U3 Explore focuses on support and delivery of the geoscience projects for South America and Africa. Our experts are spread between multiple countries and time zones and secure collaboration in project reviews and delivery is essential to us.
There are many cloud based project presentations, documentation and data sharing platforms but majority of them are defined for Microsoft office documents or large file data transfer. Some solutions corrupt large projects when they are compressed and transferred. Mapping applications using the shared mapping layers where the project points to the different geodatabases and data layers are especially sensitive to the links between the map and the data sources.
These are only few problems that companies like our are facing on each project.
Recently we started an upgrade of on on-premises data server to a Cloud solution which is based on the Nextcloud Platform - an open-source, self-hosted cloud storage platform that provides us with the ability to store, sync, and share files fast and secure. It serves as a robust alternative to popular services like Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive because we prioritize efficiency, security and privacy of control over our data.
Such a solution is especially important when there is a requirement to have data in-country of origin and provide access to it for specialty processing without moving it.
The encrypted communication among the project team members and with the clients gets streamlined in a private environment with a better document version control, worldwide access to the shared documents and projects. Modular Architecture of Nextcloud supports a wide range of applications that can be added or removed based on each team member needs, allowing for a customizable experience synchronized across all your devices and browsers.
Recently we have an exponential growth of activities in Venezuela that require in-country support and scalability. A well-configured Nextcloud instance can support 200-300 active users on a single
server. However, as user numbers increase, it is easy to scale up with a distributed system.
Nextcloud is designed to be user-friendly, making it accessible for both novices and
experienced users who can manage their files directly from a web browser or through dedicated desktop and mobile applications with numerous control options for an administrator or data owner.
Our project Collaboration also will be changing, greatly simplified by Integrated Personal Information Management of multiple calendars, contacts embedded in different voice, video and e-mail based collaboration systems, sharing notes, tasks, Whiteboard, and document templates.
We selected Nextcloud because it stands out as a flexible and secure cloud storage solution, particularly for companies that value data sovereignty and privacy. Its combination of powerful features, ease of use, and extensibility make it a compelling choice for individuals and organizations alike.
Nextcloud provides a self-hosted, sovereign-data approach that allows U3 Explore to maintain
control of geological, geophysical, GIS, well, field, reservoir, and investment project documents and datasets rather than relying on third-party SaaS providers. Nextcloud includes features that support GDPR, HIPAA, auditing, data export, data deletion requests, and privacy management.
