As the population continues to grow, Taoyuan is actively investing in digital transformation across various construction projects, using policy incentives and mentoring resources to help promote digital transformation in various industries. Xintao Natural Gas, a key player in Taoyuan's smart city development, is also investing in digital transformation, enabling the traditional natural gas industry to improve service efficiency through digital operations.
The traditional operation mode has complex processes and low efficiency.
Jian Shishan, general manager of Xintao Natural Gas, said that Xintao Natural Gas currently serves approximately one-fifth of the population of Greater Taoyuan. Although most households use the gas for domestic purposes, the number of industrial and commercial users is only around 1, but the overall gas sales volume accounts for more than 5%. Therefore, when serving corporate users who affect industrial development, it becomes even more important to confirm the normal operation of the natural gas pipeline, report and eliminate emergencies, and ensure smooth normal operations.
In traditional operations, due to information security considerations, it is usually necessary to distinguish between two systems: the one for connecting to the external network and the one for internal operations. As a result, staff must use two computers at the same time. This not only compresses the workspace and causes power loss, but may also lead to complexity in data exchange and software update management. It is even difficult to control the easy transfer of internal data through external devices, and there are still network security issues. Therefore, establishing a convenient and simplified information operation system has become Xintao's first step towards digital transformation.
Improving operation and management efficiency through cloud computing
Therefore, Xintao Natural Gas chose to implement the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) cloud management solution. Through a hybrid cloud architecture, it simplified the use of equipment in the work environment. At the same time, by moving to the cloud, it improved the traditional hardware warranty and software version consistency maintenance problems, significantly reducing IT staff maintenance hours. It also simplified the system control center architecture, making system monitoring and resource scheduling easier. At the same time, it can also enhance information security protection capabilities in the form of a private cloud without changing the existing network architecture, enabling Xintao Natural Gas to quickly meet internal audit and security control ISO compliance requirements in its operations.
Other imported solutions include VMware Carbon Black XDR protection mechanism, and simplify network management and overall workload through VMware Horizon VDI virtual desktop platform, VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer, etc.
Improve the accuracy of field workers' work and get faster returns with a more stable system
By transforming its data center into a private cloud, Xintao Natural Gas has significantly simplified its internal workflow and greatly improved system operational stability. This allows Xintao's on-site staff to more easily compare the direction of underground pipelines and the status of past construction wiring with pre-established data when conducting on-site pipeline inspections and maintenance. They can also quickly clarify the locations of existing electrical wires and water pipes underground, avoiding accidental damage during subsequent excavation and inspections.
On the other hand, if a natural gas pipeline anomaly occurs, Xintao Natural Gas can quickly confirm the location of the problem through data feedback. After the staff go to the site for inspection and repair, they can directly report the repair status online through the tablet device, or directly confirm the pipeline laying status at the location through augmented reality through the tablet device.
Avoid data leakage and other problems
After adopting the VMware solution, Jian Shishan emphasized that internal operating processes have become more simplified and information exchange has become easier, thus improving overall work efficiency. By having clearer access rights for finance and official business, internal data leakage can be avoided, and data management can be more rigorous to ensure the security of user personal information.
In addition, by operating in a digital form, all business operations such as user inquiries and data changes will be recorded, making it more convenient to query data changes and trace back construction records in the future, so that all work content can be based on digitization.
Achieving sustainable development through digitalization
Jian Shishan further explained that since Xintao Natural Gas is a gas business jointly invested and operated by the Veterans Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan and the private sector, in addition to digital transformation issues, ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues have also become key development projects.
After introducing the VMware solution, Xintao Natural Gas has significantly reduced energy loss through digital operations, reducing the number of computer devices in the workplace, and alleviating electricity consumption. Xintao Natural Gas also expects to simplify and optimize workflows through further digital transformation, thereby enabling more data to be digitally recorded, such as more accurate user natural gas usage, and thus combining more carbon neutral practices to achieve more complete sustainable development goals.
