Land management software (LMS) is essential for organizations and businesses engaged in extensive acquisition of lands and for managing development and use of said lands. It largely automates the complex legal, financial, operational and regulatory processes involved with such activities. Listed below are the desired features commonly found in a professional LMS used by oil and gas companies, brokerages, and government or records agencies that have massive spatial management needs.
Broadly speaking, the system can be divided into two parts, with one focused on the acquisition process and the other one for administration afterwards. Each of these parts has multiple and critical components that help automate specific areas or divisions within the organization. For instance, the lease module handles both acquisition and management of leases.
The pre-lease work involves a whole lot of forms and documents such as contracts, offer letters and amendments that are necessary for the transaction. The system has to be compatible with all the different lease arrangements including a standard one and others such as remainder leases, third-party arrangements and receiverships. In the next phase, the system has to provide timely reminders and paperwork including LPRs, checks and drafts for payment.
Every LMS has the ability to take scanned documents as input data in many formats. The system must be able to mass update all leases, if such a change is ever required at a company-wide level for all documents. Workflow configuration and lease status tracking are additional desired features.
It works a lot better if all the modules are integrated. Data entry done in any part of the process can be instantly updated systemwide. Integration eliminates the need for paper files being shunted around between departments. It improves data accuracy, saves the resources and costs associated with printing and redundant data entry, and makes the organization more environment friendly.
In addition to lease management, the two other most important modules in an LMS are GIS mapping and ownership/tract management. Apart from the core modules, there are certain system administration needs that must be fulfilled. For example, there must be support for user groups and assignment of permission levels for each group. It must also be able to supply standard as well as custom reports.
The standard reporting needs to include rental payments, expirations and leaseholds, among other things. Such reports can be pre-scheduled for delivery to specific users based on their access levels or by manual assignment. Similarly, authorized users must be able to customize reports to include fields such as tract/ownership data, exploration information, etc.
Innovations and the latest cutting-edge technology have made land management software more productive and useful. An LMS package can now be made available to company users as a password-secured web-based application accessible on any device such as a tablet, laptop or smart phone. Given such unlimited availability round the clock at any location, LMS users will be much more productive and are able to make instant and informed decisions out in the field.
Broadly speaking, the system can be divided into two parts, with one focused on the acquisition process and the other one for administration afterwards. Each of these parts has multiple and critical components that help automate specific areas or divisions within the organization. For instance, the lease module handles both acquisition and management of leases.
The pre-lease work involves a whole lot of forms and documents such as contracts, offer letters and amendments that are necessary for the transaction. The system has to be compatible with all the different lease arrangements including a standard one and others such as remainder leases, third-party arrangements and receiverships. In the next phase, the system has to provide timely reminders and paperwork including LPRs, checks and drafts for payment.
Every LMS has the ability to take scanned documents as input data in many formats. The system must be able to mass update all leases, if such a change is ever required at a company-wide level for all documents. Workflow configuration and lease status tracking are additional desired features.
It works a lot better if all the modules are integrated. Data entry done in any part of the process can be instantly updated systemwide. Integration eliminates the need for paper files being shunted around between departments. It improves data accuracy, saves the resources and costs associated with printing and redundant data entry, and makes the organization more environment friendly.
In addition to lease management, the two other most important modules in an LMS are GIS mapping and ownership/tract management. Apart from the core modules, there are certain system administration needs that must be fulfilled. For example, there must be support for user groups and assignment of permission levels for each group. It must also be able to supply standard as well as custom reports.
The standard reporting needs to include rental payments, expirations and leaseholds, among other things. Such reports can be pre-scheduled for delivery to specific users based on their access levels or by manual assignment. Similarly, authorized users must be able to customize reports to include fields such as tract/ownership data, exploration information, etc.
Innovations and the latest cutting-edge technology have made land management software more productive and useful. An LMS package can now be made available to company users as a password-secured web-based application accessible on any device such as a tablet, laptop or smart phone. Given such unlimited availability round the clock at any location, LMS users will be much more productive and are able to make instant and informed decisions out in the field.
