News 10-year benefit as demand for cloud-connected tech spikes

10-year benefit as demand for cloud-connected tech spikes: IMDEX

Leading global mining-tech company IMDEX says interest in its cloud-connected technologies has spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, the positive effect of which will flow through for the next 10 years.

There has been strong interest in IMDEX’s software technologies including IMDEX HUB-IQ^TM, IMDEX MUD AID^TM and IMDEX ioGas^TM.

Registrations for webinars on digital workflow and training for data-related products have jumped.

Adoption of IMDEX EZ-TRAC^TM a digital downhole survey instrument that uploads data to IMDEX HUB-IQ^TM has doubled in the past 12 months.

Chief Executive Paul House said the new ways of working had accelerated the adoption of some of its products and training services by as much as 12 months.

“Things like our online training platform, IMDEX Academy; we had this training platform available to our employees but not our clients at the beginning of COVID-19,” Mr House said.

“It was an important project to us, but it wasn’t urgent. When COVID-19 came along it went from being important to being urgent and it accelerated both that product’s development and the time to market almost overnight.”

IMDEX was at least 12 months ahead on the rollout of its online training platform because of the adoption rate during the pandemic.

Registrations for webinars and training related to digital products have increased significantly. The most recent webinar on digital workflow attracted about 500 registrations, compared with previous webinars with no more than 100.

“Previously when we trained, we would have six to eight people attending the training workshop. Yes, those people are engaged, but you are moving the whole industry by very small degrees,” Mr House said.

“Now when we run those workshops and we run them online, we are getting between 150 and 400 people.

“We have the ability to move the knowledge base of the industry quickly. It’s a conversation in the marketplace, it validates our leadership position and our domain knowledge ownership, it’s transformational for us and that will pay off for us for the next 10 years.”

“Where would usually have to ask customers to consider a change in behaviour, to take a leap of faith, all of those things are being pulled into the market rather than pushed,” Mr House said.

“The processes that are being disrupted have a solution, which is some of our IMDEX solutions.

“We always say once you have started working with our solutions, you won’t go back. So, the adoption rate is faster, and the conversation rate is locked in.”