Mission-critical processes such as drilling, dynamic positioning, and well control now rely heavily on highly-integrated control systems software. Software, like other aspects of equipment, must be properly managed and maintained in order to avoid equipment failures and health, safety and environmental (HSE) incidents. Software changes (including patches, upgrades, and new configurations) happen frequently and are initiated by many different vendors, making software configuration management (SCM) challenging. Immature SCM policies and lack of adherence to SCM standard practices leave your fleet vulnerable to all of the risks associated with ad hoc installations and updates, inadequately tested software, and insufficient planning for software and hardware end-of-life (EOL). 

To mitigate these risks, drilling contractors and operators are implementing strong Software Configuration Management Plans either when control systems are accepted from vendors or directly after Commissioning. A solid plan enables them to:

  • Communicate policy and required procedures internally and to all vendors
  • Verify that policies are being followed
  • Proactively plan for software and hardware EOL
  • Avoid support and warranty nullification
  • Reduce equipment failures and safety regulation breaches

Our SCM Proven PracticesSM Methodology is based on our extensive experience on high-specification assets and with industry standards. This enables us to quickly assess SCM-related operational risks, select an SCM tool, and effectively create, expand or update your SCM policies and procedures. We also oversee implementation of your Software Configuraiton Management Plan and perform periodic audits to help ensure measurable compliance and continuous improvement. Our deliverables include the following:

  • SCM Assessment Report By comparing your current SCM processes to industry best-practices, we identify and document gaps / risks and recommend specific improvement
  •  Real-Time Risk AssessmentSM Scorecard
  • SCM Package Selection Recommendation (if applicable)
  • Software Configuration Management Plan We create policy and procedure documents as well as implementation and deployment plans that align with your corporate policies and regional regulatory requirements. The SCMP includes these policies, procedures and deliverables:
    • Software Configuration Register
    • Software Configuration Change Control and Release Plan
    • Periodic Software Configuration Status Reporting and Auditing
    • End-of-Life Plan
    • Pilot Program and Report
    • Training Program
    • SCM Deployment
    • Periodic Audit and SCM Refresher Training

How We're Different

  1. Athens Group Proven Practices for SCM implement internationally recognized standards and guidance for software configuration management through a proprietary multi level approach. Each level provides software configuration management policies and procedures that are aligned with your existing quality policies and procedures from your corporate policy level to the actual procedures implemented on the individual rig assets. Our Drilling Technology Assurance Consultants have worked alongside and established relationships with most equipment vendors.
  2. Knowledge skills transfer – we empower your team to take control of your systems.
  3. We wrote the book on software quality, literally - our CTO is the author of Quality Software Project Management and Software Configuration Audit in the 2010 edition of the Encyclopedia of Software Engineering.

Failure Point Example *

A pipe handler control system was struck by lightning. There was no software backup so the system could not be restored. This resulted in four days of downtime at a cost of $3.2M US. With an effective Software Configuration Management Solution, the latest version of the software would have been readily available to be reinstalled, preventing four days of NPT.

* All Failure Points are issues we have identified on multiple rigs on which we have worked