the value of enterprise gis

The Value of Enterprise GIS

Executive summaryA surprising number of communications companies still document their network in disparate proprietary systems like CAD. This makes it difficult to obtain information needed to make decisions fast and stay competitive. This paper demonstrates how an enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS)–based system is a better approach by enabling a centralized data store; multiple simultaneous editors; flexibility and configurability; standard customization environments; open integration framework; desktop, Web, mobile and cloud deployment options; and rich data interoperability.

998-2095-06-12-12AR0

Summary

Executive Summary .................................................................................... p 1

Introduction ................................................................................................ p 2

Harnessing Enterprise GIS technology ........................................................ p 4

What does ‘enterprise’ mean? ..................................................................... p 5

Enterprise GIS technology ........................................................................... p 6

Enterprise GIS mind set ............................................................................... p 8

Enterprise GIS technology in action ............................................................. p 9

Conclusion .................................................................................................. p 13

Executive summary


White paper | 01

An Enterprise GIS centralizes network asset information in a single, standardized

GIS database, allowing cross-departmental data sharing and making it easier for

processes throughout the Communication Service Provider (CSP) enterprise to

make decisions fast and stay competitive.

It offers multiple simultaneous editors that permit multiple users to continue their

work flows. It is highly configurable; and customization, when needed, can be

performed by non-specialized developers. It easily interfaces with enterprise-

wide operations and business support systems, reducing cost of ownership and

optimizing sustainability. It is accessible by authorized persons in the office and in

the field to deliver the most accurate reflection of the network. It is interoperable

with other data systems, importing and exporting different data types without

conversion needed. All of these process efficiencies result in reduced errors and

saved time.

To optimize the time and cost savings potential of an Enterprise GIS, the CSP

wants to instill an enterprise mindset that will take advantage of the GIS as a

central resource for work flows involving data maintenance, analysis and reporting,

planning, engineering, decision support and operational awareness.

Both private-sector service providers and community-operated

telecommunications networks report the conversion of information from drawings,

spreadsheets, sketches and even human memory banks to an Enterprise GIS

creates one big, and utilitarian, picture instead of numerous small pictures. It

makes updated and accurate information available to everyone who needs it

within the organization. These organizations concur that the Enterprise GIS helps

them achieve efficiency that was not previously possible. GIS-based tools working

with the central geospatial database streamline planning and design, helping to

identify the best options for reliable network performance and expansion. The

resulting flexibility, responsiveness and accuracy improve customer satisfaction

and yield a distinct competitive advantage for the CSP.

Introduction

White paper | 02


Competition has become the distinguishing factor in the broadband market.

Communications Service Providers (CSPs) are experiencing an exponential

increase in demand for broadband and wireless services. Each day, more and

more people with smart phones, tablet P.C.s and other devices crave rich media

content, such as photos, audio and video — and require greater connectivity

at faster speeds. This growth is being fed by federal stimulus programs: in the

U.S., $7.2 billion has been set aside for various broadband expansion initiatives.

Similar programs are in place in Australia, New Zealand and Europe — with

more expected in developing nations.

Yet, while demand increases, the competitive landscape changes too. With

broadband expansion and triple play, everyone is a competitor. Telephone and

cable companies offer voice, data and television. Utilities are leveraging existing

infrastructure to deliver additional services, and their market position will only

get stronger with the increased roll out of advanced smart grid communications

networks. Today, a CSP must have advanced technology to support planning,

construction, sales, marketing and operation of communications networks to

stay competitive in this dynamic market.


White paper | 04

Harnessing Enterprise GIS technology

Enterprise GIS solutions provide technology to help

CSPs stay agile and ahead of their competition by:

efficiently tracking network asset information in a

centralized data store; planning and analyzing new

construction; pushing data into the field; and making

better decisions through improved operational

awareness. Non-GIS systems, like CAD, typically

store information in proprietary file formats in different

locations that are accessible only by proprietary

systems. As a result, these closed systems make

it difficult to obtain information needed to make

decisions fast and stay competitive.


White paper | 05

What does ‘enterprise’ mean?

When used in a high-technology reference, the

phrase ‘Enterprise GIS’ denotes two concepts.

