NEWS
Decade of Dedication
May 27, 2021
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LAND INFORMATION
SERVICES LOOKS BACK
ON THE LAST 10 YEARS
SERVICES LOOKS BACK
ON THE LAST 10 YEARS
Wade Brawley’s career spanned years of leadership experience with upstream energy companies, including Chesapeake Energy where his analytic processes were honed and crafted to find ways in which Land, Land Administration, Accounting and Operations could work towards their highest levels of productivity. When Brawley founded Land Information Services LLC (LIS), he did so with the intent to build a company framed around a single word: Efficiency.
In its early years, LIS was engaged by upstream companies to advise on best practices for everything from daily procedures to software recommendations. One of the most resounding complaints offered by Land professionals was the number of different applications required for them to handle routine processes. Each new and best invention from IT resulted in an application that looked and drove differently than other workflow applications. Land users were continually frustrated with yet another new application to master, yet none of them really addressed their needs. It was through these interactions that the LandVantage platform was first inspired. The vision was to create a system that all team members would find easy to use, thereby ensuring all eyes would be on one set of data, and users would be discouraged from creating their own version of company asset ownership. In short, eliminate silos and redundancy. The LIS team dedicated meticulous effort to ensuring each module, screen, and button click came into being with direct purpose. “Eliminate the repetition and emphasize ease of use,” was the repeated design mantra. Storing information was one thing, delivering in a logical manner to the end user was another. Brawley knew that if the application were not intuitive, it would not be used by all stakeholders and the application would fall victim to the same ailment as its predecessors.
In its early years, LIS was engaged by upstream companies to advise on best practices for everything from daily procedures to software recommendations. One of the most resounding complaints offered by Land professionals was the number of different applications required for them to handle routine processes. Each new and best invention from IT resulted in an application that looked and drove differently than other workflow applications. Land users were continually frustrated with yet another new application to master, yet none of them really addressed their needs. It was through these interactions that the LandVantage platform was first inspired. The vision was to create a system that all team members would find easy to use, thereby ensuring all eyes would be on one set of data, and users would be discouraged from creating their own version of company asset ownership. In short, eliminate silos and redundancy. The LIS team dedicated meticulous effort to ensuring each module, screen, and button click came into being with direct purpose. “Eliminate the repetition and emphasize ease of use,” was the repeated design mantra. Storing information was one thing, delivering in a logical manner to the end user was another. Brawley knew that if the application were not intuitive, it would not be used by all stakeholders and the application would fall victim to the same ailment as its predecessors.
Data by itself is the building block for all company information. Data is simple, one-dimensional, and isolated. LandVantage transforms data into meaningful information by relating these records and documents while also providing a platform for team members to share information. “LandVantage promotes true teamwork” President and COO of LIS, Jim Shaw said. “The antiquated programs dominating the industry have resulted in time wasted and dissatisfaction from users. If a company’s data is compromised or stored improperly, they are setting themselves up for problems in the future. The same can be said when end users are forced to use programs that hamper their productivity and daily success. We knew that we could do it better, and who better to design a true Land platform than the very Land professionals using these programs?” The payoff: a cloud-based solution unlike any other which gave power to both companies and users alike. For their consulting practice, LIS leveraged this technology to help streamline all Land project work – not just Lease Records, but Land, Division Orders, and Owner Relations. Lease Records clients boasted the ability to input and maintain lease and mineral records3-5 times faster than their earlier system. The document management and task delegation components created efficiencies by eliminating emails and individual task lists.
Ten years later, LIS’ LandVantage platform has matured, and the client base has grown exponentially. “We are fortunate to have loyal customers who unabashedly endorse our product and service to other companies. That’s the best compliment I can hope for” says Brawley. Upstream, midstream, and mineral purchasers have all discovered tangible time and money savings through the LandVantage platform. The bulk of this savings comes from the ability to leverage LandVantage’s workflows (Requests) feature. Requests is the foundation for generating any kind of “ticket”, or Task to team members and route documents received from owners and partners. Requests create a full sense of transparency between all those using LandVantage and allows them to review what items are currently being worked on and what delegations remain outstanding. Everything from eCalendar payment schedules, Owner Inquiries and updates, Down Well tracking, AFE sign offs, and grass roots leasing Leads (and more) can easily be tasked out, reviewed and approved through Requests, anywhere the user is accessing the program.
