“The long & winding road” ... Watch out for those Potholes!
John A. Middlestead
Manager, Data Integrity & Technology
MichCon Gas, a subsidiary of DTE Energy
3200 Hobson St.
Detroit, Michigan 48201
Telephone: (313) 577-7172
FAX: (313) 557-7498
Email: middlesteadj@dteenergy.com
Abstract
When we think of project management and GIS we sometimes think of a long road to
travel with many winding curves that we have to maneuver through. What are the
challenges of the day? Is it new technology that our leader thinks is wonderful and
wants to implement tomorrow? Is it some corporate mandate to cut costs in the fourth
quarter? Is it the loss of the project champion? Are the business units working
together for the common good or fighting the process and in turn your project? Have
you just found out that the data that you thought was right isn’t? Has a business
process and its organization dramatically changed impacting the existing GIS model?
These are real situations that many GIS and IT projects face. One thing is certain,
change is all around us and we must learn to cope with continuous uncertainty.
MichCon Gas is no different. Human and technical dynamics are ever present and in
addition, we are merging our enterprise and GIS systems to align with DTE Energy’s.
A seemingly endless number of issues occur every day. This paper intends on giving
a real life story showing the potholes along the way and how one might repair those
holes and continue on one’s journey.
Introduction
MichCon Gas, a DTE Energy Company, has been in business since 1849. During this
period we have witnessed a tremendous change from wood mains and city street
lighting as the primary business focus to natural gas for vehicles, back-up electric
generators for homes and co-generation plants. IT technology for all of us who have
been in the business 30+ years have witnessed the transformation from punch cards to
Palm Pilots. AM/FM/GIS has developed from a "nice to have" priority to a "must
have" priority in twenty-five years. Conferences like GITA have been talking about
enterprise-wide geospatial system solutions for several years now, not just the AM or
AM/FM/GIS point solution anymore. Conversion use to be a major issue, now it is
how do I use and integrate my geospatial data. Needless to say the road has been a
long and winding one for both business and the technology we all use. Each year
presents a new set of challenges for each of us and some say "if you thought this year
was challenging wait until next year".
Just to give you a perspective on DTE Energy Gas / MichCon and our GIS I have
provided some statistics below.
DTE Energy Gas / Michigan Consolidated Gas (MichCon)
Parent - DTE Energy
Headquarters: Detroit, Michigan
In Business Since: 1849
Customers: 1,200,000
Square Miles of Franchised Service Territory: 15,000
Miles of Main: 17,614
Number of Services: 1,200,000
Miles of Transmission Pipeline: 2,400
Gas Storage (in Billion Cubic Feet) 123
MichCon's GIS: Mapping & Automated Recordkeeping System (MARS)
5,196 square miles of mapped territory (where facilities are located today)
24,143 Map Facets @ 1" = 100' Scale plus 800 and 3,200 Scale Maps
4,200,000+ records
93,000,000+ feet of main
1,800,000+ service "sections"
1,000,000,000+ attributes
Feasibility Study through Pilot Timeframe: 1983-1989
Full Project Start Date: 1990
Planned Completion Date: December 31, 2004
I intend on driving you down the road that we have traveled and you will notice what
a winding road it is. Sometimes we have had to swerve to avoid a pothole and there
have been times when we have hit the pothole with full force requiring a repair before
we could go on further. I hope that you can relate to many of the statements,
questions and potential answers along the journey. I think the first order of business
is to define where we are going.