Obviously, the technology must be able to support

an enterprise deployment; those not fully positioned

to work at the enterprise level will only do part of the

job. As important, the organization must be willing

to adopt an enterprise mind set across business

processes and work flows.


White paper | 06

Enterprise GIS technology

The cornerstones of Enterprise GIS include:

1. Centralized data store in an open RDBMS

2. Multiple simultaneous editors

3. Configurability

4. Customization via standard development

environments

5. Strong integration framework based on open IT

standards

6. Federated

7. Data interoperability

Centralized — A surprising number of

communications companies are still documenting

their network with file-based technology, storing

information in multiple formats such as CAD

drawings, spreadsheets, Visio diagrams and paper —

all scatter across the internal network. Even worse,

vital information about the network and its assets is

stored in human memory, and will disappear when

those valued employees leave or retire.

A complete, up-to-date centralized asset and

network repository is necessary for the CSP to

analyze how the spatial location of its network

relates to a prospective customer and to respond

competitively. An Enterprise GIS gives the CSP

a single version of the truth — a single store for

all asset and network data managed by a single

application to view all, query, edit, analyze, manage,

and plan work flows.

Multiple Simultaneous Editors — An Enterprise

GIS allows multiple simultaneous editors without

locking the database from editing for other users. No

check in or check out is required, so work flows are

optimized and backlog is reduced.

Configurable — Most non-enterprise systems

require extensive customizations to alter the data

model or add functionality; these proprietary software

alterations can significantly increase the total cost

of ownership and limit the CSP’s ability to respond

to changing technology. An Enterprise GIS is

highly configurable, using GUI-driven work flows to

add, remove or alter functionality. Modeling a new

communications technology can be as simple as

installing a new card at an ODF when using a flexible

data model configurable with a GUI.

Figure above. A centralized database and rich, thematic maps show the big picture instantly. You can easily configure maps to meet the needs of the different people accessing your data.


White paper | 07

Customization — Most non-Enterprise GISs rely

on proprietary languages that very few coders

use. When a customization is required, the widely

accepted, IT-standard development languages

used by an Enterprise GIS allow the CSP to utilize a

non-specialized development vendor and avoid long

waiting times and premium pricing.

Integration — True enterprise systems can

seamlessly integrate with other business systems to

effectively support planning, provisioning, fulfillment

and service assurance, while reducing total cost

of ownership and maintenance. Only leading

technologies based on open IT standards will allow

such full integration and sustainable effectiveness.

Federated — To make competitive management

and workflow decisions, the CSP must be able to

access communications network information where

and when it is needed: in a central management

office, in the field while searching for buried assets

on site, on the road supporting sales and marketing

efforts, or in the boardroom planning a future system

expansion. As it stands today, the Enterprise GIS is

the only technology that allows access by authorized

personnel to the CSP’s single version of the truth —

the centralized asset and network data store — via

desktop, mobile and Web portals. They can efficiently

and effectively view, query, analyze and edit wherever

they are, knowing they have the most accurate

reflection of the real world.

Data interoperability — Granted, not all CSP

network data belongs in a GIS, so the GIS database

must be able to seamlessly share data with and

import data from other systems as needed.

Enterprise GIS can manage dozens of different data

types simultaneously, without needing conversion —

allowing a ‘consensus’ approach to questions that

cannot be addressed with information in a single, silo

system.


White paper | 08

Enterprise GIS mind set

To fully realize the potential of an Enterprise GIS, a

CSP must be willing to establish the GIS as a central

resource for work flows involving data maintenance,

analysis and reporting, planning, engineering,

decision support, and operational awareness.

Data maintenance, analysis and reporting are

all interrelated. Effective analysis and reporting rely

on accurate asset and network data that results

from efficient data maintenance performed in the

GIS. Fortunately, Enterprise GIS is designed with

configurable business rules, flexible data models and

seamless multi-user access, so most data integrity

and network maintenance tasks occur ‘on the fly.’

Tasks such as creating thematic maps, traces, circuit

planning, reports and schematics are all performed

on the CSP’s single version of the truth.

Figure above. Enterprise GIS network management for connectivity viewing and alarm notification.


