How Microsoft SharePoint can Help Employees in the Energy Utility Sector

Energy utilities play an important role in keeping the world up and running. But the thing that keeps them running and serving us is the tons of information stored in numerous documents. The information basically directs the employers to keep their teams safe and continue sufficing our energy requirements at a reasonable cost.

Currently, every industry is undergoing a digital disruption and corporates have concerns about the data security when employees are accessing confidential data over their personal devices while working from home. However, the energy utility industry has employees working as usual from their offices. But it is one of the most regulated industries and hence there are some stringent regulations that the sector needs to follow. The industry needs to abide by several compliances and have access to information whose security if breached can pose a real threat. Microsoft SharePoint can enable employees to collaborate and share files over a secured network.

• Collaboration with employees working from different geographies The geophysicists, reservoir engineers and drilling engineers can collaborate on different projects using the files and folders uploaded on SharePoint, from their typical geographic locations. Owners, operators and vendors can also collaborate on the projects according to the rights assigned to them. The files are uploaded on SharePoint and hence the changes can be regulated, and it can be ensured that the compliance measures are followed.
• A centralised location to place all documents Critical businesses such as oil and gas companies have numerous employees working at different locations and they upload many documents related to projects, customers, finances and marketing. It might be that workers deployed in different countries have a variety of systems which creates room for errors and inefficiencies. SharePoint is a centralised platform in which you can upload all the required information, share it, edit it and ensure that the regulatory compliances are abided.
• Access rights and permission  Microsoft SharePoint is integrated with your directory and hence the permission to access/edit the important documents and files is given to the employees according to their designation. This feature ensures that there are no security concerns for the confidential data even when it is accessed on personal devices from different locations.
• Automated workflow  By using the workflow automation feature of Microsoft SharePoint, you can ensure that the various stakeholders of the energy utility company are aware of the followed business processes. With a defined workflow in place, the stakeholders can ensure boosted productivity and enhanced efficiency.
• Versioning control Microsoft SharePoint allows controlling versions of the documents. You can monitor the changes made in any document and verify the changes made. Also, the facility to restore earlier versions of the documents is available enabling employees to get the original files if the changes made were inappropriate. Microsoft SharePoint allows controlling versions of the documents. You can monitor the changes made in any document and verify the changes made. Also, the facility to restore earlier versions of the documents is available enabling employees to get the original files if the changes made were inappropriate.
• Audit capabilities The regulatory audit is a common process in the energy utility sector. With the audit feature of Microsoft SharePoint, you can finely monitor the activities of your employees and ensure reduced paperwork and errors during audits.

You can leverage from all the above-mentioned features only when your employees are trained to utilise the Microsoft SharePoint platform to its full capabilities. You can store all the training related documents in the SharePoint platform so that your employees can practically use the system and share the documents when required.

There are many other features of Microsoft SharePoint, which you can use to improve efficiency and productivity in any energy utility company. To have a quick rundown of all the features, contact Exigo Tech at 1300 EXIGOTECH (394 468) or email us at . We as Microsoft Solutions Partner, house a team of SharePoint experts who have the prowess of designing and customising the platform according to your requirements.