Integrating Spatial Architecture with the Enterprise
Andre Cassulo
Florida Power and Light 700 Universe Blvd
PO Box 14000,Juno Beach, FL 33408-0420
Brad Sileo
GE Smallworld Inc. 10075 Westmoor Drive
Suite 200, Westminster, CO 80021
Introduction
As spatial systems gain increased importance in the enterprise, system requirements
for the architecture of these applications continue to grow. Implementations now
require communications with legacy and new systems throughout the enterprise, and
even outside the enterprise. These needs drive requirements for an architecture that
can scale and adapt to this ever changing and growing environment. The ongoing
business to business and business to consumer e-commerce revolution has led to a
new set of applications involving spatial systems, and with these new applications
come even greater challenges in building architectures which will endure the test of
time.
This paper explores options and solutions for building a spatial system that
accommodates the need for change, growth, scalability, and stability. It is a case
study of the ongoing implementation of the Asset Management System (AMS) at
Florida Power and Light (FP&L). This project includes extensive requirements for
systems interfaces; fault tolerance and disaster recovery; and a scalable, industry
standard-based system which can co-exist and inter-operate with the existing
enterprise standards at FP&L.
The intent of this paper is to share the research and experience gained while planning
the AMS. As this project is ongoing, this paper does not attempt to provide details on
the success or failure of the directions we have chosen. This paper provides a guide
for issues and options to consider when implementing a spatial system in an
enterprise environment. Primary attention is given to the use of standard operating
systems, hardware, data storage systems, software packages, and integration bus
technologies.
The Tech21 Project and the Asset Management System
The Asset Management System (AMS) will provide a core technical foundation for
the Power Systems Business Unit to plan, manage, and analyze its electric
infrastructure. Today the basic tasks of managing FP&L’s electric network
information are scattered among many processes using disconnected applications,
databases, and maps. These existing applications have been built and incrementally
modified over the past few decades using various technologies that leave us with an
overly complex mix of outdated, redundant systems and interfaces.
The AMS will provide a platform that brings together all the existing electric
network data into a common, industry standard, vendor packaged product that
provides better common user data access through corporate relational databases.
This platform will enable more efficient, reliable interfaces via its object-component,
distributed architecture. It will also provide an integration point for additional ‘plug
in’ vendor software such as network analysis tools, engineering design tools, field
viewing tools, etc. The AMS will be the foundation for other initiatives in the TECH
21 program, such as: SCC, WMS, and OMS.
The AMS will be developed in a phased approach to begin reaping benefits earlier,
to ease user training, and to minimize the risk of project delays due to process and/or
technology changes. This document defines the scope of Phase 1, and thereby forms
our commitment to the Power Systems Business Unit and our vendors as to what is
included and excluded from this delivery.
Spatial Architecture in the Enterprise
When implementing a spatial system in a large enterprise, special consideration must
be taken to ensure the long-term success of the systems. Large organizations are
accustomed to implementing in-house or custom developed systems. However,
current trends show that implementing standards-based solutions using open systems
leads to lower total cost of ownership. The spatial technologies industry has long
been based on custom data storage, development, and interface solutions. The
industry as a whole is quickly moving away from this approach, but current systems
still require propriety approaches to obtain appropriate functionality and
performance. In building architecture for the enterprise, a careful balance between
open and custom solutions must be struck. This approach ensures that the existing
resources of the enterprise can be leveraged to reduce costs and ensure success. On
the other hand, appropriate use of custom technologies is a requirement to guarantee
that the system can deliver the functionality and end user experience required for
success. The AMS architecture was evaluated based on these criteria.
The AMS Development Environment
The environment used for developing and testing the solution is a key aspect of any
IT system. The AMS was constructed as a joint effort between GE-Smallworld staff
and Florida Power and Light staff. This means that the development team was spread
across sites in Juno Beach, FL; Denver, Colorado; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Since the project was on a rapid implementation schedule, there was a need to ensure
that development, testing, and system feedback could occur simultaneously across all
three sites. A custom development environment was established to support this
requirement.
To support concurrent work at each site, a set of network connections was needed.
An existing network link was available between the GE-Smallworld offices in
Denver and Pittsburgh. An additional connection was established between Denver
and Juno Beach to allow data to move between the sites. This connection was
completed using a virtual private network (VPN) connection through the Internet,
based on IPSEC technology. With a permanent network connection in place, the
teams were able to establish direct access to Oracle databases and Smallworld
databases, fileservers, and web servers. This access was used to allow the entire
AMS team to work against a common source code repository. The environment was
configured to build new images based on this source code for each site every night.
Additionally, scripts were used to replicate the datastores throughout the sites as
often as once a week. Finally, a project web site was established to provide a single
source for information on the AMS requirements, data model, core, and interface
tracks. This site was used extensively throughout the project to promote effective
communications.
Figure 1 - AMS Developmemnt Environment Architecture
