Page 56: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2012)

SIS Sets up in BrazilStar Information Systems (SIS) established a new base in Rio de Janeiro to serve Brazil?s offshore sector. SIS sent Hans-Krist-ian Fjaerem (pictured right) to lead the operation, recruit a local team, and service SIS? growing portfolio of customers in the re- gion. SIS has been servicing clients in the region for the past five years, but is now investing in a permanent office to ensure that its customers there ? such as Norsul, Teekay Petrojarl, Farstad Shipping, Solstad Offshore, Ocean Rig, BW Offshore, and Siem Offshore ? get the best possible service, from a dedicated, local team of professionals. Fjaerem, a key figure at SIS over his 12 years with the business, envisions massive potential for the market, and for SIS itself: ? We have had activities in Brazil for some time, but we felt the exceptional growth of the market, particularly with regard to the oil and gas sectors, meant that the time was right to commit to a permanent base. We?re looking to build a full-service company there providing all the services that we currently provide from Norway ? that?s advisory services, project management, support, implementation, training and sales across all of our software modules. ?These cover CMMS and asset management, QHSE, fleet supply management, project management, document management, KPIs dashboards, and more. Having a local team on the ground, with local industry and language abilities will give our Brazilia nand international customers a valuable point of access to SIS and our product range, while helping us to take advantage of an e x-citing and fast developing marketplace.? SIS? existing clients in the region are in agreement with Fjaerem, with Knut Olsen, CMMS Manager at Siem Offshore, and Roar Bye, Operations Strategy and Support Manager Teekay Petrojarl, throwing their support behind the development of the perma- nent base. Siem Offshore currently has five vessels operating in Brazilian waters and Olsen welcomes SIS? arrival. We can envision a world where a crew member comes onboard a vessel, signs on to the vessel via a tablet (there could be multiple tablets onboard all communi-cating with a central server, which is the communication platform back to shore).But within the local area network, you could have a tablet in the engine room, one in the galley, one up in the wheel- house and one as a floater that could beused by crew to review their policies and procedures, and conducting safety meetings. Tablets will make data management so much easier and will eventually create the paperless vessel. What market sectors do you see as the most promising for your business in the coming year and why? Galatas, MarineCFOWe focus en- tirely on the workboat market and that is where our growth will come from. Whether oil supply vessels, inland or off- shore towing vessels, bulk or liquid cargo MarineCFO has a good solution.Hartsaw, W&O W&O serves a number of sectors in the marine industry?cruise,commercial, military, offshore, inland barge, and others. The iShip system is truly designed for an international andglobal market, and is applicable to virtu- ally every sector?making it what W&O believes to be the most promising oppor- tunity in the coming year. Information is power, and iShip provides the intelli- gence and power to make operational and business decisions that bring increased profitability to the organization. Vessel owners of all size are stretched thin to ensure that their vessels, crew and company remain in compliance with a growing web of rules and regulations. How has this development impacted the products and services that you provide? Aarstad, Jeppesen It is Jeppesen?s view that we have a responsibility to maintain close working relationships with govern- ment authorities and industry groupsaround the world. Our active participa- tion in technical working groups and con- tribution to relevant standards is vital for ensuring two things: that legislation in- corporates private sector needs and ex- pertise, and that the latest navigation technologies and standards are embeddedin our products and services.deBruyne, EdocIt has had a huge im-pact on us. From our perspective, any time there is an industry that has heavy regulation and a great deal of paperwork, that?s an opportunity for a software com- pany to optimize that process. And we certainly don?t see the amount of paper- work going away. If anything, it?s going to continue to get worse. We see companies that have entire departments focused on managing all ofthis safety and compliance data. To do that in a paper-based environment with disconnected systems like Access or Excel is unsustainable. But if you canpull of this information into one systemlike ours, it makes everyone?s life a whole lot easier. Hartsaw, W&O iShip was developed to simplify the lives of vessel owners and operators as they navigate through a number of new regulatory demands placed on them. These demands have burdened owners, operators and crewmembers with an increasing amount of data gathering and reporting, which takes valuable time away from more cost- effective duties . iShip?s monitoring and reporting of fuel consumption, equipmentstatus, operational efficiency, emission monitoring, fuel bunkering, internal cor- porate reporting, and eventually carbon trading, streamlines the information-gathering process and creates intelligence that is immediately usable. iShip data istime stamped and has an auditable trailfor indisputable reporting, greatly help-ing ensure compliance with the latest reg- ulatory requirements. The system 56Maritime Reporter & Engineering News Ron deBruyne, Edoc ?The key thing we are investing in now is the move towards tablet technology. What we see is a new wave of hard- ware technology coming that is going to make life onboard the vessels that much easier. We can envision a world where a crew member comes onboard a vessel, signs on to the vessel via a tablet.? FEATURE SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS ROUNDTABLE MR March 12 # 8 (56-64):MR Template 3/2/2012 3:50 PM Page 56