Christmas greeting 2021

Omega 365 CEO, Petter Aalvik

As we approach the end of 2021, I hope you and your loved ones are doing well and planning some time to rest and reset after a challenging year of hard work and great achievements.

Last Christmas, we thought the pandemic would pass. We predicted that clients would start new oil and gas projects, investments in renewables would rise, and governments would stimulate growth and employment via projects within infrastructure and public construction.

One year on, we are glad that almost all these expectations proved true, as we hoped, and we are happy to be experiencing record-high activity in Omega 365; the pandemic, however, is not over.

When we meet periods of great uncertainty, the Omega 365 team displays the unique ability to recognize and embrace opportunities. The oil and gas downturn in 2015/16 lead Omega to the construction industry; HMSREG conquered the market and Omega brought great success to the largest offshore installation projects.

This time, during the pandemic, we have also seen the opening of many new doors.

Our consultants have identified new opportunities and contributed to an increase in assignments at all locations (100 clients in Norway alone). We have changed our name to Omega 365 globally and invested heavily in technology development. The Omega 365 Group has grown to over 1620 employees, an increase of more than 260 team members this past year. Along with new talented people has come the need for more office space; it is therefore fitting that the pandemic has uncovered new opportunities for renting larger offices.

Omega 365 launched as the next generation application platform. At the same time, Pims is developing rapidly in cooperations between the Omega team and our clients. Moving forward, we are planning on ‘full speed ahead’ for both Omega 365 and Pims, and it is therefore very exciting that we achieved a technological breakthrough recently towards a long-term common solution. An upgrade plan will be made available for Pims clients who eventually want to switch to the Omega 365 solution.

Uncertainty is not comfortable. Choosing to go ‘all in’ when everything shuts down around you is demanding. There are many things to worry about and a lot that is beyond our control.

The pandemic has provided a stream of new rules, changes, and the need for social distancing as challenges to tackle. How we tackle these challenges means a lot to our business, to the people close to us, and impacts our own health. 

It is during situations like these that I am most impressed with my colleagues in Omega 365. Sick leave has been low in 2021. Many of my colleagues are skilled in surveying the landscape, orienting themselves in new situations, deciding what to do, and acting quickly. At times like these, it is a good feeling to start new projects, assignments, and tasks that we can focus on; to make a difference through efforts that are our own.

You have experienced tough days in 2021, but you have also achieved wonderful things. Let us shed light on and celebrate the great things we have achieved this year! See the list below for just some of the highlights.

In 2022 we hope for a more open society that will allow us to further strengthen our community and the bonds we all value so much. It is also my hope that there will be many more of us in 2022. All business units have recruitment as a top priority. We have many interesting challenges waiting for the right people to take hold of them!

Christmas is a time for caring. This year's Christmas gift from everyone in Omega 365 goes to the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. The gift is NOK 1 million spread over two years (December 2021 is year two), which is invested in mental health research. We want to contribute to medical advances that can help people with serious illnesses return to good health.

We are deeply appreciative of your efforts in 2021! I hope that we can offer you the opportunity to remain engaged and feel supported as you thrive in your Omega 365 careers.

I wish you and your family a peaceful Christmas and all the best for the new year!

Omega 365 highlights – 2021

• Omega adjusted its brand globally and changed its name to Omega 365. A new logo, visual profile, and website were launched in keeping with the brand adjustment.
• We welcomed many new colleagues to Omega 365, passing 1620 employees, which is an increase of over 260 team members in 2021.
• Larger offices: in Houston, an agreement was signed to double Omega 365 USA’s office size from Q3 2022; the Copenhagen office is also expanding; we moved into a beautiful new building in Haugesund; we also expanded our offices in Stavanger, Bergen, and at HQ in Ølensvåg.

• Omega Subsea expanded their range of services and established a new business model for their clients. The concept involves the delivery and operation of complete ROV systems based on leasing and management agreements with win-win incentives for the vessel owner and supplier. Along with their first contract in this area in Q3, came greater stability and visibility in sales, better capacity utilization, and thereby improved margins. Omega Subsea experienced good growth in 2021 with well over 100 assignments! The company operates on both the Norwegian and English sides of the North Sea; on the English side, Omega Subsea UK represents the company in Aberdeen with 23 employees. 
• Omega 365 Solutions grew by over 50 developers in 2021 to 250 employees. This large organization is focused on technology development and investment in both Pims and the next generation cloud-based software platform, Omega 365. We experienced high levels of activity within oil and gas, renewables, construction, and took part in many new projects this year. In December 2021, the company secured a contract with the battery producer Freyr and with Hydro.
• Omega 365 Consulting grew from 585 to 734 consultants on assignment. The company has a broad client portfolio of 100 customers who require our consultants. We welcomed three new department managers; including these three employees, we now have 20 department managers who are responsible for the further development of Omega 365 Consulting. Business Support is also part of this organization. Business Support ensures a high level of service for our team and efficient and streamlined processes in the consulting business. The team in Business Support is also involved in marketing initiatives and our Advantage welfare scheme, which the entire Omega 365 Group benefits from.