White paper | 9

Enterprise GIS technology in action

Below are three organizations that have realized

operating benefits by implementing Schneider

Electric’s ArcFM™ Fiber Manager solution to manage

their communications networks —

• RCN Telecom Services, LLC is a competitive

broadband service provider delivering all-digital

and high-definition video, high-speed Internet and

premium voice services to more than 500,000

subscribers across six markets. Its fiber networks

had been documented through various systems,

including CAD maps, stick drawings, splice

diagrams and splice sheets. “For all the service

territories, there must have been hundreds, even

thousands of CAD documents,” recalled Chris

Augustine, RCN network engineering manager.

RCN looked for better solution — a GIS-based

solution that could tell network personnel where the

fiber was physically located, how much fiber was

available, and how many nodes there were for any

hubsite. This information is necessary to streamline

asset management and customer service. The

company chose Schneider Electric’s ArcFM

Enterprise GIS, in large part because it is based on

the industry-leading Esri ArcGIS® platform, which

it found to be less complicated for managing and

creating fiber facilities data than other GIS products.

Now, each RCN service territory uses a common

and centralized network infrastructure with a single

database, making updated, accurate information

available to everyone.

“We can locate fiber assets from our office,”

reported Augustine. “We don’t have to spend

the time and labor to visit the field to identify and

confirm assets. The Enterprise GIS model is easily

configured out of the box, so we can do much of

it ourselves. The segregated tracing allows us to

monitor two different networks — separately, in one

system. In addition, we can easily track customers

and equipment affected by an outage anywhere

along our network — from the MegaPop to the

customer.”

Augustine summarized, “The biggest advantage

we have found in this system is having a consistent

database that tells us where our network is and

how it is connected. It gives us the ability to put that

information in the hands of everyone who needs it

within RCN.”

• The City of Peoria, Arizona, is a dynamic desert city

of more than 150,000 residents. The city’s traffic

engineering division oversees the operation of a

fiber telecommunications network that had been


White paper | 10

documented with various types of CAD drawings,

spreadsheets, word processing documents and

even hand-drawn sketches. Often, information

updates were based on human memory. To add

to its complexity, most of the network was located

underground for weather-related and regulatory

reasons. As the city grew, it realized it needed to

improve operations and system troubleshooting.

“We had a growing fiber infrastructure and all of

our information was on different types of media,

such as drawings and as-builts. We were looking

to capture all of this information and document

it in one central location,” explained Ron Amaya,

traffic engineer for the city. “We can see long-

term benefits — increased accuracy due to one

centralized database and elimination of hard

copies.”

Referring to the city’s underground facilities, Amaya

explained, “Knowing where those conduits are

located can prevent potential bottlenecks. This

tool has helped us know which types of conduits

and sizes are out there and exactly where they

are located. We have one big picture instead

of numerous smaller pictures...it has helped us

achieve efficiencies that were not previously

possible.”

• The Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) is

Oregon’s largest customer-owned utility, providing

electricity to more than 86,000 homes, business,

and schools in Eugene. EWEB’s Enterprise

GIS stores fiber optic network information

previously held in various types of CAD drawings,

spreadsheets, word processing files, and paper

documents. Tracing a single fiber circuit might

have required reference to several repositories of

data and drawings prior to the implementation —

a process subject to significant error. Now, fiber

engineers can clarify a circuit question in seconds

with the application’s Fiber Trace tools, while

leveraging auto-generated schematics of splicing

diagrams.

The mobile component of Fiber Manager is

particularly beneficial in managing the utility’s

expanding telecommunications system — allowing

communications and splicing crews to see available

infrastructure and dynamically create reports at

splice enclosures.

Improved decision support is one of the most

valuable benefits the CSP can realize with Enterprise

GIS implementation. It helps answer key questions

about the network, geography, customer and

competition: Where is the network? What is its

capacity? Where should the next mile of fiber be

built? How many homes that could provide revenue

are being passed? What does the competition offer in

that area? Where is the biggest growth occurring or

the greatest customer loss expected? Where is that

fault that needs field crew attention, and is it in an

area of recurring faults? Does the customer service

rep know what services can be offered to a potential

customer, and when?

Geospatial databases, the core of an Enterprise GIS,

can readily answer these business questions. Adding

demographic data to serviceability analysis lends a

higher degree of revenue confidence to expansion

decisions. Integration with remote fiber testing (RFT)

systems allows real-time fault detection. Dispatchers

know exactly where to send crews and what fibers


White paper | 11

should be spliced first to restore the most important

customers. If repairs are lengthy, confidently analyze

if other diverse routes are available using system

tracing and analysis tools. You can be certain you are

looking at the most accurate and up-to-date network

model available.

The benefits of improved decision support are so

significant that some CSPs are now creating Geo-

marketing departments. Their task: put the vast

amount of spatial and network data in the GIS to

work to grow revenue. The ability to use Enterprise

GIS to combine usage data, call traffic, and network

locations with external data such as demographics

and market trends, makes this practical and

rewarding for the CSP seeking a competitive

advantage.

Planning and engineering can be managed

with a GIS-based planning tool, cutting down on

redundancy and errors associated with inefficient

work flows. GIS-based design tools work within the

GIS, simultaneously building a construction sketch

and a list of materials, equipment, and labor costs

while you sketch. Further, engineering tools can

be embedded for radio network planning, coax

RF analysis, and design assistance to allow fast,

accurate estimate generation within a single system.

Customer service reps have up-to-date proposed

design information so they can tell a customer in real

time when service can be ready.

The growth in FTTH work also lends to the business

case. Automated layout tools and simple design

work flows can produce fast initial cost estimates

for the bid process, which is followed by detailed

engineering work as needed. As-builts from the field

Figure above. Realistic presentation of splice locations assist in decision support. With an accurate, life-like representation of network connectivity, you can make the right connections without incident.

Figure above. Find diverse paths by analyzing the centralized network model — your single version of the truth.


White paper | 12

are synched with GIS design through the federated

architecture, because the crew can take the job to

the field in a mobile GIS application. When the job is

done, the GIS is seamlessly updated with the click of

a button. There’s no need for re-digitizing or manually

entering network changes via redundant processes

that introduce data errors.

Operational awareness benefits hinge on two

features: integration and data sharing. Integration with

other operational support system (OSS) components,

such as provisioning, fulfillment and service assurance

must be based on the most complete, accurate and

up-to-date information. With the centralized data

store provided by Enterprise GIS, data accuracy is

not a problem — unlike CAD and other silo systems

that are notorious for inaccurate data that undermine

these systems. And, Enterprise GIS facilitates this

integration using open IT standards, lowering the

overall total cost of ownership.

Dissemination of the rich information stored in the

GIS to other business units pays dividends. Marketing

and sales is armed with the best network location

information to create the most effective customer

retention and acquisition campaigns — beating the

competition. Those managing network planning

activities can count on the GIS to be accurately

updated as soon as the job is done. Dashboards

deployed via Web applications get the right amount

of data to executive and supervisors with no need for

specialized software.

Conclusion

White paper | 13


The exponential increase in demand for broadband, dynamic competitive

landscape and intense competition call for advanced enterprise systems. An

Enterprise GIS gives the CSP the right information to make decisions quickly and

confidently. The foundations of enterprise technology — a centralized data store;

multiple simultaneous editors; flexibility and configurability; standard customization

environments; open integration framework; desktop, Web, mobile and cloud

deployment options; rich data interoperability — make that possible.

Yet enterprise systems are more than just technology. A CSP must be willing

to make the GIS central to business processes and work flows. The synergy

of enterprise technology and enterprise mind set will yield benefits in data

maintenance, analysis and reporting, planning, engineering, decision support and

operational awareness work flows — and a distinct competitive advantage.

Schneider Electric USA, Inc.

4701 Royal Vista CircleFort Collins, CO 80528Phone: 1-866-537-1091 + (34) 9-17-14-70-02Fax: 1-970-223-5577www.schneider-electric.com/us

July 2012

©20

12 S

chne

ider

Ele

ctric

. All

right

s re

serv

ed.

the value of enterprise gis

Technology

enterprise gis mind

enterprise mindset

enterprise mean

standardized gis database

gisbased tools

data systems

tablet p

data maintenance