As the global pandemic created uncertain times for the oil and gas industry, Land Information Services pushed their resources to release the highly anticipated LandVantage 2.0 platform upgrade to support companies by improving the speed and adding even more functionality. Throughout 2020 many companies saw staff reductions but no loss of workload. Without the proper system in place, remaining personnel assumed responsibility for vacated roles. But intuitive systems like LandVantage were able to help bridge the void left by the termination of so many employees with valuable years of experience. 2020 underscored the importance of utilizing an intuitive system that could be easily navigated and provide a maximum of information on one platform. Further, LandVantage facilitates data governance by establishing “guard rails” to aid users in the correct input and relation of data within their agreement, well and owner records, so that data quality is less vulnerable to staffing shifts. Now, more than ever, ROI evaluation for onboarding new/switching technology is highly scrutinized. LandVantage typically yields a full return within 3-6 months due to process and personnel efficiency and displacement of other legacy ancillary systems and their corresponding licensing fees, in favor of LandVantage’s imbedded workflows.
Benefits of LV2 Workflows:
• Consolidate monitoring tool for Management.
• Document and process tracking for all in chain.
• Easily identify roadblocks or bottlenecks in processes.
• Transparency creates accountability throughout all users.
• Simultaneous alerts to streamline tasks.
The ideal trend for companies in this new energy era is compiling and storing all documents within the Cloud allowing team members quicker access than ever before. LandVantage gives companies the ability to upload and maintain all scanned files and directly relate them to one or more agreements, wells, or owners. The drag and drop feature minimized the time required to upload and cross reference important documents to any record within the system. This blend of structured and unstructured data provides Land decision-makers with all the information at their fingertips in one platform – even if the data, or documents are sourced from another source system. “We are committed to providing a refreshing new look at what software and outsourcing can be for this amazing industry,” said Jim Shaw. “Technology continues to improve, and it is our intention to be the leader in this unique era.”
Ten years later, LIS’ LandVantage platform has matured, and the client base has grown exponentially. “We are fortunate to have loyal customers who unabashedly endorse our product and service to other companies. That’s the best compliment I can hope for” says Brawley. Upstream, midstream, and mineral purchasers have all discovered tangible time and money savings through the LandVantage platform. The bulk of this savings comes from the ability to leverage LandVantage’s workflows (Requests) feature. Requests is the foundation for generating any kind of “ticket”, or Task to team members and route documents received from owners and partners. Requests create a full sense of transparency between all those using LandVantage and allows them to review what items are currently being worked on and what delegations remain outstanding. Everything from eCalendar payment schedules, Owner Inquiries and updates, Down Well tracking, AFE sign offs, and grass roots leasing Leads (and more) can easily be tasked out, reviewed and approved through Requests, anywhere the user is accessing the program.
As the global pandemic created uncertain times for the oil and gas industry, Land Information Services pushed their resources to release the highly anticipated LandVantage 2.0 platform upgrade to support companies by improving the speed and adding even more functionality. Throughout 2020 many companies saw staff reductions but no loss of workload. Without the proper system in place, remaining personnel assumed responsibility for vacated roles. But intuitive systems like LandVantage were able to help bridge the void left by the termination of so many employees with valuable years of experience. 2020 underscored the importance of utilizing an intuitive system that could be easily navigated and provide a maximum of information on one platform. Further, LandVantage facilitates data governance by establishing “guard rails” to aid users in the correct input and relation of data within their agreement, well and owner records, so that data quality is less vulnerable to staffing shifts. Now, more than ever, ROI evaluation for onboarding new/switching technology is highly scrutinized. LandVantage typically yields a full return within 3-6 months due to process and personnel efficiency and displacement of other legacy ancillary systems and their corresponding licensing fees, in favor of LandVantage’s imbedded workflows.
Benefits of LV2 Workflows:
• Consolidate monitoring tool for Management.
• Document and process tracking for all in chain.
• Easily identify roadblocks or bottlenecks in processes.
• Transparency creates accountability throughout all users.
• Simultaneous alerts to streamline tasks.
The ideal trend for companies in this new energy era is compiling and storing all documents within the Cloud allowing team members quicker access than ever before. LandVantage gives companies the ability to upload and maintain all scanned files and directly relate them to one or more agreements, wells, or owners. The drag and drop feature minimized the time required to upload and cross reference important documents to any record within the system. This blend of structured and unstructured data provides Land decision-makers with all the information at their fingertips in one platform – even if the data, or documents are sourced from another source system. “We are committed to providing a refreshing new look at what software and outsourcing can be for this amazing industry,” said Jim Shaw. “Technology continues to improve, and it is our intention to be the leader in this unique era.”
