InPrint Winter 2009

Page 1

Cityworks November 2009 Delivering Innovative GIS-Centric Maintenance Management Tools for Your Organization

Greenville’s Tale of Two City Work Management Systems By Mark DePenning, GIS Administrator, and Michael Davis, GIS Analyst, City of Greenville , SC

The City of Greenville, located in the northwest corner of South Carolina, is the fourth largest city in the state. Greenville and our surrounding areas, situated at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, are commonly referred to as the Upstate. Greenville is the cultural and entertainment center for the Upstate, with our awardwinning downtown, a major performing arts center, a 17,000-seat arena, and a 368,000-square-foot exhibition center. Home to internationally recognized industries and a strong workforce, we as a city are poised to become even more of a leader in the 21st-century economy. Greenville covers approximately 28 square miles with nearly 60,000 residents. Although restricted in our ability to expand due to state annexation laws, the City draws on a population of over 900,000, located within a 30-mile radius. Our area is consistently cited as one of the fastest growing urban regions in the U.S. and is expected to reach over one million people by the year 2010. Greenville was an early adopter of GIS technology, dating back to 1984 as ESRI’s customer number 26. In the late 1990s, we selected our first work management system which offered integration with GIS. Like many systems at that time, GIS integration meant it could pass an address to an outside GIS program and call up a location or synchronize an internal record with an external GIS asset. Because it was designed to be installed and configured to the application’s data structure, it seemed minimal attention was placed on the quality of our data or our business workflows. Continued on page 26

Innovative Use of Cityworks for Housing & Code Enforcement Issues By Cindy Hintze, GIS Specialist, City of Coon Rapids, MN

The City of Coon Rapids, a northwest suburb of Minneapolis, is home to over 63,000 residents. Over 50 parks and a 40-mile trail system, including some along the Mississippi River, are found in its 23.3 square miles. The school system consists of 16 public schools and a two-year community college campus. The Northstar Commuter train began operation in November 2009 to and from downtown Minneapolis with two stations in Coon Rapids. With so much to offer its residents, the City of Coon Rapids is committed to making Coon Rapids a desirable community in which to live. Because it is an aging, fully-developed community, the goal is to offer some redevelopment opportunities and make the older housing stock appeal to young families. With many foreclosures and vacant homes, the City created a new program called “Home for Generations” where a Coon Rapids home is purchased and remodeled to be more attractive to today’s home buyers. The project was showcased via open houses before, during, and after the construction process as well as Continued on page 24

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Features – Greenville, SC, Tale of Two City Work Management Systems

1

Coon Rapids, MN, Code Enforcement

1

St. Johns County, FL, Fleet Management

2

President’s Corner – Cityworks Evolving to Meet your Needs

3

Project Management – Cityworks Engineers Its Way into Omaha and Douglas County, NE

4

Client Services – Getting Straight to Support

6

A Day in the Life of a CSR

7

New and Improved MyCityworks.com

8

Tools & Tips

9

Cityworks Campus Partner News – Traverse City, MI – GIS Leads the Way for Cityworks Work Management Solution (Power Engineers )

Macon Water Authority, GA – OneGIS Implements Cityworks

10 12 16

International Partner News – Oxford County, Canada, Receives Award of Excellence (ESRI Canada)

18

Cityworks 2010 User Conference

14

Regional Spotlight

20

Azteca News

21

Get to Know – Educational Services Department

22

Azteca Systems, Inc. | 801.523.2751 | www.cityworks.com A Z T E C A S Y S T E M S, I N C.


Feature

St. Johns County Fleet Maintenance Made Easier With Cityworks By Rocky S. Agbunag, GISP, Asset Management Coordinator, St. Johns County , FL - Public Works

Fleet Maintenance, a division of the St. Johns County Public Works Department, performs all levels of repairs on County-owned equipment. The Fleet Maintenance Division maintains over 1700 items of equipment, ranging from lawn mowers to heavy-equipment bulldozers, for six County agencies. To ensure an effective and efficient fleet service, the County was utilizing a fleet management application built on a DOS client-based configuration. When the time came to upgrade the outdated application to a relational database system for easier data retrieval and record updates, the County selected Cityworks to meet their needs. Because the County had acquired the Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) for the Public Works Department, using Cityworks was the most economical choice. The Cityworks ELA provides the means of creating and tracking service requests and work orders. Cityworks effectively locates the assets associated to the activity and accounts for the costs of the activity. The Public Works staff utilizes the GIS compatibility of Cityworks to integrate work order management for roadway and drainage system maintenance and is used by the Road & Bridge, Traffic & Transportation, and Pavement Management divisions. Cityworks is currently being implemented by the Utilities Department for their day-to-day operations. Using Cityworks for fleet maintenance is an ideal integration and an economically feasible solution for the County. As with any software implementation, some challenges were involved in configuring Cityworks for fleet maintenance. Cityworks is flexible for almost any implementation; it’s just a matter of being innovative in using the software to find the right solution. The Public Works staff worked to understand the day-to-day operations of fleet maintenance to properly configure their workflow processes. They collected repair order information and reason descriptions from the previous fleet management application and incorporated them into Cityworks. Work order templates were created based on the repair reasons, tasks were added to each work order type, work accomplishments were used as the response, and fail codes were imported. Over 3000 material parts were imported seamlessly and then grouped for use in the Cityworks Storeroom application. The biggest challenge was integrating the GIS to fleet maintenance. The associated attributes (such as VIN, purchase date, fuel capacity, asset ID, etc.) for all County-owned equipment were set up as an object table with a spatial relationship to a GIS feature class. The six County agencies (Board of County Commissioners, Sherriff’s Office, Clerk of Courts, etc.) were set as polygon feature classes and then their related vehicles and other equipment items associated to them. All repairs recorded in a work order are tied into a County Vehicle (CV) number. Repair history will converge over time to a specific CV number. Cityworks Standalone is the main application used for Fleet Maintenance. Rob Sconzo, St. Johns County Fleet

2

Continued on page 25

InPrint Editor in Chief: Tom Palizzi Editor: Kaye Ryser Advertising: Kaye Ryser Azteca Systems, Inc. 11075 South State Street, Suite 24 Sandy, UT 84070 801-523-2751 www.cityworks.com To receive a subscription or to change your address, please send your contact information to: inprint@cityworks.com or call 801-523-2751 Founded in 1986, Azteca Systems, Inc. is the leading provider of GIS-centric Enterprise Asset Maintenance Management Systems for Public Works and Utilities. Built exclusively on top of ESRI’s leading GIS technology, Cityworks is powerful, scalable, and affordable. How to Reach Us: Tel: 801-523-2751 Email: info@cityworks.com

InPrint is published by Azteca Systems, Inc. (Azteca), at 11075 South State, #24, Sandy, UT 84070. InPrint contains material of interest to utility and public works organizations. Copyright © Azteca Systems, Inc. 2009 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. The information contained in this document is the exclusive property of Azteca Systems, Inc. The work is protected under United States copyright law and other international copyright treaties and conventions. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as expressly permitted in writing by Azteca Systems, Inc. All requests should be sent to Attention: Cityworks InPrint, Azteca Systems, Inc., 11075 South State Street, #24, Sandy, UT 84070. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Azteca Systems and Cityworks are registered trademarks; Cityworks Desktop, Cityworks Anywhere, and Cityworks Server are trademarks of Azteca Systems, Inc.; and www. mycityworks.com, www.gocityworks.com, @azteca.com, www.azteca.com, @cityworks.com, and www.cityworks. com are service marks of Azteca Systems, Inc. The names of other companies and products herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

If you are interested in submitting an article for InPrint, please contact Kaye Ryser (801) 523-2751 or kryser@cityworks.com

INPRINT — November 2009


President’s Corner

Cityworks Evolving to Meet Your Needs By Brian Haslam, President, Azteca Systems, Inc.

Cityworks U s e r C o m m u n i ty 2009 has been a fiscally challenging year for many of our clients as well as our nation, and even our global community. With travel restrictions and budget cuts, attending a centralized User Conference was not possible for many of you. However, that did not diminish the need for a Cityworks User Conference as your work with Cityworks is critical to your organization. Earlier this year, we decided to take our conference to our users. Beginning in the spring and continuing into the fall, we have held sixteen Cityworks Server Rollout Seminar user group meetings. Over 600 of you attended the user group meetings. User group meetings have been held in Dallas, TX; Richmond, VA; Dublin, OH; St. Cloud, FL; Lake Forest, IL; Sacramento, CA; Atlanta, GA; Coon Rapids, MN; Detroit, MI; Toronto, Canada; Loveland, CO; Wilmington, DE; Gulfport, MS; Topeka, KS; Santa Ana, CA; and Salt Lake City, UT. Meeting with our users offers us an opportunity to empower you with knowledge while you provide us with crucial input and feedback. Together we are able to build collegiality and relationships to foster success. The Cityworks user community is sizeable. There are nearly 400 licensed Cityworks cities, counties, utilities, and special use districts with an estimated 8000+ Cityworks software users. The Cityworks community also includes 71 business partners with at least 200 professionals who provide Cityworks-related services. Enterpris e S y s te m We all know technology changes over time. Even five years ago, terms such as state-less, virtualized, store-forward, cores, and cloud computing were uncommon. As internet bandwidth grows, the demand for “rich Internet applications” and “store forward mobile applications” grows. New technologies and techniques are continuously presented

