Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Q&A: Santos CIO Hugh Banister

We take a look at what's coming up next on his IT agenda
The future of Santos' IT strategy includes partnering with the business, building a knowledge culture, optimising business processes and enhancing core services and systems.

The future of Santos' IT strategy includes partnering with the business, building a knowledge culture, optimising business processes and enhancing core services and systems.

What does an average work day involve for you at Santos?

I'm usually at my desk by 7:30am, unless I have been out for a run or cycle. I use the early mornings to try to catch up on the actions that I have accumulated from the day before! By 9:00am I am usually into back to back meetings, either with the business, my team, my peer group or vendors and suppliers. It seems like everyone wants a bit of your time, and so I have learnt to become quite ruthless with it. If I am going to spend a large proportion of my time in meetings, I want to make sure that they are effective, pre-planned and minuted with decisions and actions.

I also try to schedule time to do some work during the day, but invariably this is used by my PA for urgent meetings. I am lucky to get a half hour for lunch, and then the afternoon is quite similar to the morning. If by chance I am back at my desk, I often have a queue of people waiting to see me, as they couldn’t get any time in my diary. I usually make it back to my desk by 5:30 – 5:45pm, and my departure time is dependent on what has hit my inbox, or if anything urgent needs to be addressed! I then get on my bike and cycle up the hill to home!

What are some of the major challenges you face in the role of CIO?

At the moment the challenge is one of keeping a focus on our direction. We have a mega project, the Gladstone Liquid Natural Gas (GLNG), which will double the size of Santos between now and 2014. This requires significant effort and significant additional functionality. Other parts of Santos’s business are margins based with a very tight cost focus. The big challenge for me right now, is to find resources with the appropriate experience to deliver, what is, unprecedented growth for Santos, and keep the rest of the business running. As a result of the change that IT is introducing to Santos, Organisation Change Management (OCM) has been a big focus to ensure that the changes introduced deliver the required benefits.

What are some of the recent projects your IT department has been working on?

Some of the projects include:

  • Information Management @ Santos (IM@S)
  • Engineering Data Management (EDM)
  • Ballera Jackson VOIP
  • Brisbane Processing Growth
  • Chart of Accounts Scoping Study
  • Cost Management System
  • Fairview Enable
  • Gas Nominations
  • Headcount Administration System
  • Maximo RAMMS Upgrade
  • Moomba ODR
  • Port Bonython ODR
  • Total Oil Management
  • VOLTS Report Upgrade
  • Carbon Trading
  • Video Conferencing
  • HR Competency Assessments
  • Energy Components Replacement Servers
  • Port Bonthon Information management Upgrade
  • Fairview Wullumbilla VOIP
  • Corporate Data Base + GIS Review
  • GLNG Pipeline and Landowners extension to the SANTOS GIS
  • Fairview Enable - CSG ODR/PRS
  • Total Oil Management-IT stage 2
  • Information Management At Santos - Spend Up To Approvals
  • Information Management At Santos
  • Information Management At Santos - Reduced Staff Costs
  • Oracle e-Business user reporting tool
  • Production Data Mart Implementation
  • Seismic Data Processing Capability
  • Land Owner Database within Santos GIS
  • EDMS
  • Production and Process Operator licenses for Maximo
  • Value Navigator
  • Oracle e-Business / Maximo New features & Upgrade
  • Project BRIDE Phase 2
  • IBM Licence Compliance
  • Fairview Enable - CSG ODR/PRS
  • Information Management At Santos
  • Gas Nominations
  • Total Oil Management
  • Video Conferencing Levels 5, 6 & 8
  • Treasury Management System
  • Change Request for Port Bonython ODR / PRS
  • IO storage cards for EC servers
  • Outsourcing Scope of Work
  • Change Request for Moomba ODR Implementation
  • Various infrastructure projects
  • Mobile radio & emergency communications
  • Business Process Mapping and Architecture
  • Land and Water Management System
  • Program - Project Framework
  • Pipeline Construction Information Repository
  • Maintenance Systems
  • Operations Control Room - Santos Place
  • Overarching Telecommunications Infrastructure
  • Journey Tracking System
  • GLNG IS Operating Plan
  • IM @ Santos for GLNG
  • Video Conferencing
  • Community and Regulatory Management System
  • Community and Regulatory Management System
  • Significant Hazard Risk Register
  • Health and Hygiene Database
  • Hydrocarbon Process Management System
  • Enable for GLNG
  • Finance & Project Cost Management
  • CSG Well Document Management System

What are the three biggest issues facing CIOs today?

To be relevant to the business, to be both a partner and a service provider and to make a difference.

What's your favourite gadget?

Without doubt the iPhone/iPod, not a supported device at Santos (for many reasons), but the user experience is fantastic.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: CSG, DMS, e-Business, IBM, IBM Australia, Oracle, Request DSL, Santos

Comments

1

Unidentified

Thu 29/07/2010 - 17:46

I like your spelling of `que`!

2

lisa_banks

Fri 30/07/2010 - 08:09

Sorry about that! I have now edited the typo.

Thanks for letting me know!

Cheers,

Lisa Banks - Journalist at CIO.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: CIO chat, CIO role, Hugh Bannister, Santos Ltd
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • 10 Ways to Stretch your storage budgets in virtualised, consolidated environments
    Everyone’s heard the line about the only inevitabilities in life being death and taxes. IT managers, however, would quickly assert a third absolute – higher storage needs. There’s no question data storage requirements continue to skyrocket, and there’s absolutely zero likelihood of that ending any time in our lifetime. Enterprises have successfully controlled their IT budgets and server sprawl issues with the help of virtualisation technologies, but what’s next? Increasingly, organizations are turning to storage consolidation for virtualised server environments in order to reduce data center costs and inefficiencies.
    Learn more »
  • Mastering Backup and Restoration
    A backup strategy should not be static. Rather, it should establish a platform for a business to deliver continuous improvement through faster backup and restore features, easier management, lower operating expenditure, reduced complexity and delayed capital investment. These will in turn support greater business competitiveness. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • Protecting Generation Web
    From data privacy to personal safety issues, cyber-bullying, inappropriate content and malware, schools are facing an increasingly difficult task when it comes to allowing young people to spread their online wings without compromising their safety and personal development. The reality that most schools are catering to the needs of mixed age groups and abilities, and it’s easy to understand why a simple stop and block approach won’t work. Learning environments are, by nature, flexible. It stands to reason that the IT resources used in them should be flexible too. Read on.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments