XPetro, the cloud solution for the management of your downstream activities

It’s impossible to imagine our society nowadays without cloud solutions. Also the petroleum sector manages all processes more and more in the cloud, which offers a lot of advantages.

ICASA launched the XPetro Cloud platform last year to meet the ever growing business needs of companies. This was a great success given the number of national and international customers who already made the transition to the new platform.

XPetro, back- and head-office cloud solutions
ICASA offers flexible back- and head-office cloud solutions for the management of all downstream activities to meet the needs of companies that vary in function of the growing phase in which they are situated. ‘With more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, we have built out a strong reputation’ explains Rudi Bollen, CEO of ICASA Group. ‘We strongly invested in the transition to the cloud solution because we find it very important to evolve together with the needs of our customers. Our main target is to shorten the implementation time and to simplify management for the customer. After all, with our new XPetro, our customer doesn’t need his own IT-infrastructure anymore. A stable internet connection is sufficient.

‘By using a different architecture and technology we have succeeded in designing a very functional and user-friendly control system. ICASA helps with maximizing the productivity of organisations and also helps with managing the expenses by integrating the automatic dispatch of logistic, administrative and financial company processes in one central management system. After all, company processes become more efficient, throughput times of orders are shortened, supply costs are lower and the customer-orientation and the level of service rises.’

Anticipating the increase of information and business needs
The XPetro Cloud platform combines the advantages of both the public as well as the private cloud. It offers companies the flexibility of creating a solution that anticipates perfectly on the growth of information and the business needs. A lot of companies, inland and abroad, have made the transition to the new platform because of this flexible design. One year after the release of the Cloud platform, it seems to really catch on and more and more customers want to switch to the cloud.

Public versus private cloud
A public cloud is an off-site shared infrastructure that is owned and controlled by an external party (provider). This solution is mainly suitable for small to medium-sized companies, because of the low investment cost. Hardware, licenses, renewal costs and maintenance are all to be paid by the external third party. As a company, you only pay for what you use (the so-called ‘pay-as-you-go’ model).

The private cloud on the other hand, offers an infrastructure that is simply and solely used for your company. You can host this infrastructure from your head office (on premise) in order to manage your service stations from your head office or from the datacentre of your service provider. A private cloud is mainly suitable for larger companies or companies with strict obligations concerning data. It offers you the possibility of adapting your existing infrastructure to the specific IT-needs of the company.

Useful information
If you want more information about ICASA and its products and services, you are free to contact Katrijn Elias (Marketing Manager): +32 11 85 80 80 or katrijn.elias@icasa-group.com