"We plan to expand our activities into new areas, such as renewable energy, LNG infrastructure and advanced automation technologies," Hyperion Systems Engineering's Deputy CEO, Stavros Spanos, said in an interview with InBusinessNews and CBN.
"With the discovery of hydrocarbons in the Cypriot EEZ, one can say that the very industry which we have been serving overseas for so many years, has now come knocking our door. I would say that our vision for the coming years is for Hyperion to play an important role in shaping this new industry for our country," he adds, and at the same time, warns that "the evolution of technology is now so rapid that it takes a huge effort just to keep up with it."
“Hyperion engineers found themselves implementing projects for industrial giants from Japan to the USA, and from Scandinavia to South Africa”
How did Hyperion Systems Engineering evolve from a Cypriot software development company in 1993 to an international provider of consulting and engineering solutions?
Indeed, in 1993, Hyperion began developing specialised simulation software, based on the PhD thesis of its founder, Dr Symeon Kassianidis. Hyperion's software was marketed through the global sales network of Aspen Technology Inc, which remains a strategic partner to this day.
This lasted for about five years, until we went through Hyperion’s first business transformation to a professional services company for the implementation of highly specialised industrial software. From that time and for the next ten years or so, we operated exclusively as an extension of the AspenTech implementation services division, which had meanwhile become Nasdaq-listed and expanded around the world. So, Hyperion engineers found themselves implementing projects for industrial giants across the world - from Japan to the USA, and from Scandinavia to South Africa.
Later, and after we had gained our own reputation in the relatively closed process industry circles, we went through our next transformation to an independent provider of integrated industrial IT solutions in the international sectors of hydrocarbon production and processing, chemical industry, and power generation.
Information technology has always been a key catalyst in the evolution of the energy sector. Whether it's optimizing industrial processes by upgrading management of real-time production data, to improving the supply chain, or introducing automations. As a result, the need to expand our consulting services was somehow driven by our own clients, with whom Hyperion has had decades of trusting relationships.
“Almost 90% of our business comes from existing clients, some of whom we have been working with for over 20 years”
What is the main competitive advantage you currently offer to your customers compared to other companies in your industry?
We operate in an international, highly competitive market and our success is based on six pillars:
- Having successfully executed over 500 projects in more than 50 countries, we continue to maintain our flexibility and are willing to adapt to the needs and modus operandi of our customers. We often say that at Hyperion "we are big enough to deliver but small enough to care."
- We are committed to business relationships that last. Almost 90% of our work comes from existing clients, some of whom we have been working with for over 20 years.
- We have a deep domain knowledge in the field of application of our solutions. Several of our engineers are recognized as among the best in their field.
- We pursue innovation, maintaining in parallel to the projects we deliver, significant research & development activity which is often rewarded by securing funding from European funds
- while we maintain partnerships with technology giants such as Honeywell, Emerson/AspenTech, Thermo, SKF, Saipem, Nexans, we remain independent and trusted advisors to our clients.
- We strive for all our projects to be designed in a way that offers our customers clear, concrete and measurable benefits.
“To our customers we are not just technology vendors — we are strategic partners who understand their industry's operational and regulatory challenges”
The company offers a wide range of consulting services, from feasibility studies to project management. Which of them are in the greatest demand today?
Consulting and advisory is a key element of our offering. To our customers, we're not just technology suppliers—we're strategic partners who understand their industry's operational and regulatory challenges.
The introduction of digital technology in an industrial environment is complex. Many times, before any implementation, our customers ask for support in choosing the appropriate technology, analyzing their readiness for the specific technology, as well as designing a roadmap for its implementation and ensured continuous utilization (sustained value).
A representative example of such activity is the studies we carried out for Borouge / Abu Dhabi Petrochemicals Co. before the two major expansions of their production facilities in Abu Dhabi, in 2012 (Borouge 3) and 2020 (Borouge 4).
“The evolution of technology has become so rapid that it takes a huge effort just to keep up”
How do you see the use of advanced engineering systems and digital technologies evolving in the coming years?
The evolution of technology has become so rapid that it takes a huge effort just to barely keep up with it. Obviously, the catalyst for this structural revolution is the onslaught of artificial intelligence and machine learning. There is no longer a single sector or type of software that does not include an "AI flavor".
However, what remains a key challenge in the field of industrial IT applications is to achieve the right combination of these agnostic technologies with the fundamental laws of engineering science so that the result is feasible in the real world.
The future in Hyperion's field of activity is this hybrid coexistence of the basic deterministic theories and laws of physical and thermodynamic science with new machine learning techniques and algorithms so that they complement each other and together provide new solutions to problems that have remained until now unsolved.
“We plan to expand our activities into new areas, such as renewable energy, LNG infrastructure and advanced automation technologies”
What is the company's vision for the future and what are the main strategic goals you have set for the next decade?
With the discovery of hydrocarbons in the Cyprus EEZ, one can say that the industry we have been serving overseas for so many years, has now come knocking on our door. I would say that our vision for the coming years is for Hyperion to play an important role in the shaping this new industry for our country.
Discoveries such as Cronos (Eni), Aphrodite (Chevron) and Glaucus (ExxonMobil) are gradually moving into the field development phase, offering Cyprus the prospect of developing into an energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Seeing the opportunities that arise, our goal is to strengthen and expand our existing solutions, providing even more sophisticated technologies and services to the industry. At the same time, we plan to expand our activities into new areas, such as renewable energy sources, LNG infrastructure and advanced automation technologies.
In addition, we are looking at strategic opportunities in the growing energy market of the Eastern Mediterranean, aiming to contribute as much as we can to the energy future of our region.
“Over its 33-year history, Hyperion successfully weathered various upheavals, international and domestic economic crises, three wars in the Arabian Gulf, amassing stories that would fill a whole book”
How difficult has the journey been to date? Were there individuals, companies and organisations that supported you in your first steps, on a logistical level?
Hyperion started as a technology startup, at a time when the concept of startup – as we understand it now – did not even exist. There were no support mechanisms like the ones we see today with pre-seed and seed capital funding, or all these kinds of hackathons and programs such as EU Horizon, and of course the Research and Innovation Foundation did not exist.
Looking at that first period in the early 90s, establishing in Cyprus a company to develop process simulation software technology, being extrovert by definition - since it was aimed at chemical industries that did not exist in the country -, was simply unthinkable.
Consequently, one must recognise the courage of the then management at the Cyprus Development Bank to invest, even with a small percentage, in Hyperion, a company whose product could hardly be explained. Also, the role of Larry Evans, Symeon Kassianides’ professor at MIT and later founder of AspenTech, who also decided to contribute to the creation of Hyperion, has also been pivotal.
Beyond that, over its 33-year history, Hyperion successfully weathered various upheavals, international and domestic economic crises, three wars in the Arabian Gulf, amassing stories that would fill a whole book.
