Viking Innovations focuses on delivering high-quality IT solutions to the oil and gas sector and the maritime industry. After working 20 years in the industry in Houston, USA, Svein Osnes, CEO & founder, ventured on a new experience. Viking Innovations was born in Houston in 2006 and they quickly established offices in strategic locations around the globe. They currently have offices in the US, Singapore, Cyprus and Norway.
We had an insightful conversation with Svein about the company, innovation and doing business in Singapore.
Viking Innovations specializes in IT infrastructure and provides a wide range of services and support to clients, both onshore and offshore. “IT infrastructure and telecommunications support for offshore vessels and satellite offices throughout the world had been my focus since I finished military. It felt very natural to continue this journey working directly with the operation and this challenging environment”, says Svein. “Achieving scalable, efficient and high-availability platforms have always been a dream for me, and it has now been realized through the work we do at Viking Innovations”.
Combining skilled human capital with technological expertise, Viking Innovations help their clients with IT infrastructure migrations, virtualizations, overhauls and upgrades for both onshore and offshore sites. “We have a diverse group of consultants that are based around the world, making sure our clients will receive the assistance they need 24/7”.
The value of colleagues
When Viking Innovations set up shop in Singapore back in 2007, they focused on providing major drilling companies with the necessary IT infrastructure, GMDSS (Global maritime distress and safety system) support and VoIP solutions. VoIP is the technology that converts your voice into a digital signal allowing you to make a call directly from a computer. Svein excitingly tells us that there were many interesting challenges, opportunities and learning in the initial stages.
During their first years in Singapore, Viking Innovations put forward an innovative initiative helping their clients reduce costs at all levels of their infrastructure, including cabling, dynamic VSAT allocations, thin client installations, and system integrity. This later became a brand mark for the company. In the 1990s, Svein worked on reducing the cost of communications via satellite, which at the time was a major cost driver for companies. “Collaborating with one client at the time, we managed to reach our goal of reducing the cost by more than 50% by using dynamic allocation and IP protocols to transfer both data and voice. Viking innovations still works after the original strategy. Highly skilled and trustful colleagues is a must to achieve this, and I appreciate their contributions”.
What does innovation mean for Viking Innovations’ competitiveness in the market?
Viking Innovations’ core value is to provide their clients with the best result at the best price. They focus on their key operations and strive to find solutions that cover the needs of their customers. Different clients have different needs and requirements for security, applications and services for their operations, which means they have to tailor their solutions and sometimes compromise for their clients.
“The drive to innovate is what moves us forward in today’s digital world. We actively approach new and emerging technology. Innovation coupled with our expertise and focus on customer efficiency gives us a competitive edge”. Osnes further adds, “Innovation for us means finding new ways of using existing knowledge in a way that best benefits our core values. This is why we think outside the box and find creative, but sustainable ways for our clients to operate their core business without interruptions; we strive to provide the best available technology that is well within the needs and budget of our clients”.
Singapore as a strategic center for business
After almost one and a half decades of doing business from Singapore, it is interesting to hear what advantages the city-state offers that makes Viking Innovations want to do business here.
“Singapore as a strategic center is an important part of becoming a worldwide supporter of our services. Singapore is the top business hub in Asia, but it is also a top travel hub. We can go to any client site in any part of the world from Singapore. Furthermore, the infrastructure that Singapore has in place is conducive for innovations. It is diverse and multicultural and we can easily get the resources we need locally or within the SEA area”.
Being located in Singapore, Viking Innovations has readily access to new technology, logistics and spare parts. Particularly important are the many shipyards, the maritime environment and all the international entities within a small area. “I often meet companies with entities in Singapore. Having a common platform is beneficial for business and to keep up a discussion”.
A new era awaits
Viking Innovations have experienced some challenging periods, especially after the market boom a few years ago. They endured a number setbacks, including acquisitions of clients and projects that were put on hold. After this, they had to think differently, so they partnered with communications providers and were looking into new opportunities. Moreover, Svein also tells us that they had a portion of luck when they were contracted to build a new infrastructure for a newly established drilling company. They managed to penetrate with communications into the Chinese market and they now support many ships with their communications needs.
Today they look at a new era within their industrial point of focus with optimism. They have successfully expanded their portfolio without changing their focus on the maritime industry. “At Viking Innovations, we like to keep a tight-knit group of consultants that makes it easier to provide top-notch service to our customers. There are many pitfalls today, but our focused training and having a focus on personal and human experience combined with a sound understanding of technology. enables us to steer clear of most pitfalls and work as we do best”, Svein ends.
For more information, please visit https://www.vikinginnovations.com/
NBAS is collaborating with upcoming artists in Singapore and Norway to showcase their work, while we get a creative take on our graphic profile. In February 2021, NBAS will be featuring Chris Chai. Check out his artwork here.
