the screens that already existed to SuiteVoyager for publishing on the intranet. Although the network and XML links would allow sending data in the other direction to the controllers for controlling equipment remotely, management decided against activating this feature as a security precaution.

Because Web Services are at the heart of the portal, the portal was easy not only to install but also to use. When Carrizales received the software, she created a server and installed the software in an afternoon. “At the time that I put this server together, I had no experience with Windows 2000,” she says. “So I installed the operating system, using the documentation and some resources from Wonderware.”

Easy setup

Publishing the pages containing the reports on the intranet took a little longer than an afternoon, however. She had to work with the managers and supervisors needing the information in deciding on how to organize the pages. For this reason, the initial set of reports took a few weeks to organize and publish. Because creating and modifying reports is easy, many reports have been revised, and the number of reports published has increased. Since installing the portal three years ago, Carrizales has produced between 75 and100 pages. “We still add and take away from the design,” she says. “It’s an ongoing process.”

Even though vendors rely on Web Services mostly to pass data between their own software (OPC tends to be better at linking applications from various vendors; see the story on this topic on p. 47 of this issue), the technology is proving to be of tremendous value at Devon Energy and elsewhere. “It has improved our business by disseminating information that was once held in one place to more people so they can make better decisions faster,” concludes Carrizales. The ability to peer into their processes at will gives people the ability to optimize productivity and maximize profits.