THE CHALLENGE:

As a small, start-up player in the oil and gas (O&G) exploration support business, Landmark wished to become a major contributor but needed a long-term growth plan. O&G exploration was, by nature, a costly and time-consuming task; nevertheless, there remained significant opportunities in the marketplace to reduce costs.

Landmark created a long-term vision, which it named “Opening windows into the earth”, a powerful phrase that provided a vivid depiction of what the future could hold. But what was a vision without the long-term strategy to carry it out? So with the same bold thinking that they employed to create their vision, Landmark turned to Synecticsworld to help it propel its vision forward.

THE PROCESS:

Synecticsworld designed processes to help Landmark senior management, the board, and selected outsiders build a process that would create a strong understanding of customer Insights about the needs and wants of the industry. Those Insights were used to develop Foresights, which included examining trends and technology challenges across the cross-functional aspects of O&G exploration over a 10-15 year time horizon and ongoing work with customers to create a robust view of how technology and business practices could evolve over the next twenty years.

Key to Landmark’s success was mapping how quickly computer power would grow over a fifteen-year horizon, concluding with confidence that computational power would proceed along a path that spurred Landmark to invest in software for forecasting environmental input. So, at a time when two-dimensional (2D) technology was all that existed, Landmark chose a more courageous path and embraced 3D underground visualization as the future of O&G visualization even though it required technology that did not yet exist.

THE RESULTS:

The Synecticsworld-led initiative created an annual strategy focused on working with senior leadership to keep Landmark’s plan fresh, alive and relevant. The process included reviews of where the market was going, where it was weak, acquisition targets, etc. Exactly the kind of fine-tuning that was vital to keeping the Landmark vision alive.

Each quarter senior leaders from Landmark and the next levels reviewed both strategic and operational progress against the plan. The accomplishments were linked to objectives, strategies, robust initiatives and the annual operating plan.

Buoyed by the success of their vision and the Synecticsworld-led long-term strategy, not only did Landmark Graphics grow from a $28 million company to a $700 million company in a ten-year period, but exploration costs dropped 40%.

Landmark is now a recognized leader in O&G exploration software.