cloud candidates. This was followed by an evaluation of cloud and migration patterns using Capgemini’s CCA assessment framework.

Next, Capgemini created a cloud-transformation roadmap, formalizing architecture principles and building a cloud decision tree to determine density and migration patterns for applications.

Lastly, the execution of the cloud migration with a proof of concept was used to map complexities on GCP and Azure Cloud. Capgemini prioritized the migration in a time-boxed manner, migrating 76 applications to date.

CCA benefits

Overall, the benefits of Capgemini’s CCA cloud-first transformation included:

• An updated configuration monitoring database for a better view of the application portfolio
• Cost savings and efficiency gains on data center closures
• Reduced TCO – much of the infrastructure-management cost was transferred to the cloud provider
• A future-proof technology stack through identifying and upgrading technology and platform standardization
• Greater scalability for ramping up systems as required.

The road ahead with ADMnext

Capgemini hopes to replicate the success of this client’s ADMnext initiative with key enablers such as DevOps adoption and Capgemini’s CCA framework. This project provided the client with tangible, quantifiable benefits and meant it could keep improving the value of the partnership. Future initiatives are likely to focus on specific technology challenges and problem areas.