A collection of the questions we’re most frequently asked. If yours isn’t here then send us an email and we’ll add it.
- Why have a spreadsheet engine?
- This is an amazingly powerful component of the ENERGYSYS product. The average user never has to know that they are running spreadsheets on the server, but any super user who is familiar with Microsoft Excel can create business rules and, if they have the appropriate permissions, upload them and integrate them as part of a business process. The super user specifies what data is loaded from and saved to the database, so everything is securely stored and available for reporting. Every change is versioned, so you know exactly which spreadsheet was used to produce any set of results, and you can go back and rerun a calculation using the historical data and spreadsheets. Finally, and this is the good bit, if something goes wrong the super user can export the spreadsheet populated with the live data and use it to perform diagnostics or what-if calculations.
- Don't you have security issues?
- No. As we said, to an end user ENERGYSYS looks like any other fantastic web-based system, and they cannot make any changes to the spreadsheet or to the underlying data without appropriate permissions being applied. Further, every change that is made is recorded, along with the user's name, the change history, and a reason for the update.
- What's a custom object?
- It's just a fancy name for a data container in the system, and can be used to represent anything that you like. You might define a custom object for a well, or a field, or a safety log, or whatever you want. If it helps, think of it as a row in a table in a database where you define the columns on the fly. If that doesn't help, then forget I just said that. Once you have custom objects you can specify which of them get loaded into a particular spreadsheet, based on criteria you supply, and you can define custom objects to be saved by a spreadsheet. It's very quick and intuitive, and custom objects give you great flexibility in building systems.
- How secure is my online data?
- Very secure. Our datacentre partners are NTT, and they have achieved BS7799 and ISO 27001 certification. This is your absolute guarantee of data security, and it probably exceeds the standards of many in-house solutions. Don't forget that the evidence is that the majority of security breaches come from sources within an organisation, not from external intruders.
- How is the system upgraded when new operating system versions (or other components) are released?
- There will be regular upgrades for both the online system and the appliances in the field, and we've taken great care to ensure this can be done with the minimum of disruption. If some downtime is required we'll let you know well in advance so you can plan accordingly. For the appliance, if you allow us we can securely connect with your system and perform upgrades remotely and as required. If you'd prefer to be in control of this process we can agree when access is permitted. No upgrade requires us to visit your office.
- How quickly will my appliance be fixed if it goes wrong?
- We have a guaranteed four-hour response time on your hardware and if a replacement part is required we would expect to have you operational by the business day following notification of the problem. Of course, if we have remote access to your appliance then we may know about the problem, and have plans in place to fix it, before you're even aware of it.
- What happens if you go out of business, or cease to be interested in this product? Won't I be left will an application I can't maintain?
- Well, we're not planning to go out of business, but we understand the concern. For a start, our code is held in Escrow and would be available to users who need it. However, the reality is that your data is stored in a standard Oracle database, and all of your business rules are held in spreadsheets. This makes it incredibly easy to extract your information and to continue to use it in whatever way you choose. This is part of our unique benefit, in that we don't want you to stay with our product because we've locked you in. We want you to stay with us because of the quality of our products and services.
- What data gets stored in the database?
- With the exception of some user rights information, which is stored in a directory, pretty much everything. Spreadsheets. Data. Version history. Comments. Calculation logs. It is all there and all available to use in reports or other business processes.
- Can I trend the results of more than one run of the spreadsheet?
- Yes, you can. Each run of the spreadsheet stores data in one or more tables and you can generate reports with a variety of charts, including trends.
- What does ENERGYSYS offer over a secured spreadsheet?
- Excellent question. Secured spreadsheets require manual versioning, which can be cumbersome and error-prone, and access is relatively difficult to control. The data remains locked in the spreadsheet and is unavailable for reporting or for access from other systems. ENERGYSYS is a mature web-based product that allows multi-user access from anywhere, and the integrity of your data is assured. Formal backup processes are available, and the data is easily migrated to other systems.
- How do I arrange a demo?
- Call us or email us. We would love to hear from you and we'll arrange a web demonstration or a visit from one of our engineers at a time convenient for you.
- Why aren’t your emails pretty?
- Because we don't use HTML mail. We try to keep our messages short and to the point, and we don't think graphics add much of value. More importantly, HTML mail is loved by spammers and phishers as they can play all kinds of tricks on you. They can disguise malicious URLs and make them appear genuine, and if they've simply guessed your email address they can confirm that it’s active by noting that you’ve downloaded the graphics. Horrible, and the main reason that many email clients now block the graphics in HTML mail (making them look hideous and defeating the original point). Finally, HTML tags add tremendous bloat to simple messages, and we like to reserve the net’s bandwidth for important stuff, like our ENERGYSYS online application!