Social Networking solution

Overview
Drillers.com is an online station for oilfield workers to connect and share their knowledge and drilling experiences across the shore with like-minded professionals. Drillers.com is not just a Social Networking Site – it’s an Oilfield Knowledge Commerce Hub- the first of its kind.

Client
Drillers.com is a portal that was started in 1996 by Steve Devereux, who is himself an oilfield professional with an entrepreneurial spirit. It’s a place for Drilling related information, online libraries, personnel directory, jobs and classifieds. It also provides services by way of a Drilling Manual and Mathcad sheets compiled and published by Steve.

Business Challenge
Until 2008, Drillers.com was serving the oil drilling industry with drilling related information that helped improve the performance of drilling professionals and enabled them to move up the professional ladder, quickly.  The Drilling Manual was their primary revenue source and this was distributed through FTP and CDs.  Steve had a two-pronged need – first, was to get an online version of the Drilling Manual that was easy to access, use, maintain and protect against piracy, and second, was to look at alternative ways by which the information needs of the oilfield professional could be met. Steve was already planning to integrate a forum facility with the site and start up a photo gallery, but the crucial question he was asking was this: Is there more than can be done?

The Solution
Stylus has been the technology partner of choice for Steve’s company since 2007. Phase 1 of the new site involved deploying a discussion forum and a photo gallery. Alongside, work on the online version of the Manual also began. During this phase, Stylus proactively offered to help Steve discover new terrains on the web where his business could flourish. Beginning with a Business Model study, we revisited the objective, the market needs, the marketing strategy and finally the business model as well. The outcome was the concept of a Web Mashup of Expert Maps, Blogs, Media Sharing and Knowledge Commerce solutions with the objective of improving the quality of life of oil filed professionals. Phase 2 of the site came to life with our extended Marketing, Business Consulting and Technology support.

Tools and Technologies used

1. Clicktracks, Weblog Expert
2. MBTI questionnaire
3. Futurenow’s Persuasion Architecture TM
4. Adobe Photoshop  CS3
5. ASP.NET2.0
6. Ajax
7. MS SQL Server 2005

The Bottom Line
The all new Drillers.com was released successfully on March 10, 2009. Now, with the online version of the Drilling Manual, we have sold more than 150 subscriptions* and grown member base by nearly 115% from last year.

“Stylus Inc. has been working with us since May 2007. We have been consistently satisfied with the quality of their work, and also their willingness and ability to set and meet timelines. They have also been exemplary in dealing with problems immediately, a quality that is extremely important in software development. Stylus is also up-to-date with and proficient in “cutting edge” technology, which we have required for our needs.

All in all, I can heartily recommend Stylus to anyone with Web development needs. We are not affiliated with them in any way, other than as satisfied clients.”
-David Morris, Technical Director, Drillers.com