INPRINT — November 2009

to us. What at first may appear trivial becomes interesting, then widely adapted and adopted (e.g., texting and social networks). These advances provide opportunities for Cityworks to be creative with the new technologies and techniques. Today we see Cityworks being implemented in many different deployment patterns. The legacy deployment is built on a foundation of Desktop, supplemented by Anywhere. In recent years, the deployment of Anywhere has grown considerably to become the most widely utilized Cityworks software application. Of the 8000 Cityworks users, we estimate that over 4000 are Anywhere users. Increasingly, Server is becoming a popular deployment option. This includes Server MMS and Server Permitting. As new technologies and techniques have emerged and client needs have grown, Cityworks has morphed. What began as a commitment for “cross-compatibility” has evolved into Cityworks as an enterprise system. Cityworks Software The main focus of Azteca Systems is designing Cityworks software and providing outstanding customer support. During fifteen years of Cityworks software development, our focus has not changed. This is an exciting time for Cityworks. Going forward, it will be important for us to continue to provide you with knowledge. Your input and feedback remain critical for our mutual success. We accomplish this by cooperative interaction with you, our colleagues, especially as we gather at our Cityworks User Conference. I look forward to seeing you at the Cityworks 2010 User Conference on May 17 - 19 in St. George, Utah. cw

3


Project Management

Cityworks Engineers Its Way into Omaha and Douglas County, Nebraska By David Hansen, Project Manager, Azteca Systems, Inc.

Located along the Missouri River, Douglas County is Nebraska’s most populous county with a population of about 600,000 people. Many of these residents, nearly 450,000 of them, live in Omaha. The county covers an area of approximately 335 square miles with 130 of these in the city of Omaha. While both the City and County hire and purchase things separately, they still share some resources. In 2004 the Douglas County Engineers Office purchased Cityworks to track the cost of work, like snow removal, and to assist with their GASB reporting compliance. The system was sold and implemented by the Schneider Corporation out of Indianapolis. The decision to migrate to Cityworks was partially spurred by their dissatisfaction with their current system and processes. Cityworks was brought online in 2005. As word spread of how the Douglas County Engineers Office was tracking their work and costs, other departments in the area decided to follow a similar route. The City of Omaha’s Public Works Division was implemented in 2006 by GeoAnalytics/Varion Systems. Their Streets Department started using Cityworks as their work management system and the next year, the Public Works Department came onboard. With their resource sharing and common applications, they both used Cityworks and the same database server but had separate Cityworks databases and geodatabases. Because their operations are distinct and separate, this was not an issue. As time progressed and the needs of the entities evolved, they found they wanted and needed more from Cityworks. For example, Public

Omaha, Nebraska

4

Works hires a barricade contractor to deal with all of the barricade delivery, setup, and removal. Currently they must make special deliveries to the barricade contractor to officially notify them about jobs needing barricades. For some time, Public Works has wanted to bring them online with Cityworks so they can be notified about work orders that require their efforts. This presented a whole host of security issues to deal with (like access through the firewall, VPN, login, etc.) for the IT Department to tackle, in addition to keeping their Cityworks installation and geodata up-to-date. The Stormwater Treatment Department was also looking for a Cityworks interface that was a little more customizable than what Desktop offered and the City and County wanted to merge their separate Cityworks databases into one. All of this occurred right around the time that Cityworks Server was released, so Douglas County and Omaha decided to upgrade to Server which would provide the increased interface flexibility that the Stormwater Department wanted, make it easier to bring the barricade contractor into Cityworks, and provide a good opportunity to merge their disparate Cityworks database instances. An additional factor that influenced the decision to migrate to Cityworks Server was the fact that Cityworks Desktop and Server can coexist using the same Cityworks database, which allows users to migrate to Server when and as desired without the need to migrate everyone all at once. Initially the Stormwater Department plans to transition to Cityworks Server with other departments coming onboard over time. A migration process began where the employees, materials, work templates, etc. from the County’s Cityworks database were mirrored in the City’s Cityworks database as a new domain. An additional domain was created for the County’s environmental group, which also has plans to start using Cityworks. They decided not to migrate historical records for a couple of reasons. First, migrating all of the County’s work orders and service requests would be highly complex to match their numbering system from their old database to the new one. Also, the street data the County was using is not as accurate as the one the City is operating against and correlating the old street data to the new set would also be too complex. The decision was made to keep the County’s old geodatabase and Cityworks database in place as an archival system but use the new system as their active work order and service request management system. cw The Cityworks Server setup will run on a total of three servers. The Cityworks databases will continue to run on the same Microsoft SQL Server box running SQL Server 2005. The SDE instances on SQL Server 2005 run on a server downtown in the Engineering Office: a 64-bit Windows 2003 Server with a dualcore Xeon processor running at 2.66 GHz and 16GB of RAM. Because of the geographical area covered by the county, the SDE instance will be mirrored at a County facility called the West Campus. The West Campus is the location of their ArcGIS and Cityworks server: a more powerful server running 64-bit Windows Server 2008 with 16GB of RAM and a Xeon dual-core processor running at 3.33 GHz.

INPRINT — November 2009


P r o j e c t M a n a g e m e n t ( c o n t .)

Marco Island, Florida, Deploys Cityworks Using Remote Implementation Support (RIS)

Using Cityworks Desktop

Marco Island, at the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula, is the largest Barrier Island within Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands on the Gulf of Mexico. Its 24 square miles includes 6 miles of white-sand beaches and 100 miles of waterways. Interested in the cost savings, Marco Island chose to deploy Cityworks using Remote Implementation Support (RIS). Don Blalock, Asset Manager at the City of Marco Island, has good things to say about the RIS experience, Cityworks, and Azteca Systems’ support. “We can email or call anytime and Azteca provides a timely response. Azteca provides the best support we have ever dealt with for a software vendor.”

Cityworks Server - Work Orders

Marco Island is a smaller sized community, with a permanent population of 15,000 and a peak winter population of 35,000, but its success using RIS shows size does not matter. Matt Harman, Azteca Systems Project Manager, remarked, “Marco Island and Don are Cityworks and GIS-centric oriented. The RIS approach requires significant commitment of IT resources from an organization. Don has provided the commitment necessary for success.” Congratulations to Marco Island on their successful deployment of Cityworks using RIS. cw

Cityworks Server - Inspections

INPRINT — November 2009

5


Client Services

Getting Straight to Support By Wayne Hill, Executive Director, Client & Information Services, Azteca Systems, Inc.

As many of you know from our rollout seminars, I’ve been saying we are implementing a new phone system with a direct line to customer support. Well, guess what – it’s here! Now you can dial 801.990.1888 for customer support! This new number will take you directly to the phone tree where

you select your customer support representative (CSR). No need to wait to talk to a receptionist to be transferred. We’re excited to offer this new service to our clients and partners. We see this as raising the level one more notch in bringing you the best customer support. cw

Support Regions

Customer Support Direct Phone #

801.990.1888 WELCOME NEW CITYWORKS USERS! Barrie, ON, Canada

Longview, TX

Clallam County, WA

Putnam County, FL

Danville, VA

Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Dearborn, MI

Romulus, MI

Fort St. John, BC, Canada

San Bernardino County Flood Control,

Genesee County Road Commission, MI

6

CA

Hendersonville, NC

Schertz, TX

Jasper County, SC

Vista, CA

Kamloops, BC, Canada

Wachs Water Services, IL

Lemon Grove, CA

Waupun Utilities, WA INPRINT — November 2009


C l i e n t S e r v i c e s ( c o n t .)

A Day in the Life of a CSR… Cityworks Customer Support Representatives Keep Busy By Steve Thomas, Customer Support Manager, Azteca Systems, Inc.

I’ve been in my new position managing the customer support group at Azteca for four months now and it has been a great experience for me. I guess it’s human nature to think the grass is greener on the other side and it was no different for me. Since I enjoyed my experiences as a project manager, this move was a difficult decision for me. Ultimately, I made the decision because I knew I could provide valuable knowledge and assistance to customer support and I liked the idea of spending more time at home. As a project manager, there were times I thought the customer support representatives had lots of free time between calls from clients and business partners needing assistance. I couldn’t have been more wrong in those thoughts. While any job may have slow days with not as much to do, those days are rare here in customer support and spent in many ways. Let me share my insight into a day in the life of a Cityworks customer support representative. My office is in the corner of our office building with two CSR offices on either side of me. I typically arrive at the office sometime between 7:30 and 8:30. It‘s a common occurrence to find a CSR visiting with a client on the phone when I arrive and any time I walk by. We log each call we take from a client or business partner into Cityworks, similar to many of your organizations. This provides a way for us to track the issues or questions as well as how they are resolved. These service request records provide us valuable information, including resolutions and statistics on the types of issues our clients are experiencing. We can even generate a list of those clients we haven’t had contact with recently. There are times when our representatives are on the phone nonstop for the entire day. When this happens, they are unable to log the resolution to all their calls until things slow down. During busy times, some calls may go to voice mail so returning calls also becomes a top priority.

