CIO

Q&A: Santos CIO Hugh Banister

We take a look at what's coming up next on his IT agenda
Tags | Santos Ltd | Hugh Bannister | CIO role | CIO chat
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 CIO, the CIO Executive Council & IDC on 6 October at Australia’s premier Melbourne event for senior IT executives – the CIO Summit 2010. Find out more or register now.

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.

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