An organisation of the sheer size of Saudi Aramco needs systems which operate efficiently and are able to link the myriad of processes which the integrated oil giant uses.

The use of IT and computers is fundamental to Saudi Aramco's operations, from desktop videoconferencing to the transfer of immediate geo-steering instructions. The benefits of IT are heightened in Saudi Arabia's harsh, often remote environment and facilities.

Saudi Aramco began this year with a new business integration programme which saw numerous business systems incorporated into one.

An ambitious programme, Saudi Aramco's Business Systems Integration Program (BSIP) replaced some 270 legacy computer systems with one and cut the access time for some critical documents from days to minutes.

The BSIP is the culmination of years of work and planning. It has more than 23,000 users in the Kingdom and in Saudi Aramco's international offices, and contains more than 150 million master data records.

A crucial factor in the success of the BSIP was having the right people with the right skills for the right jobs. If and when staff needed to develop additional skills, Saudi Aramco was able to support them.

Project personnel were also given thorough knowledge of the company's extensive business processes which were to be improved.

Saudi Aramco's Supply Chain Management (SCM) system was one area to benefit from the BSIP. The SCM process manages the vast inventory of goods which Saudi Aramco needs to conduct daily business. It was necessary to integrate the many modules and materials vendors all over the world, and required the formulation of an electronic catalogue containing the description, specification and price of more than 700,000 items.

e-commerce has also been at the heart of business thinking and government policy in Saudi Arabia for some time.

Government policy makers have been working to create the best environment for e-commerce to flourish while business leaders work out how to position their businesses to survive in the new local and global economy.

In the Kingdom, the potential for e-commerce to act as an engine of growth has been realised, according to Dr Ibrahim Mishari, chief information officer at Saudi Aramco.

''In the emerging eEconomy, our government relationships with citizens, business and other governments will be transformed by simultaneously delivering electronic services to these stakeholders and creating an environment in which eCommerce and eGovernment flourishes,'' he told delegates earlier this year at the 3rd Saudi e-commerce Conference.

Saudi Aramco has, said Mishari, thought through an approach which it believe works for eCommerce in general, for eGovernment, ebanking, eProcurement or otherwise.

''Our approach to the deployment of eGovernment (or any eCommerce capability) is 1) Develop a Grand Vision, 2) Take small steps and 3) scale fast,'' said Mishari.