have learned through life experiences that individuals learn best when they teach others. Consequently, one or two CSRs are assigned a topic to learn and teach to the rest of us. We recently completed training for two of our add-ons—Equipment Manager and CCTV Interface for PACP. Last month’s topic was ArcSDE. Eventually we’ll be trained on all the Cityworks applications and related software. This monthly training is generally held during lunch or late afternoon to accommodate the various time zones of our CSRs and to minimize the impact to our clients. As anyone who works in customer support knows, taking calls from customers and trying to identify a resolution can be frustrating and very stressful at times. Our CSRs use time when there are no calls coming in to update and close out their requests. Since our CSRs refer to our documentation and online help, their feedback is helping to assure the accuracy of this information, especially in keeping things up-to-date. Documentation regularly receives emails with their suggestions. We are also taking measures to more thoroughly test new releases and service packs so your work can continue uninterrupted. The CSRs also monitor MyCityworks.com, including writing articles, creating user accounts, and monitoring the forum activity. I’m proud of how our staff of expert troubleshooters are positively impacting Azteca and contributing to your success. It’s great to be part of a new team at Azteca and to find they are just as dedicated as our other employees. cw

In addition to resolving issues during the initial phone call, some issues require additional research and analysis be performed by the CSR, which can be very time-consuming. We assure you that we view answering the phone and trying to resolve immediate issues as our number one priority. This may result in delays in responding to those issues being researched or those that have gone to voice mail. Researching is prioritized by the effect the issue has on the client’s workflow. Issues leading to the interruption of data entry automatically rise to the top of the list. Whereas, issues that do not affect data processing, although understandably annoying, fall to a lower priority on the list. We appreciate your patience when that happens. I have requested that our CSRs have a good knowledge of every application we distribute. To facilitate that request, we hold a monthly training meeting where they are asked to share their knowledge of the software with each other. I

INPRINT — November 2009

Cityworks Customer Support Team Back Row: Alan Thomas, Steve Thomas, Andrew Briggs, Eric Haslam, Greg Walters Front Row: Chris Bracht, Reed Hayes, Steven Sushka, Kyle Boyd

7


C l i e n t S e r v i c e s ( c o n t .)

On a Web Browser near You–a New and Improved MyCityworks.com! By Greg Walters, Customer Support Representative, Azteca Systems, Inc.

Clients who logged into MyCityworks.com make this request more than any other, “Please make the site easier to navigate.” Your wish is our command; we have completely overhauled MyCityworks.com and guests will notice a fresh, new look and feel to our website we launched in November. The new site is easier to use and we’ve added some new features like enhanced access to the Resource & Download Center, simplified navigation via dropdown menus, and a What’s New sidebar on the home page. What’s New allows users to click a link to get new downloads from the Resource Center, view the latest help videos, and read reports, Knowledge Base articles, and white papers – all in one place. If you experience any problems using the new website or if you have any suggestions, please contact Greg Walters at gwalters@cityworks.com. cw

8

Ne w C r y s ta l R e p o r ts • Monthly Report • Time Difference Report • Valuation Stock on Hand • SG Main Diameter Summary • Work Order Summary • Scheduled Work Order by Cycle • Mr. Dashboard (Excel Report) • Scheduled Maintenance • Water Main Breaks Ne w H e l p V i d e o s • Setting up Mappage, TileNo, Shop, and District • Update a DataPump DB to Match a Cityworks Production DB • Configuring Default Print Settings.

INPRINT — November 2009


C l i e n t S e r v i c e s ( c o n t .)

Tools and Tips on MyCityworks.com Featured A r ti c l e s At the top of the welcome page, you’ll find handy tips in a Featured Article with links to the Full Article as well as to previous articles in the Article Archives. The best part is these articles show up in the site search so you can easily find all the information that applies to the topic you’re looking for. Creating C h i l d W o rk O r d e r s The current article discusses the difference between a child work order created on the work order Cycle tab versus one created using the Tools dropdown menu option Create Child WO. Of course, if you want to set up a cyclical work order for preventive maintenance, like flushing mains every 2 years, you’d use the Every option on the Cycle tab. But what if you want to just create one child work order? Now you have several options. The best way to decide which option is right for you is to determine whether the work order template needs to be changed and which fields you want to carry over from the parent work order.

However, if you have a work order for a street cut (so you can repair the pipe underneath it), use the Tools dropdown option because that allows changing the work order template so you can create a child work order to fill the hole once the repair is done. From that child work order, create another child work order for the concrete patch repair. This creates a series of different work orders that are related to each other by the parent/child associations. Besides the ease of creating work orders on the same group of assets, child work orders also have the advantage of bringing over fields from the parent work order. Using the Tools dropdown option copies over the assets, the address, general location, Project, Shop, Map Page, Tile No. , X, and Y fields plus the checkbox setting for Update Map. Whereas using the Cycle tab copies twelve additional fields from the parent work order to the child. Check out the article for a list of these fields and more details. cw

Let’s say an asset didn’t pass inspection and you want to set up one child work order to reinspect it at a later date. Since you want to use the same work order template, use the Cycle tab. If you know the date on which you want it to be inspected, enter it in the Beginning on field and click the Create Child button. When you confirm, the work order ID will be listed with the Projected Start Date. You can also use the Once option and set a time interval from either the actual finish date (to adjust for time lags) or projected start date (to maintain a more rigid maintenance schedule).

Cit yworks C o d e s V e r s i o n 4 .5 Our newest post to our website is Cityworks Codes, designed to help new Cityworks domain administrators know which codes to populate when implementing Cityworks. To update from Cityworks version 4.4 to 4.5, we created a new 4.5 database and generated several Excel spreadsheets of all the Cityworks codes. We confirmed each code type with its default values and made the necessary corrections.

the codes types. But once all the forms had been searched for popup selection boxes or selection lists, a large number of codes were left without locations. These were discovered to be leftover attribute values for ArcView 3.x. Using the list of code types no longer needed, the programmers removed 484 code types, reducing the number of pages of code tables from 84 to 32 in the next version.

Besides listing all the Codes and Descriptions, tables were added for Descriptions and Scores as well as Codes, Descriptions, and Scores. A new column was also added to list the location for each code type. Using the predefined Cityworks inspections and tests in addition to the request and work order forms, locations were found for some of

A short table included at the end of the document provides the Cityworks domain administrator with all the code types needed for each predefined Cityworks inspection or test. Creating this document was a great team effort within the company with input and support provided by eleven staff members. Check it out on www.mycityworks.com. cw

Sample of a Code Type

INPRINT — November 2009

9


C l i e n t S e r v i c e s ( c o n t .)

By John Jarnagin, Educational Services Manager, Azteca Systems, Inc.

As we are all aware, the current state of the economy found many organizations cutting training budgets and eliminating most, if not all, out-of-state travel. In response , we added a new training option this year for regional trainings. Regional training requires locating a Cityworks client with an on-site training center and geographical location near other Cityworks sites and then opening up the training to the nearby Cityworks users and business partners. To host a regional training in your area or get more information on the requirements, please contact John at 801-523-2751 or jjarnagin@cityworks.com. There are a couple of training formats to choose from as well as satisfying some preliminary requirements before a regional training can be scheduled.

Southern barbecue (which was enjoyed by all). When told that catering lunch on top of providing the training site was not necessary, Jerry Beckley (BCWS IT Manager) simply replied, “That’s what Southerners do.” BCWS is off to a great start with Cityworks as they hosted the regional training before their own implementation. Now that’s what I call cooking with gas… but not the humidity.

Cityworks A d m i n i s tr a ti o n T r a i n i n g D a te s December 1 - 3, 2009 - Raleigh, NC December 7 - 11, 2009 - Azteca Systems, Sandy, UT March 8 - 12, 2010 - Azteca Systems, Sandy, UT To obtain information on all Cityworks training options, please visit the Cityworks Campus: www.mycityworks.com/cityworkscampus Cityworks A d m i n i s tr a ti o n T r a i n i n g To date, we’ve held five regional trainings in Sacramento, CA; Horry County, SC; Monck’s Corner, SC; Frisco, TX; and Oakland County, MI – and trained a total of 48 people. At each of our trainings these past few months, attendees were very engaged. Their great questions resulted in very beneficial discussions and establishing new friendships between users as they shared how Cityworks is applied in their organizations. Attendees learned valuable information related to Cityworks, which they could in turn take back and share with other users at their various sites.

Berkeley C o u n ty W a te r & S a n i ta ti o n , S C Another sizzlin’ hot Cityworks Regional Administration training took place August 4-6, 2009 in South Carolina. To a person who has spent his entire life in the West (most of that time in the dry, high-desert climate of Utah), it was very hot AND humid… and I let all the attendees know exactly what I thought of the humidity. But enduring the heat and humidity was worth it to meet some great Cityworks clients and try some excellent Southern food (bring on the hush puppies). The training was hosted by Berkeley County Water and Sanitation (BCWS) in Monck’s Corner, just outside of Charleston. Attendees hailed from South and North Carolina, and as far away as Alabama. Thanks to BCWS for hosting the training. They were excellent hosts, going above and beyond the call of duty, even hosting one of the lunches with tasty

10

Cityworks Regional Administration Training Berkely County Water & Sanitation, South Carolina – August 4 - 6, 2009

City of Frisco, TX Another hot (albeit less humid) regional training took place August 18-20 in Frisco, Texas. The City of Frisco has been a Cityworks user since 2003 and is doing some amazing things with Cityworks. They were kind enough to host the first regional training in Texas this year at their beautiful facility at Frisco City Hall. Attendees came from various locations throughout Texas and Oklahoma. One dedicated user, Jim Ackland, came all the way from Rapid City, South Dakota. Congratulations to Killeen, Texas, for sending the most attendees. The staff members involved in the training were extremely professional, organized, and very friendly. Due to some scheduling conflicts, they moved all the training computers, monitors, everything out of the training room at the end of first two days of training and then back in the next morning… and seemed happy to do it. At first I wondered if they were moonlighting for a moving company in town, but I figured out they understood the phrase “teamwork in the workplace.”

