I ran into that fact face to face at the Microsoft Global Energy Forum held in Houston on Jan. 21 when I came in contact with “cloud computing.”

For those who need an explanation (and I admit I was one of them), Wikipedia defines cloud computing as a term used to refer to “advances in client-server technology that have occurred in the last decade.” More simply put, it is a delivery model for IT services based on the Internet that allows capabilities that are nearly unimaginable.

In an exclusive interview with Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, Leslie Haines, editor in chief of Oil and Gas Investor, and I had the chance to ask about some of his company’s goals for oil and gas users. (The full interview is available on page xx.)

One of Ballmer’s first comments was about the cloud.

“It’s particularly a big deal in an industry like oil and gas,” Ballmer explained, “where there’s so much data involved and so much need for computing.” According to Ballmer, the degree of collaboration that spans company boundaries makes working in the cloud essential.

In his presentation at the Global Energy Forum, Ballmer took participants a little farther along the path of cloud computing, explaining that there are now “three screens and a cloud.” This means intelligence in small-screen devices (like cell phones), medium-sized-screen devices (which would be a laptop or PC), and large screen devices (like TVs or wall-sized projection screens). Microsoft’s goal is not only to have intelligence in these three screens but to allow users to interact with these devices “naturally,” meaning that speech, gestures, and vision will be used to control them.

Believe it or not, Microsoft and others are making considerable progress toward this goal, and the quicker the better for companies that are looking for ways to expand collaboration to expedite technology development.

Undeniably, collaboration is an expedient to finding solutions, and the energy industry is looking for bigger and better ways to collaborate every day.

As Claudi Santiago, president and CEO of GE Oil & Gas, said at the company’s annual meeting in Florence in early February, “To do challenging things, we need to do them together,” explaining that innovation will be paramount to meeting industry challenges.

Mark Little, senior vice president and director of GE Global Research, offered a glimpse of some of the technologies the company’s 2,600 researchers are working to develop. Subjects include nanotechnology, molecular imaging and diagnostics, organic electronics, sustainable energy, advanced propulsion engines, and energy conversion, to name a few.

“We invent new technologies and look to see around corners,” Little said. “We look to be ahead of the curve in very advanced technologies.”

And as those advanced technologies are developed, they are disseminated. “We have an important role to spread technology around GE,” Little said, noting that innovation that has occurred at the “intersection of disciplines” has led to remarkable breakthroughs.

The oil and gas industry has been defined by its reluctance to adopt new technology, and while that may still hold true to some degree in field applications, where collaboration is concerned, it does not seem to be the case any longer.

The status quo is never good enough for E&P technology companies, and past success has proven that collaboration is the quickest way to find tomorrow’s solutions.