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I hope to see intersting discussion around this article and these companies. I live in Calgary and I've always been intrigued by the gigantic oil and gas indust

I hope to see intersting discussion around this article and these companies. I live in Calgary and I've always been intrigued by the gigantic oil and gas industry in my backyard. The problem is that when I look at those companies, despite their obvious inefficiencies, they are the antithesis to a typical startup. Oil and gas companies typically: - Are run by people with no appreciation for technology (this might change in 10-30 years when these people die - I wish I was kidding in my language about death but that's exactly how people around here describe it: just waiting for the "Blue Chippers" to die off.) - Are enterprises so deals will take forever to close - Typically only buy software from software companies that look like them (Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, etc.) - Toss all cost saving measures out the window as soon as the barrel price shoots back up I think it's an interesting industry with tons of data and tons of problems that need solving but a very hard one to crack.

iolothebard 11y ago
Devon is in your back yard. They are significantly invested in technology. Living in Oklahoma all the oil & gas companies here are in my experience. Perhaps you're just ignorant to what it is they actually do in their IT departments or are only considering small companies. A field worker or landman might not know what goes on either.
- rubiquity 11y ago
  I'm aware of Devon but isn't that a recent thing? And I'm guessing you're referring to their use of OpenStack and buying RHEL licenses/support? What's interesting is that several people up here have used Devon as the poster child for reserved technology practices. Encana/Cenovus tend to have the recognition of being technology forward. Maybe Devon has changed since they sold off half of their Canadian assets. I agree my ignorance/attitude towards the industry isn't the best. I've always felt as a software startup the service companies would be your best bet.
- calgaryeng 11y ago
  The technology that Devon invests in is not the type that Hacker News talks about.
joeyspn 11y ago
> I think it's an interesting industry with tons of data and tons of problems that need solving but a very hard one to crack. I'm currently building a B2B SaaS app with the help of a small oil company and the few months I've been working and learning about the industry I've noticed it's not really different than other industries like say Healthcare (I've also built stuff for this one): - The culture is certainly different than the IT/Internet industry, they have their own business processes, work/deal flows and idiosyncrasies but you just have to be open minded and learn. - Loads of opportunities in IT. Small/medium improvements can be easily done in their classical processes with simple software, and this software is easily marketable to many players. They’re so caught up innovating in their core processes that they don’t have the pace in IT innovation that has for example the internet industry (where IT is actually the core process). - Big changes most likely will find “barriers” from established players and/or regulators. - Despite the apparent difficulty to close deals within these industries I’d say it’s actually the contrary. They love, welcome and invest in new ideas despite their lack of startup mentality. tl;dr… like any other industry they're open to innovation, but they have their own rules

iolothebard 11y ago

Devon is in your back yard. They are significantly invested in technology. Living in Oklahoma all the oil & gas companies here are in my experience. Perhaps you're just ignorant to what it is they actually do in their IT departments or are only considering small companies. A field worker or landman might not know what goes on either.

rubiquity 11y ago
I'm aware of Devon but isn't that a recent thing? And I'm guessing you're referring to their use of OpenStack and buying RHEL licenses/support? What's interesting is that several people up here have used Devon as the poster child for reserved technology practices. Encana/Cenovus tend to have the recognition of being technology forward. Maybe Devon has changed since they sold off half of their Canadian assets. I agree my ignorance/attitude towards the industry isn't the best. I've always felt as a software startup the service companies would be your best bet.
calgaryeng 11y ago
The technology that Devon invests in is not the type that Hacker News talks about.

joeyspn 11y ago

> I think it's an interesting industry with tons of data and tons of problems that need solving but a very hard one to crack. I'm currently building a B2B SaaS app with the help of a small oil company and the few months I've been working and learning about the industry I've noticed it's not really different than other industries like say Healthcare (I've also built stuff for this one): - The culture is certainly different than the IT/Internet industry, they have their own business processes, work/deal flows and idiosyncrasies but you just have to be open minded and learn. - Loads of opportunities in IT. Small/medium improvements can be easily done in their classical processes with simple software, and this software is easily marketable to many players. They’re so caught up innovating in their core processes that they don’t have the pace in IT innovation that has for example the internet industry (where IT is actually the core process). - Big changes most likely will find “barriers” from established players and/or regulators. - Despite the apparent difficulty to close deals within these industries I’d say it’s actually the contrary. They love, welcome and invest in new ideas despite their lack of startup mentality. tl;dr… like any other industry they're open to innovation, but they have their own rules