INPRINT — November 2009


C l i e n t S e r v i c e s ( c o n t .)

Oakland County, MI As part of a large-scale implementation project, Ryan Miller (Azteca Project Manager) and I had the opportunity of training thirteen Cityworks administrators at Oakland County from October 27-30. Oakland County, Michigan, is home to over a million people and part of the greater Metro Detroit area. When their implementation is complete, there will be over 1000 Cityworks users interacting with Cityworks Server. However, that’s just the beginning. There are also several integration projects underway so Cityworks can “talk” to several third-party software programs, including the County’s existing 311 system, customer accounting software, and several others. The project has taken four years to get to this point.

Cityworks Regional Administration Training City of Frisco, Frisco, Texas – August 18 - 20, 2009

Azteca Sy s te m s C o r p o ra te O f f i c e s Another excellent group attended the Cityworks Administration training October 19-23 in Sandy, Utah. Attendees hailed from the City of Loveland, Colorado, and Azteca business partners from Power Engineers and Stearns & Wheeler GHD, Inc. Their in-depth questions led to very detailed discussions. Attendees and instructors joined up for a night on the town in downtown Salt Lake City for some great food at a local eating establishment, The Bayou. The only thing better than attending training is going to dinner with all of the attendees and getting to know each other on a more personal level. This training group was a very sharp collection of people and we had a good time all the way around.

It was obvious to me from the get-go that this group of training attendees knew exactly what they wanted from their Cityworks implementation. There was great interaction with many excellent questions and discussions throughout the training. I am fully confident the County can pull off this all-encompassing Cityworks project. I could tell from getting to know the group that they had invested blood, sweat, and tears into this project. It’s obvious all of the dedication and energy they invested will pay off when Cityworks goes lives within the organization.

Cityworks Administration Training Oakland County, MI – October 27 - 30, 2009 (Facial tremors are a by-product of life on the road for Azteca trainers....some more than others.)

Cityworks Administration Training

Thanks to all of our training participants. We’ve enjoyed getting to know so many knowledgeable and dedicated Cityworks users. cw

Azteca Corporate Offices – October 19 - 23, 2009

INPRINT — November 2009

11


Partner News

GIS Leads the Way for Cityworks Work Management Solution in Traverse City, Michigan By Jerremy Dunlap, GIS Administrator, Traverse City, and Christine Seidl, Marketing Consultant, Power Engineers

In a collaborative effort between the Traverse City Engineering Department and Traverse City Light & Power (TCL&P), the City began its Electical Mapping Project to create and maintain an ArcGIS geodatabase for managing their electric distribution, transmission, and generation assets. TCL&P, a community-owned, municipal utility, maintains transmission, distribution, hydroelectric, and wind facilities to deliver service to nearly 11,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the Northwestern region of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, including Traverse City. TCL&P soon recognized the benefits of using GIS for managing its operations. The next step was to select and integrate work order management in a GIS environment to facilitate call taking, service request processing, and work order generation. Azteca Systems’ Cityworks fit the bill for GIS integration with work management and the City chose to work with VELOCITIE Integration, Inc. to implement Cityworks. VELOCITIE assisted in the implemention of Cityworks asset maintenance management products for TCL&P and the City, replacing TCL&P’s inventory system and integrating with their HTE financial and customer information system. The deployment of Cityworks for the Distribution, Generation, Meter Reading, and Administrative Departments provided enhanced management, availability of, and access to electric asset and work order management data on and through GIS maps. Although working across

departments presented some challenges, the City’s GIS Administrator, Jerremy Dunlap, recommends establishing roles and project leadership early in a project. As an added benefit, the implementation pointed out weaknesses in the way work orders were related to costs and inventory. TCL&P was able to find and correct these gaps in order to strengthen their inventory management and cost control processes. TCL&P staff now utilize one system, Cityworks, that consolidates inventory management and work order information and processes. The City achieved its main goal of improving electric operations as a result of increasing data availability and reporting capabilities while simplifying work processes through the reduction of data entry and the associated steps. Jerremy Dunlap shared the City’s biggest concern: “We were initally concerned about the use and adoption of the system on a daily basis for data entry, so we provided lots of training. We were surprised at how quickly the staff adopted the system. One bright spot was the way VELOCITIE handled the implementation process, involving the linemen and field crews upfront in making decisions early about their use of the system.” Cityworks is used as the primary tool for looking up customer information and recording customer calls. Providing centralized access through the Cityworks system to customer information data residing in the City’s HTE system has been helpful. An interface was developed using the Infogeographics’ GeoConnector product to periodically extract customer data in batch from the HTE customer system. The HTE interface provides a one-way data flow of customer information and data on installed and removed meters from HTE to Cityworks. SQL Server 2005 Data Transformation Services (DTS) manages the data transfer tasks between the Cityworks tables and the intermediate HTE data transfer database tables populated by the GeoConnector. Following their successful experience with the electric utility, the City is currently implementing Cityworks for Water and Sewer maintenance. The City plans to continue with future implementations in other City departments to fulfll the vision of an enterprise data management system for Traverse City. cw Project Contacts: Jerremy Dunlap, GIS Administrator, Traverse City (231) 922-4462 John Truchan, TCL&P GIS Technician (231) 962-4458

12

INPRINT — November 2009


P a r t n e r N e w s ( c o n t .)

POWER up your Cityworks implementation at high VELOCITIE with Silverlight tools.

Graph represents the percentage of open work orders by type.

Cityworks companion applications are developed using Silverlight technology. Functionality includes: • • • • • •

Dashboard and Assignment Notifier Capabilities Scheduling Functions Integrated with Outlook Work Activity Summary Statistical Charts & Maps User View of Assignments Error Notices via Email POWER Engineers, Inc. is proud to announce the acquisition of VELOCITIE Integration. POWER and VELOCITIE have successfully teamed on several projects over the last decade with great results. VELOCITIE’s experience implementing the Cityworks suite of products is unmatched and enhances POWER’s client solution portfolio. www.powereng.com ENERGY

INPRINT — November 2009

|

FACILITIES

|

COMMUNICATIONS

|

ENVIRONMENTAL

13


May 1 Dixie Cente Tr a i n i n g / Te c h n i c a l S e s s i o n s / E x h i b i t H a l l / C i t y w o r

Event Overview The Cityworks User Conference is the premier event for Cityworks users, business partners, and potential users. Complete with Cityworks technical courses, user and partner presentations, a Cityworks doctor’s office, an exhibit hall, networking, and evening socials, the conference provides an educational and enjoyable atmosphere, benefitting all who attend. Online registration NOW OPEN! www.cityworks.com/UC10

A c c o m m o d at i o n s Azteca Systems has arranged for rooms with four different hotels with easy access to the Dixie Center. Hilton Garden Inn (next door) 1731 Convention Center Drive St. George, UT 84790 (435) 634-4100 www.stgeorge.hgi.com – Use Code: AZT Cutoff date for reduced rate – 4/29/2010

Marriott Fairfield Inn (across the street) 1660 South Convention Center Dr. St. George, UT 84790 (435) 673-6066 www.marriott.com Cutoff date for reduced rate – 4/15/2010

Wingate by Wyndham (less than 1 mile – shuttles provided) 144 West Brigham Road St George, UT 84790 (435) 673-9608 www.wingatestgeorge.com Cutoff date for reduced rate – 4/19/2010

Comfort Suites (less than 1 mile – shuttles provided) 1239 S. Main St. St. George, UT 84770 (435) 673-7000 www.stgeorgecomfortsuites.com Cutoff date for reduced rate – 4/30/2010

Additional accommodations are also available. Visit http://www.utahstgeorge.com

Cityworks UC1 Conference Web

Additional information can be foun UC10 Conference website. www.cityworks.com/UC10 • Conference sessions and work descriptions • Agenda • Pre-conference training course descriptions • UC10 call for papers • Exhibitor/sponsor information

C on ta c t I n f or m at

Questions and inquiries may be dir Kaye Ryser, kryser@cityworks.com or 801-523-2751.

V i s i t w w w. c i t y w o r


17 - 19, 2010 e r, St . G e o r g e , Ut a h k s D o c t o r ’ s O f f i c e / P r e - C o n f e r e n c e Tr a i n i n g

“The Cityworks user conference is one of the most important conferences I attend every year. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone, from beginner to expert. And having a chance to talk to the developers, my support manager, and of course, Brian Haslam, president of Azteca, Inc., is priceless.” — Rocky S. Agbunag St. Johns County, FL

Conference Costs

Conference Fee * (price includes all sessions and socials) $400.00 – Early-bird rate through March 1 $450.00 – Standard rate after March 1

*Cityworks users are eligible for complimentary conference registrations based on annual update and support. Contact your account rep or Kaye Ryser at kryser@cityworks.com for more info.

