How Schlumberger Achieved Networked Information Leadership by Transitioning to a Product-Platform Software Architecture

To sustain its competitive position as the leader in providing information solutions to the oil and gas industry, Schlumberger transitioned to a cutting-edge product-platform software architecture by embedding a leading geological modeling software product—Petrel—within Ocean, its collaborative open software platform. The purpose was to open up Petrel through the layered Ocean platform to broaden the company’s information innovation network with a view to maximizing customer satisfaction. To achieve this, four challenges had to be overcome: (1) fostering global innovation and knowledge sourcing; (2) securing core knowledge while ensuring platform robustness; (3) regulating the contributors’ network; and (4) ensuring an adequate quantity of highquality contributions. We have identified the seven practices Schlumberger followed to address these four challenges. These are summarized below and described in detail in the full report.