Advances in information technology (IT) and in particularly with respect to database systems, have allowed the development of specialized corrosion management systems. Until recently corrosion management and inspection management systems were confined to stand-alone
applications on individual PCs with different software packages used for different data types (inspection results, inspection planning, corrosion monitoring, cathodic protection, etc). More recently fully integrated database systems have been developed and implemented providing all the different aspects of a company wide operation, covering; asset registry, monitored data, inspection planning, maintenance and operational aspects, to be accessed from one application across the company network. This paper describes the complex data handling requirements of an integrated corrosion management database system – as used for oil & gas production. Various aspects are already in use in operating companies from the North Sea to the Middle East to the Pacific Rim. As well as current systems the next wave of applications & features (which are already under developments) are also highlighted.