Pre-Conference Traini n g (May 14 & 15 - Hilton Garden Inn) 2-day courses $500.00 – Early-bird registration through March 1 $550.00 – Standard registration after March 1 1-day courses (cost per day) $250.00 – Early-bird registration through March 1 $275.00 – Standard registration after March 1

10 site

Blast from the Past

nd on our

0 kshop

es and

n

tion

rected to m

ks.com to register

T u e s d a y, M a y 1 8 5:30 pm - Happy Hour 6:30 pm - Dinner & Entertainment Dig out your leisure suit, platform shoes, and spandex! Come join us for a fun night of dancing, visiting, and remembering the good ol’ days! Costume Contest Disco Dance-Off

“The conference has been a great place to share our experience with Cityworks and to learn from others, both other users and the Ciryworks staff. I have found that the Cityworks staff is always extremely helpful and accessible during the conferences. The conference ends with a feedback session which is a good time to learn about common issues and to request software enhancements.“ — Marion Storey City of Philadelphia, PA

“Azteca pulls out the stops to put on a useful and informative conference. It is a first-class event. I always come away with new insights and ways to streamline and enhance our Cityworks implementation as well as thoughts about how to integrate Cityworks with other applications.“ — Steve Kirk Spokane County, WA

“I attend the Cityworks User Conference every year because there are always more sessions that I want to attend than I can attend, the users I meet always have information to share, and the entire Azteca staff is so accessible. It’s consistently one of the better ones I attend each year.“ — Mike Margenau City of Loveland, CO


P a r t n e r N e w s ( c o n t .)

OneGIS Implements Cityworks for Macon Water Authority, Georgia By Bob O’Connell, OneGIS

Macon is among the largest metropolitan areas in Georgia and the county seat of Bibb County. It lies near the geographic center of the state, approximately 85 miles (136 km) south of Atlanta. As of 2008, Macon had a population of 92,775 with 38,444 households and 24,219 families residing in the city. In terms of population, Macon is Georgia’s sixth largest city. In June 2009, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) awarded the Macon Water Authority (MWA) first place in the “Best of the Best” Drinking Water Taste Test, held at the AWWA Annual Conference and Expo in San Diego, California.

About three years ago, Macon Water Authority was in need of a system to help manage their growing infrastructure needs. The City of Macon used ESRI’s GIS technology for planning, zoning, development planning, and other associated uses. Macon Water Authority saw the immediate value of using the City’s existing base maps as a backdrop on which to delineate their water, sewer, and related infrastructure assets and actively manage those assets. During their CMMS search, they contacted Azteca Systems and were quickly convinced Cityworks was the solution they needed.

The Macon Water Authority was created in 1880 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly to serve as a public corporation to provide municipal water and sewerage services for the City of Macon and Bibb County areas. As with other Water Authorities, Macon has evolved and grown over the years. Today, the MWA Water Distribution System has approximately 1425 miles of water mains and service lines serving approximately 54,000-metered customers. The Authority also operates a sewage collection system, including approximately 250 miles of interceptor sewers and 950 miles of sanitary sewer lines serving over 41,000 customers. Macon Soils, a subsidiary of the Authority, handles the recycling of biosolids from wastewater treatment at the Authority’s two water reclamation facilities, distributing these byproducts to area farmers for fertilizer.

MWA selected OneGIS to assist in the Cityworks implementation because of their experience with the Cityworks suite of products, expertise as specialists in infrastructure management, experience with interfaces, and current knowledge of ESRI technology. OneGIS is an Atlantabased firm with a business focus on providing solutions to organizations involved in infrastructure management. Their skills include consulting, business needs analysis, solution design and implementation, interface design and development, and training and support. OneGIS is staffed by experienced infrastructure solution practitioners with knowledge in all facets of solution design, implementation, and support. The principals and management team at OneGIS developed their understanding of infrastructure needs while at ESRI and other business partner firms. OneGIS is now both an ESRI and Azteca business partner. Implementation & Services In the initial meeting, MWA staff communicated their bold vision of using Cityworks as the foundation of a true business system to help manage all aspects of their system, with an eye to controlling costs and providing better service to its customers. With this long-term vision in mind, OneGIS outlined options for a solution to maximize the use of the Cityworks suite of applications and permit MWA to start using Key Performance Indicators to measure performance at all system levels. With MWA’s well-defined vision, OneGIS initiated a detailed data modeling and design effort to support the business functions and workflows envisioned by MWA. Due to MWA’s limited staff, they also sought the expertise of OneGIS to serve as the GIS Coordinator and steer development of their geodatabase. The system was implemented over an eight-month time frame. Besides the development of the underlying database, three major components of the Cityworks solution were implemented. These included the Cityworks maintenance management system (MMS), Cityworks Server, and Storeroom. One key highlight of the data modeling and the Cityworks MMS implementation was that all MWA’s plant and lift stations were included, and assets were modeled at a very detailed level. At the time of implementation, Cityworks Server was an entirely new product built on ESRI ArcGIS Server and in the final stages of beta release. As a result of the experience of OneGIS with ArcGIS Server, the process of installing, testing, and tuning Cityworks Server went smoothly, making MWA one of the first Cityworks Server sites in production. Storeroom was another application implemented by OneGIS to manage material, supplier, and requisition information. MWA uses Storeroom to issue, receive, transfer, and audit materials as well as search transaction histories.

16

INPRINT — November 2009


P a r t n e r N e w s ( c o n t .) Finally, to tie the Cityworks applications into other key applications in the office, OneGIS developed and implemented interfaces to the existing CIS and financial applications. These longstanding legacy systems are now closely integrated with Cityworks to provide a highly efficient data transfer process, increasing the overall effectiveness of the Cityworks implementation. MWA currently uses multiple modules to meet all of their daily work requirements. As implementation neared completion, OneGIS trained over 150 personnel at all levels. Results The core Cityworks implementation along with many enhancements by OneGIS and MWA have already yielded a significant ROI. MWA’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measure and assess virtually all activities and decisions made in managing the system and providing service to customers. Working with OneGIS, MWA designed their data model so they could isolate very basic components of an overall asset or area. The water treatment system is broken down into a plant with its respective working systems, such as a Chemical Building. Each system is then divided into working groups, which are further divided into pieces of equipment or locations. Thus all costs, material history, labor hours, etc. can be rolled up from the most basic component to the entire system which enables much clearer transparency with respect to resource and cost issues within the systems.

Aerial Inspection

Cityworks’ ability to track a defined part used to maintain a piece of equipment is starting to show that decisions on what is purchased and at what price need to be rethought. For instance, valves bought at low cost may need replacement at greater frequency than those costing a little more. This insight is permitting MWA to monitor suppliers with far more accuracy than ever before and use this information, in conjunction with Storeroom, to determine which vendors offer the highest quality materials at the most cost-effective price. The Cityworks solution is also able to perform true capital improvement planning using historical evidence on which to base decisions. For example, Cityworks users are able to clearly see the frequency of leaks in certain areas. This data, along with information on the cost to keep up with the leaks, enables planning for main renewal versus replacement. MWA has also seen significant improvements in service requests and other customer service needs. With the CIS interface developed by OneGIS and MWA, users throughout the system are able to quickly dispatch crews to deal with problems through the Cityworks web interface. This has increased responsiveness to calls and requests (another KPI) by over 50%.

Cityworks Server Inbox

Project Contacts: Lisa Golphin, Macon Water Authority (478) 464-5626 Paul Downing, OneGIS (404) 435-4788

OneGIS THE POWER OF

For Macon Water Authority, the decision to use Cityworks as their CMMS solution and OneGIS as their implementer were also smart KPIs. cw

INPRINT — November 2009

ONE PLATFORM, ONE SOLUTION, ONE COMPANY...

