Incoming waves of new digital innovations promise to transform a hidden but important business model embedded throughout oil and gas—the ERP platform.

You might not know this, but many years ago, when I was on my way to becoming a partner with Deloitte, I studied how to implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) technologies, specifically PeopleSoft. I took a number of courses at their offices in Walnut Creek California on the Finance modules. But in the oil and gas world, SAP became the dominant solution, Oracle purchased PeopleSoft, and my short-lived career as an ERP implementation consultant came to an abrupt end. And so, I replaced it with a different career which was as an ERP strategist.

SAP has now developed a foundation, or platform, on which companies can operate entirely new business models for the use of SAP ERP technologies. It’s unimaginatively called Business Technology Platform, or BTP (SAP is not prone to dynamic over the top branding, and BMW was already taken).

The way that companies have historically deployed their ERP systems is now a tired business model that looks profoundly ill-suited to our more kinetic and dynamic business landscape. It is time pay the debt that the model represents, and overhaul the ERP business model for the future.