• Omega 365 Design has grown to 18 employees and moved into a larger office space in the Medvind building in Ølensvåg. The company has also established itself in Haugesund, in addition to its existing office in Sand. Omega 365 Design provides design expertise, websites, mobile apps, copywriting, media consulting, and film production. We see synergies in connecting Omega 365 Design's services to the Omega 365 platform, for example that Omega 365 Design develops website solutions and mobile applications connected to the Omega 365 platform.

• Omega Areal opened a new office in Haugesund this year, an office in Bergen last year, and now has 50 employees. An increased focus towards larger public and private clients, with services within planning, architecture, RIB and technical disciplines, has paid off in the form of more teamwork and a more predictable order situation.
• Omega 365 Admin has 31 employees and is responsible for finance, invoicing, payrolling, and accounting for all Omega 365 companies. The fact that we manage accounting in Ølensvåg, also for foreign companies, allows us to have a good overview of our progress worldwide around the 20th of each month; this also makes our everyday work much easier. In addition, Omega 365 Admin takes care of insurance, pensions, office and canteen operations, taxes, secondments, and much more. Omega 365 Admin is best in class, as evidenced by feedback from clients who measure suppliers based on the quality of invoicing.
• Omega 365 Lithuania, with 45 employees, has taken on the role of ‘center for Pims R4 development’. Omega 365 Solutions is organized in product teams, specializing in Document Management, Completion Management, and Cost Management. In addition, we have technology teams, cloud teams, and cybersecurity teams that ensure efficient and secure system solutions. Thanks to Omega 365 Lithuania, we see many improvements and innovative new features in Pims, as well as continuous improvements in quality and performance. Omega 365 Lithuania has also taken a role in training and competence development for developers and contributes this service to the entire group.
• Omega 365 Denmark is one of the growth winners this year with over 60 percent growth in 2021. The company now has 15 team members in total, including eight employees at the Copenhagen office. Omega 365 Denmark will move into larger premises in 2022, with room for further expansion. Their client portfolio extends across Europe and includes industries such as wind power, pharmaceuticals, food, oil and gas, and railways.
• Omega 365 USA now numbers 106 team members, including 32 office employees and 74 consultants on assignment. Omega 365 USA has developed a solid position for Pims within oil and gas and delivers solutions globally for Chevron. When the pandemic hit the consulting market, increased Pims and consulting deliveries to Chevron ensured stable and good operations. Now the consulting market is rising sharply with many requests for new assignments. The company is growing and looking forward to moving into a new office space that is twice as large as their existing premises, in Q3 of 2022.

• Omega 365 Canada has 12 systems engineers at our Calgary office. During the pandemic year of 2021 operations have been solid. Over the last few years, their growth has been impressive, fueled by innovative networking initiatives, such as webinars. There are currently several new tenders underway that suggest growth into 2022.
• Omega 365 Singapore, with 33 employees, of which seven are systems engineers, maintained a high level of activity despite Covid restrictions that affected shipyards. On the systems side, we deliver Pims implementation and support to more than 10 customers in Asia, across several time zones. We also support a client in the Middle East on a large project where we deliver Pims as an integrated project management system with over 10 workflows to 500 users. On the consulting side of the business, the Johan Castberg project has provided many assignments. Moving forward, the company is looking to pursue several interesting opportunities to grow Omega 365 Singapore and gain a better foothold in Asia. Omega 365 Singapore is also looking to recruit more developers and a business development manager.

• Omega 365 Australia, with 30 employees of which 17 are consultants, experienced challenges due to restrictions set by the pandemic this year, but now, in Q3, activity is picking up well. The company has a record number of requests and many tenders that will provide assignments. During the year, the team was strengthened with a new head of department in Consulting, who immediately made a positive contribution. In a market with fewer consultant requests, assignments based on permanent recruitment also contributed to their success. On the software side of the business, the company has readied itself for growth in 2022 by hiring more young developers.
• NSB Omega started as a consulting business in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, but the company has expanded strongly in recent years through new upstarts and strategic acquisitions. The group of companies includes St. John's, with 73 employees; NSB Omega Guyana, with 13 employees; Spirit Omega (a consulting company in Calgary), with 187 employees; Fast (a training and staffing company in Calgary); Seabase, a new company for maritime crewing and offshore staffing (eight employees); and M3, with 11 employees and high-caliber expertise advising ships and offshore shipyards on project control. NB: The Omega 365 ‘headcount’ of 1620 employees includes only 86 of the NSB Omega Group's 292 employees.

• Omega 365 France is our focal point in France, with an office in Pau, manned by nine employees. The company offers support to a large French client that has rolled out Pims globally. Omega 365 France develops new improvements for the solution, and has grown along with the client, while at the same time working strategically to expand in general in France towards other clients.
• In 2021, HMSREG had its first full year of operation as a separate company with Omega 365 and Infobric as strategic partners and owners. The company grew its client base and now has 15 employees. HMSREG’s biggest project for 2021 and 2022 is to consolidate the client solutions from three different platforms into one common Omega 365 platform; this migration project is well underway. In 2023, market development and growth will have increased focus, but the company already has a steady influx of new clients.