17


International Partner News

Oxford County Receives ESRI Canada’s Award of Excellence for Extensive Use of GIS to Support Strategic Goals Ontario Municipality Recognized for 24 Years of Success with ESRI Technology; Latest GIS Implementation to Improve Asset Management and Ensure Regulatory Compliance ESRI Canada Press Release - Toronto - October 6, 2009

ESRI Canada today presented an Award of Excellence to Oxford County for its history of success in using geographic information system (GIS) technology to improve operations and support strategic goals. Continuing on its commitment to leverage GIS, the County recently embarked on a project that will integrate its ESRI GIS with its financial systems to improve asset management and ensure compliance with new regulations on capital asset accounting. The award was presented at the 2009 ESRI Regional User Conference in Toronto. Located in Southwestern Ontario, Oxford County has a population of more than 100,000 and is comprised of vast farmland and several thriving agri-business communities. Technology is a key driver of the County’s development strategy. It was one of the first municipalities worldwide to adopt ESRI solutions and has been leveraging GIS in its operations for the past 24 years.

budgeting by tracking all asset management costs including equipment and material for assets under construction. In integrating its financial and infrastructure information, the County will be able to make operational decisions based on data synchronized across corporate systems and establish a powerful tool for effective asset life cycle management. “GIS is an integral part of doing municipal business in Oxford County,” said Lynn Buchner, Director of Corporate Services, Oxford County. “Over the years, our ESRI system has enabled us to better plan and deliver enhanced services to the public. We look forward to further harnessing the power of GIS to continuously enhance our operations and make Oxford County a stronger and better municipality.” cw About Oxford County

“Oxford County has been very successful at improving communication and operations by connecting municipalities and the public through GIS technology,” said James Wickson, Vice President of Sales and Professional Services, ESRI Canada. “The County is a good example of how municipalities, regardless of size, can leverage GIS to respond effectively and timely to changing needs and further enhance services to its communities.” Using ESRI software, Oxford County built a Land Related Information System (LRIS) in 1985 to integrate and provide access to information such as property and infrastructure data from various government systems. The system continues to be a valuable tool for the County today. The County has expanded its GIS to support numerous business processes including administering building permits, civic addressing, nutrient management plan registration and emergency preparedness planning. It has also used GIS for creating official plan and zoning bylaws, mapping local businesses for its online directory and conducting groundwater protection studies. Oxford County will further leverage GIS for Project Matrix, a new asset management strategy that will integrate its ESRI GIS with financial systems to automate processes and meet compliance with PS3150 guidelines on tangible capital asset reporting set by the Public Sector Accounting Board. Project Matrix will integrate Azteca Systems’ Cityworks asset and maintenance management solution, delivered by ESRI Canada, with Microsoft Dynamics GP for financials, Time Manager for payroll and RIVA software for long-term capital asset planning. Based on ESRI GIS technology, Cityworks is expected to optimize efficiency by automating processes for work orders and service requests related to the County’s infrastructure and assets. It will also enable the County to improve

18

Set among rolling hills and farmland, Oxford County offers a mix of rural and urban settings as well as a rapidly expanding business sector that includes Canada’s second Toyota plant. The County boasts several heritage sites; a thriving local arts, culture and recreation community; and several park, conservation and natural areas, including 98 kilometres of trails. The County has a population of approximately 102,000 people across eight municipalities that are “growing stronger...together” through an upper tier municipal government incorporated as the County of Oxford. The regional seat for the County of Oxford is in Woodstock. For more information, visit www.oxfordcounty.ca.

About ESRI Canada Founded in 1984, ESRI Canada provides enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower businesses, governments, and educational institutions to make timely, informed and mission critical decisions by leveraging the power of geography. The company distributes the world’s leading GIS software from ESRI, Telvent Miner & Miner, Azteca Systems, and other technology partners. Headquartered in Toronto, the company serves over 10,000 customers from 16 regional offices across Canada. Information about ESRI Canada can be found at www.esricanada.com.

Media contacts: Joy Chan PR Specialist ESRI Canada +1 (416) 386-6488 jchan@esricanada.com www.esricanada.com

Lynn Buchner Director of Corporate Services County of Oxford +1 (519) 539-9800 lbuchner@oxfordcounty.ca www.oxfordcounty.ca

INPRINT — November 2009


P a r t n e r N e w s ( c o n t .)

Business Partners Implementation Partners

Strategic Development Partners

PLATINUM • Woolpert

GOLD

SILVER

• Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) • Timmons Group • Power Engineers

• Jones, Edmunds and Associates • Motorola • OneGIS, Inc.

BRONZE • • • • • • • • • •

Bowne Management Systems, Inc. Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc. Burns & McDonnell CH2M Hill, Inc. Civic Engineering and Information Technologies, Inc. Civil Solutions Collier Engineering IT Nexus Midland GIS North Arrow Technologies

• • • • • • • • • • •

NTB Associates OHM, Inc. PACE Engineers, Inc. Schneider Corporation Strand Associates, Inc. Tetra Tech Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) VESTRA Resources, Inc. Wade Trim Associates Westin Engineering Weston Solutions

BASIC • • • • • • • •

Anderson, Eckstein & Westrick, Inc. Bergmann Associates BP Barber & Associates Chester Engineers Clark-Nexsen EMH&T ESC Engineering, Inc. geographIT

• • • • • • • •

Jones & Demille Engineering KCI Technologies Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. Michael Baker Jr., Inc. PSOMAS Quartic Solutions Razavi Application Development Stantec Consulting

B u s i n e s s P a r tner A d m i n i s tr a t o r Cindy Curletti

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Actsoft CartoPac Field Solutions CIPPlanner Corporation Cobra Technologies Comcate Inc. CompassCom Coulter Mapping Solutions DataBank IMX Data Transfer Solutions Dig-Smart Dynatest Consulting ESRI GEOSPAN Corporation Infrastructure Technologies

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

iWater Laurel Hill GIS Marshall GIS MWH Soft Onbase (Hyland Software) Orion Technology Inc. Peninsular Technologies, LLC Pipelogix RIVA Online RouteSmart Spatial Wave TC Technologies Telvent Miner & Miner TRANSMAP

International Distribution Partners • • • • • • • •

ESRI Canada ESRI Costa Rica (Geotecnologias SA) ESRI Israel (Systematics) ESRI S-Group, Sweden GIS-Centric Civil Systems Pty (Ltd), South Africa gViz Pty Limited, Australia OneGIS, Carribbean Rolta Middle East FZI-LLC

Stay Connected!

801-523-2751 ccurletti@cityworks.com Hi! I’d like to introduce myself as the newest member of the Marketing/Business Partner team at Azteca Systems. I will be helping to administer the Business Partner program, including renewals and partner communications. You may have received our Business Partner Communications email recently. If you have any suggestions or additions you’d like us to include to better help you, we’d like to know. Also, our Business Partner Program recently went through a renovation. Please contact me if you need further clarification or have not received the information. I look forward to working with you and learning more about your knowledge and use of Cityworks. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know and I will help get them resolved. cw

INPRINT — November 2009

Become a Fan! www.facebook.com Cityworks

Join Us! www.linkedin.com Ci tyworks | Azteca Systems User ’s Group

Follow Us! http://twi tter.com AztecaCi tyworks 19


Regional Spotlight Gr e a t L a ke s R e gion

Regional Account Managers

Becky Tamashasky (We have changed the format of our regional news to spotlight one region each InPrint.)

Canton T o w n s h i p , M I Canton made the decision to implement Cityworks in 2006 through Remote Implementation Support (RIS). In RIS, an Azteca Project Manager hosts a series of webcast trainings with the organization’s representatives to assist them in implementing the Cityworks software. David Maurice, Supervisor of Asset Management at Canton, stated, “The RIS was a very good experience for Canton Township and for me personally as the Cityworks domain administrator. It gave me an in-depth understanding of Cityworks and the specific role of the domain administrator, and allowed us to confidently reach a go-live date within six months of the first RIS session.” Since then, the staff at the Township has systematically implemented the remaining departments on their own with some technical support hours for training. Cityworks is now used throughout the Township. The Public Works Department is able to more effectively track utility maintenance and has improved personnel and interdepartmental communication. After the initial Cityworks implementation, the Township extended the use of Cityworks to the Leisure Services Department (Parks and Recreation), Fleet Services, and the Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Recently, Canton moved to a Cityworks site license and is preparing to upgrade to Cityworks Server in the near future. “Cityworks has been a successful implementation for Canton Township,” stated Maurice. “Response to the application has been very good with response from users being positive. Now, with the site license in place and the addition of Cityworks Server MMS, we have the capability to more effectively expand the use of Cityworks within the organization.” The City o f D u b l i n , O H In December of 2005, Dublin reevaluated the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) currently in use by their Public Services Division and determined that continuing use of the product would put a strain on City resources without producing viable results. Their goal was to implement a solution which utilized a single, centralized repository for asset data, work order data, and customer account data.

20

Then Dublin discovered Cityworks. With a well established GIS, they already had many of the data layers needed to fuel Cityworks. Cityworks was rolled out across many work units at Dublin simultaneously. Project leader Maria Renzetti stated, “It was important for us to move off our existing software and embrace Cityworks as a citywide solution. We saw it as a way to improve communication about work and City assets across divisions.” Dublin recently hosted a Cityworks Server Rollout session and is considering an upgrade to Server in the future to support a more mobile work force. “The City has realized many benefits from our move to Cityworks,” said Renzetti. “Facilities staff have benefitted from the use of cycles in planning their PM work. Frontline call takers have better resources at their fingertips for handling requests of all types. The management of Solid Waste programs has been simplified and we have better info about our sewer infrastructure today. Most telling is the fact that requests for reports have increased significantly, as management realizes the benefits of more accurate and useful data.” The City of Hamilton, OH Prior to using Cityworks, the City of Hamilton did not have

a CMMS in place. They were in the process of migrating to the ESRI platform for their GIS and decided to make a complete system change, selecting Cityworks for CMMS and Govern for permitting. Hamilton did a complete organization restructure after implementing Cityworks and is now using Cityworks organizationwide, including utilizing it to manage their Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) program and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Consent Decree. Hamilton recently moved to a Cityworks Enterprise License Agreement (ELA), an option providing organizations GIS-centric asset maintenance management and permitting solutions for agencies with a population of 100,000 or less within a tiered, affordable pricing schedule. cw

