Interfacing AM/FM/GIS with enterprise and Operations Systems

The Problem – Many Systems, No Connection
Energy utilities have historically implemented specialized engineering or operational support systems as departmental or even project solutions. Samples of systems implemented in this manner included Outage Management, Mobile Dispatch and Network Analysis systems. Stated another way, these were typically implemented as islands of automation with little connectivity to corporate mainframe systems.

In the 1990s, with the onset of deregulation and its resulting competition, utilities were faced with the problem of cutting operational costs and streamlining work processes. Modern information systems technology dictates a normalized approach, not only in data storage, but also in the applications themselves. That is, systems must not duplicate functions as well as data. In today’s competitive environment, utility companies cannot afford to have disparate systems that address only one or a few applications and that do not share data, nor communicate with other systems throughout the enterprise.

During this same recent timeframe, major AM/FM/GIS vendors have moved their solutions into the mainstream IT environment by making them easier to use and more compliant with emerging data storage and application development standards. They have also expanded their use throughout the enterprise by making the technology embeddable in other systems by using object-oriented, drag and drop techniques.

Also in the 1990s, a separate classification of software emerged that began replacing legacy mainframe applications in large corporate environments, including utility companies. This software is called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). None of these systems individually, however can handle all the corporate and departmental requirements of utilities. Therefore, it has become apparent that a utility must interface these disparate systems to eliminate redundant data and common functions. Until recently, the only way to accomplish this was to develop a custom interface between every system. This was very time consuming and expensive.