Aerial View Downtown Hamilton, OH

INPRINT — November 2009


Azteca News We l c o m e to A z teca’s Newest Emp loyees! Cindy Curletti joined Azteca Systems in September of this year. Her responsibilities include administering the Business Partner program and marketing. Originally from Ontario, California (the Inland Empire), she received her Associates in Marketing from FIDM. She enjoys spending time with her family, boating, and water and snow skiing. She is the mother of two teenage boys and one nearly teenage daughter. She and her husband, Rick, reside in Sandy, Utah, close to our main office. cw John Buckland, our most recent hire, has joined our Software Development Department. He is from Chugiak, Alaska (Anchorage area), where he graduated from college with a BS in Computer Science. Both he and his wife have spent most of their lives in Alaska and have been in Utah for just over a year. They are the parents of two rambunctious boys, Jeremiah who is 3 and Caleb who is 5 months. Aside from spending time with his kiddos, he likes to play copious amounts of computer games and continue his ongoing search for the end of the internet. cw

Our Client Services department welcomes Steven Sushka as our newest Customer Support Representative. Many of you already know him from his time at Woolpert, where he has worked and been a part of many Cityworks projects since 1998. He was born in Marietta, Ohio, and received his BS degree in geography from Ohio University. He started out in Photogrammetry making Digital Ortho Quarter Quadrangles (DOQQ) for USGS. In 2001 he switched to GIS, and in 2003 started working with Cityworks designing geodatabases and administering ArcSDE. He spent the next several years focusing on enterprise GIS and Cityworks implementations, and ended his tenure at Woolpert overseeing numerous Cityworks implementation and integration projects as a Cityworks Subject Matter Expert (SME). In 1997 he was evacuated from Albania in a helicopter by the U.S. Marines to a Navy ship in the Adriatic Sea. He and his wife, Anne, met in Hungary where they were both living at the time. They reside in Indiana with their three children, Ella (5), Eli (4), and Sarah (11 months). cw

Holly Barney joins Azteca’s documentation team and is working with Server Permitting. She received a B.S. in political science from Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. She also studied Hebrew so she could go to the Jerusalem Center but war broke out and the center was closed that year. Instead she went to Washington DC and worked on Capitol Hill for the Rules Committee during Watergate where she was in closed hearings and escorted away from the media at the end of each day. Holly worked for the Sandy City Planning Commission for 9 years and chaired the commission for 4 of those years as well as spending a term on the Board of Adjustment (BOA). During this time, she also earned an M.S. in urban planning/geography. She then spent 2 years with Draper City in Planning & Zoning and Code Enforcement. Holly is very happily divorced, the mother of 4, and grandmother of 3. Her oldest daughter, Stephanie, died from Cystic Fibrosis 11 years ago. Holly also teaches water aerobics and private swimming lessons, and often refers to herself as a fish. cw

ESRI 2009 User Conference Thank you to those who stopped by our booth!

INPRINT — November 2009

21


Get to Know.....

Educational Services Department Staff Duties: John Ja r n i g a n • Department head • Review all Cityworks docs • Training documentation Karen T h o m a s • User Guides (Cityworks Desktop, Designer, Inspections, Add-ons) • What’s New/Service Pack docs • Miscellaneous editing April Da n s i e • Cityworks Server online help • Server What’s New/Service Pack docs • White papers/web docs (reviewing) L inda H i l l • Cityworks Desktop/Cityworks Anywhere online docs. • Formatting all docs Ryan Ha r r i s • Training docs • Azteca Systems Style Guide Holly Ba r n e y • Cityworks Permitting training docs • Permitting What’s New/ Service Pack docs Shanna n P e rr y • Graphics • Documentation Printing & Shipping

John Jarnagin, Educational Services Manager • Born in Safford, Arizona. • Lived in Arizona, Utah, Washington, Idaho, California, and Japan (Nagoya and Osaka). • Graduate from Utah State University in Logan with a BA in GIS, minor in Japanese, and a certificate in International Relations– emphasis on Asia. • Hobbies/interests: my 5 children, trail running, weightlifting, hiking, plyometrics (box jumping), music (piano/organ/voice), reading, cooking healthy foods – like “green goo” fruit/ vegetable blender drinks. • Interesting tidbit: Body double of Andre Agassi – I have been mistaken for him on several occasions.

Karen Thomas • Born in SLC, Utah. • Lived in SLC, Provo, Springville, Houston, Springdale (ID), Burley, and Sandy. • Graduated with a BS from BYU in pre-physical therapy with minors in math and psychology. The closest I got to geography was learning the landmarks on the bones (or marrying Steve). • Love traveling, snorkeling, flying, spending time with my grandson, photography, math, learning, reading, writing, hiking, yoga, teaching, science, psychology, summer, etc. • Interesting sidelight: I am a certified Color Code trainer and teach interpersonal skills workshops (personality types and team building). Research indicates 19-29% of a manager’s time is spent resolving personality conflicts so we address ways to increase the efficiency of an organization.

Linda H i l l • Born in Salt Lake City; raised in Utah and Idaho. • Lived in Utah, Idaho, Missouri, and Texas. • Graduated with an Associate’s degree from Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. • Favorites: Free fudge samples, Italian food, and Latin ballroom dancing. • FYI: I’m the lucky one married to Wayne Hill. • Interesting tidbits: I have 7 sisters and dreams to own a convertible (the van has to go), visit Ireland and Scotland, and start and finish my scrapbooks (keep dreamin’). With 5 super kids, I’m a busy mom on life’s whirlwind of a rollercoaster. It’s been an amazing ride! 

22

INPRINT — November 2009


G e t t o K n o w . . . (cont.)

April Dansie • Born in Salt Lake City, Utah. • Lived in Salt Lake City. • Graduated with a BS in geography from the University of Utah. • Hobbies: reading, boating, waterskiing, air chairing, camping, hiking, biking, playing with her twin children, Seth and Sadie (who coincidentally were born in April). • Interesting tidbit: My husband thinks it’s funny I have a geography degree because I’m always lost.

Ryan Ha r r i s • Born in Provo, Utah. • Lived in Utah, Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. • Plans to graduate from Weber State University in 2010, earning a BS in English with a professional and technical writing minor. • I like to hang with the family, read, run, snowboard, and backpack. • Interesting tidbits: I am spearheading a movement to bring back the “pegged” pants fashion of the ‘80s. Those were so cool. I am also working on writing the great American technical manual. (Leave these “interesting tidbits” out; I made them both up. I am singularly uninteresting.) Too funny to leave out! Editor’s prerogative.

Shannan Perry • Born in Salt Lake City, Utah. • Lived in Kearns, Sandy, South Jordan, and Draper. • Was attending the University of Utah but recently transferred to Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) where I’ll soon be graduating with an Associate’s in graphic design. • Love movies, music, art, games, and costumemaking (I celebrate Halloween year-round). • I’ve worked for Azteca four years now and have loved every moment. I work with John, Ryan, and Wayne to print training documents and user manuals for all our valuable clients. I also do graphics, bind, ship, manage printers, and answer phones! My days never line up the same way twice. • In my spare time, I like to practice my art – I illustrate pro-bono for a couple of projects my friends started and do freelance on the side.

Holly Barney • Born in Colorado Springs but lived most of my youth bouncing between Holladay, Utah, and California. • Lived in Colorado, Utah, California, and Brazil. • Graduated from BYU: BS in political science with a secondary teaching certificate and minors in American history and ballet; MS in urban planning/geography. • Hobbies: grandchildren – Jacob (4 years), Stephanie (20 months) and Britain (6 weeks); sports, swimming, teaching water aerobics; reading, politics, speaking Portuguese and Spanish, reading Hebrew. • Interesting fact: I was the only daughter and first child of a dad who played football for the University of Utah so I am a sports freak. My teams are the BYU Cougars and the San Francisco 49er’s and Giants. GO COUGARS!

INPRINT — November 2009

23


Coon Rapids, MN (cont. from page 1) highlighted on the local cable television station. The complete remodel project can be viewed at http://www.ctnstudios.com/videopages/ ctnvideoradiantremodel.htm With these goals in mind, the Housing and Code Enforcement Departments wanted to gain a better understanding of the impact vacant and rental properties have on neighborhoods. Since the Public Works Departments experienced such great results with Cityworks, the City wanted to incorporate Cityworks into the Housing and Code Enforcement Departments as well. Service request and work order templates were created based on input received from Housing and Code Enforcement employees. Work orders are created on address points and tasks are used to track the progress of the property. There are three areas of focus: vacant properties, rental properties, and general upkeep. (See Figure 1) One major step in preserving the housing stock was to shut off the water to vacant properties. Prior to implementing this policy and using Cityworks, the City was unsure of the total number of vacant properties. However, the City was aware of 38 properties with severe water damage from frozen pipes that burst as Public Works on-call personnel had been called out on cold winter nights to shut off the water at the curb stop. Most often, these houses were found because water was coming out of the windows!

Now, when vacant houses are found, Public Works is notified to shut the water off at the curb stop. In some instances, if the realtor wants to keep the water on, a waiver must be signed. In either case, the work order is updated using tasks. At any time, Code Enforcement and Public Works can view the status of the property in question. Over this past winter with the new policy in place, the number of homes with burst pipes dropped from 38 to 22, 12 of which had not been identified as vacant and the remaining 10 were in various stages of water shutoff, like thawing ground to get to the curb stop, inoperable curb stop needing repair, etc. (See Figure 2) As for rental properties, custom fields are used to capture the owner’s contact information, agent’s contact information, and other information about the property, such as single family, townhome, etc. Tasks track when the rental application is received, whether the owner/agent attended the Crime-Free Training, when the rental renewal is due, the rental inspection, etc. Two officers in the Police Department use Cityworks to update work orders if police are called to the rental property. Using Crystal Reports, work orders with rental

Figure 2 - Burst Pipes

Figure 1 - Code Enforcement Flow Chart

Figure 3 - Inspection Form

24

Figure 4 - Neighborhood Map

INPRINT — November 2009


C o o n R a p i d s , M N ( c o n t .) renewals due in a specific month can be reviewed at a glance to verify all the information is entered. By exporting the work order search results, including the custom fields, the custom field information is merged into a Rental Renewal form in Microsoft Word. Work orders for general upkeep of buildings and yards are also created on address points. Some of the issues addressed are weeds/long grass, junk/debris, and structure maintenance. Progress of the property is also tracked using tasks. In addition, an Administrative Citation can be created using the Inspection tool on the work order. Administrative Citations are issued to those property owners who need a little encouragement to get their property back into compliance. The fines start at $300, then progress to $600 and $1000. The custom inspection template is selected by the fine amount. Questions and answers are

set up in a linear format where question = fine and answer = code violation. (See Figure 3) Each winter, the residents of Coon Rapids are invited to City Hall to learn about projects planned for the upcoming year and to ask questions of the City Manager and Council members. By using Cityworks and GIS, residents can see what Housing and Code Enforcement issues are being addressed in their specific neighborhood. (See Figure 4) Adapting Cityworks to fill the City’s unique needs is proving to be a cost-effective, innovative solution for Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Creative work order templates, tasks, custom fields, and custom inspections in Cityworks provide the City the information it needs in a format that can be easily retrieved, viewed, and shared. cw

St. Johns County, FL (cont. from page 2) Transitioning the Fleet Maintenance staff into using Cityworks was as important as keeping the implementation manageable. The office staff were already accustomed to using a work order system. However, the fleet mechanics moved from a paper work order to a computerized work order system. The layouts of the Cityworks work order forms were customized to simplify their use. Some work order fields were hidden and the fields with high importance were highlighted accordingly. This was all possible by creating a new Cityworks domain separate from the existing domain used by the other Public Works divisions. Ample time for training staff in small group settings and placing additional (refurbished) computers in the service areas were key components into transitioning the fleet maintenance staff.

from the previous application. The newly created reports present other valuable information from the Cityworks and GIS databases. Since the County currently contracts out less than 2% of its fleet maintenance work (saving the County both time and money), using their Cityworks ELA was an economic and feasible work management option for tracking this work and generating the applicable reports. In addition to using Standalone service requests and work orders, materials are tracked in Cityworks Storeroom. With this innovative Cityworks implementation into Fleet Maintenance, St. Johns County will continue to ensure effective and efficient fleet service. cw

Preparing all the necessary reports was another important phase of the Cityworks implementation. Reports were generated using Crystal Reports for billing, performance measures, quality control, and maintenance notifications. Along with tracking work order activities, fuel consumptions from a third-party database is also reported and tied into the vehicle repair reports. Some of these reports were reconfigured

Cityworks Anywhere - Edit Object Table

Inventory Editor for Equipment

INPRINT — November 2009

Using Standalone Access Work Order Types

25


Greenville, SC (cont. from page 1) The end result was basically a highmaintenance reporting system, instead of a work management system. Its primary use was to enter data after the fact in order to print out a report of what we had accomplished. Eventually, the lack of appreciated value and oversight to our data itself resulted in nearly 5000 open work orders being reported each month. Inefficient workflows yielded a significant backlog and bottleneck of data entry on one department’s expert user. Large volumes of predictably routine activities were entered each month with very little value and benefit to return from the system. We found ourselves working for the system rather than the system working for us. When we received notice from Stantec, our work management software vendor, that they were terminating the product and support, it was nearly three years before we could obtain replacement funding. When the time finally came to select a replacement system, our GIS division recognized a great opportunity to capitalize on the City’s investment in geospatial capabilities with a truly GIS-centric solution such as Cityworks. However, before we could move ahead with Cityworks, we were directed down a path with a local work management solution promising comparable GIS integration. After a significant implementation effort and expenditure of our resources, it became evident that the software could not meet our requirements and the project was terminated in the testing phase. When we finally moved to Cityworks as our new work management solution, we were in a position that required a creative approach for configuration and implementation since the majority of our budget had been expended on the local system. Working with Woolpert as our implementation vendor, we negotiated a limited scope of services for assistance with key aspects of development. Our approach was to implement using significant in-house staff resources, with the vendor serving as our technology coach.

Time Line

Utilizing our vendor for project planning assistance, technical onsite sessions were strategically spaced throughout our development cycle. This resulted in an effective approach with a limited amount of consulting costs. Most of the actual implementation costs were absorbed from within our organization by redirecting a full-time GIS staff position as the developer and system administrator, with part-time assistance from our IT Department’s Enterprise Applications Manager and our GIS Administrator for project management support. Our initial development schedule was planned in phases, with the first phase focused primarily on replacing the limited functionality of the previous system to expedite shutting it down as quickly as possible (at that point we were almost five years without technical support). This approach was possible due to the flexible nature of Cityworks, which has proven to be a real advantage. Because our users’ needs were already documented (one benefit of our efforts with the failed system) and future improvements to the system did not have to be determined upfront, our development team was able to get the new system in place in all areas within three months and the previous system offline within six months. In addition, some advanced improvements to our workflows were addressed during this phase where opportunities were present. Subsequent development phases continue to provide the occasions to revisit our departments and implement additional functionality even now that it is up and running. Some Lessons Learned Our in-house approach to development resulted in a number of important lessons learned during the process. #1 – Be aware of the potential magnitude of system growth. Within a local government setting, the importance of a work management system to the operations side of the organization is comparable to the use and importance of a financial system to the administrative side. Equally important to grasping the potential reach of the system is to “not get lost in the weeds” by trying to do everything for everyone all at once. Plan manageable growth with clear objectives and achieve success there before moving on to the next phase.

Using Cityworks in the Field

26

#2 – Recognize the need for a management-level champion. A critical aspect of implementing the system is dependent on managed change of work processes. Receiving support from the top level of the organization provides the ability to effectively introduce change in

INPRINT — November 2009


G r e e n v i l l e , S C ( c o n t .) how data is collected and maintained. Because our implementation was replacing an existing system and following on the heels of a previously failed effort, we did not kick off this project with a high level of excitement for what benefits the new system could offer our organization. When data collection and workflow changes became necessary at the division levels, some of our managers viewed this as something the GIS development team wanted them to do rather than taking ownership of the system themselves. A top-level champion helps develop the sense of purpose and ownership within the department and facilitates changes when needed to improve workflow and efficiency. #3 – Include a dedicated in-house system administrator position. Long after the initial go-live date, flexibility is key to making adjustments to the processes and system structure in the organization. We consider a dedicated system administrator an essential position within our organization. Providing the administrator training after implementation has started, rather than before, can also be a good approach since the material is more relevant after having some system exposure. The information learned can then be applied immediately following the training. We also found it useful for the system administrator to provide customized individual training to small work groups, which worked more effectively for us than outsourcing larger group training sessions. #4 – Develop proficiency in documenting workflows. Documenting the current process workflow is critical to successful configuration of the system to produce the data needed by each of the work units. With the ability to visualize how the information flows and how staff members interact, process diagrams help communicate the needs and effects of changing the workflow. Developing inhouse proficiency with workflow diagramming software like Visio was useful in creating pictures of processes (and, best of all, made the system administrator look really smart). These diagrams helped us create credibility and buy-in from our users when they could see how everything worked together.

#5 – Continue efforts to assure quality assurance and control. There is a temptation to quickly develop and implement a system and then move on to other areas. Ongoing monitoring of the data is a critical element to assuring a successful system. Regular meetings with the end users pay dividends as data status is reviewed (open service requests and work orders) along with the effectiveness of the new workflows and processes. This feedback enables clarifications of the processes and adjustments can be made even after going Construction Inspector Using Cityworks live. If at all possible, develop and support an internal watchdog position within the work group. We suggest someone who is in the mix and understands how the process is supposed to work so that they will be able to proactively intervene if workflows break down. This person should also be responsible for running and reviewing routine reports to keep up with data and process quality. Our experience in Greenville with the Cityworks work management system has resulted in immediate improvements to our internal workflows and subsequently in the City’s overall effectiveness at maintaining and reporting on our assets. Its flexible nature allows future expansion to effectively manage a wide range of operational activities as well as improved access to information critical to Greenville’s future development and growth. Cityworks continues to prove itself to be the right choice for the City of Greenville. cw

Congratulations to the

Cucamonga Valley Water District, CA

Douglas County GIS, NE

INPRINT — November 2009

2009 ESRI Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award Winners!

City of Oakland, CA

Salt Lake City GIS, UT

City of Kitchener, ON, Canada

27


Azteca Systems,Inc. | 801.523.2751 | www.cityworks.com

A Z T E C A S Y S T E M S, I N C.

11075 South State, #24 Sandy, UT 84070

If you have received this newsletter in error, please call 801-523-2751 or email kryser@cityworks.com.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.