InPrint Summer 2005

InPrint Delivering Innovative GIS-Centric Maintenance Management Tools for Your Organization

Vol. 4, Issue 2, Summer 2005

Cityworks User Spotlight

Feature Article

Citrus Heights California

Recently, Woolpert Vice President John Przybyla wrote an article for Underground Information Management (UIM) magazine about NAGCS and its GIS-centric goals as well as other recent developments within the GIS industry. The article was published in UIM’s March/April 2005 edition, page 48, is reprinted here with permission. Copyright © 2005, Benjamin Media Inc.

By Jeff Ott, Westin Engineering

Located a short distance northeast of Sacramento California, Citrus Heights is among a collection of suburban cities in the rolling foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Over the years, the transcontinental railroad and the Lincoln Highway brought wave after wave of settlers into the area.

Historically agricultural, the area has given way to the state capitol’s growing urban corridor. Today, the Citrus Heights Water District serves businesses and more than 89,000 residents who call the area home.

Situation In 2002, Citrus Height Water District (CHWD) began a project aimed at exploring technology to improve efficiency throughout their operation.

Though the project included all business systems, the plan focused on asset and maintenance management processes.

Vision With the guidance of Westin Engineering, the Citrus Heights Water District envisioned a utilitycentric solution that would be fully Cont. page 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

2

President’s Corner

3

Woolpert Partner News

Getting Software to Talk to One Another?

Etiquette for Data Management?

Good News: GIS and Its Siblings Finally Grow Up

By John M. Przybyla, PE, GISP

“They won’t talk to one another.

They can’t relate. They don’t know how to relate.”

This could have been my wife saying this to me about our four kids – two of whom are teenagers.

Do you, as an underground infrastructure manager, get similar comments from your employees about your data management systems? Have you ever felt like an exasperated parent fielding a fight among teen siblings?

A silly simile?

Consider the similarities: You’ve got a geographic information system (GIS) and related systems in place, but they’re built on different software platforms – the applications can’t “talk” to one another. They lack basic standards for “relating” for true interoperability.

8

2005 User Conference

10

Regional News

I feel your pain.

It’s about to get better, because GIS and its “siblings” such as computerized maintenance management systems (CMMSs) are about to grow up.

Born about 20 years ago, GISs and related data management applications were custom – and costly. To grow and thrive, they required great care from a small army of nurturing programmers.

Cont. page 13

11 12 16

Project Management Update

Client Services Update

Training Schedule

.........................................................................................................................................................................

INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

PAGE ONE

InPrint Editor in Chief: Tom Palizzi Editor: Kaye Ryser Graphic Designer: Kylir Horton Advertising: Tom Palizzi Azteca Systems, Inc. 11075 South State Street, Suite 24 Sandy, UT 84070 801-523-2751 www.azteca.com To receive a subscription or to change your address, please send your contact information to: inprint@azteca.com or call 801523-2751.

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@azteca.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 publics works organizations.

Copyright © Azteca Systems, Inc. 2004 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, Cityworks, CityworksFM and the Cityworks and CityworksFM logos are registered trademarks of Azteca Systems, Inc.; and www.mycityworks.com, www.gocityworks.com, @azteca.com and www.azteca.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.

PAGE TWO

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

By Brian Haslam, President

For this issue of Cityworks InPrint, our feature article is written

by John Przybyla, PE, GISP, Woolpert LLP. “Good News: GIS and Its Siblings Finally Grow Up” provides an excellent overview of issues and solutions for integration, including NAGCS. The role of the National Association of GIS-Centric Software (NAGCS) is to distinguish the unique characteristics and capabilities of GIS-based solutions and GIS data in business applications. This group of ESRI-authorized developers is dedicated to furthering the development of GIS-centric software for all industries, encouraging the use of GIS-based enterprise systems, and distinguishing the benefits of GIS-centric capabilities. Currently, John Przybyla performs the certification test for any system that desires to become NAGCS-certified. Cityworks and other products have passed the certification test. For more information on NAGCS, visit www.nagcs.org.

This issue’s Cityworks User Spotlight is about the Cityworks implantation at Citrus Heights, CA. Last summer at the ESRI User Conference, Jeff Ott showed me from his laptop the Cityworks implementation at Citrus Heights. Early in May, I visited Citrus Heights and saw firsthand how Cityworks has been deployed. I always enjoy seeing actual users logging service requests and managing the responses. Westin developed a real-time interface to the Cogsdale system to access customer account information. Learn more about the Cityworks Citrus Heights implementation by attending the Citrus Heights user workshop at the Cityworks User Conference.

For each Cityworks Inprint, we highlight work performed by an Authorized Business Partner. Because we chose to have John’s NAGCS article as our feature article, we thought it would be appropriate to highlight Woolpert’s work with Cityworks in Grand Rapids, Fort Collins, Waterford, Horry County, and Newport News. Each of these will be presented in more detail during user workshops at the Cityworks User Conference.

Turn to page 9 to see the Cityworks User Conference workshop schedule. This year we have a tremendous group of user workshops. In addition to those listed above, workshops will be presented by Richmond VA, Hamilton OH, Douglas County IL, Essex County ON CN, Concord NC, Oklahoma City OK, Ann Arbor MI, Sacramento CA, El Paso TX, Waterford MI, White House TN, and Philadelphia PA. Wow! The Cityworks User Conference is a fantastic opportunity to learn from each other. In addition to user workshops, the Azteca Systems staff will be presenting many useful workshops to help you fully leverage the capabilities of Cityworks.

I hope you can take time to read the Project Management Update on page 11, “City of Durham Plugs Cityworks into the Matrix.” Durham has a robust and complex implementation of Cityworks that we can all learn from. And, don’t overlook the Client Services Update on page 12, “What’s going on in Customer Service.” Azteca is putting a lot of resources into improving customer service.

More and more web and on-line resources are available to provide assistance.

Lastly, we have consolidated our regions. Check out page 10 for the update.

So … there is a lot of Cityworks stuff happening. We can learn from and help each other. If you are not registered for the Cityworks User Conference, there is still time! I promise you that it’s a very worthwhile event and time well spent. For more information, go to www.azteca.com/uc2005. Hope to see you in Park City, June 27-29.

INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

PARTNER NEWS

Partner Directory Strategic Partners • • • • • • • • • • •

CompassCom DHI Earth Touch Solutions ESRI Canada Laurel Hill Miner & Miner Motorola MWH Soft NovaLIS Technology Route Smart Tadpole Cartesia

Authorized Business Partners • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Arcadis G&M Inc. ATS-Chester Engineers Bowne Management Systems CDM Civil Solutions Cobra Technologies Coulter Mapping Solutions Digital Safetynet EFM Group EMH&T Geographic Technologies Group (GTG) InfoCode Corporation IT Nexus Jones, Edmunds and Associates Mactech Corporation Metric Engineering Municipal Information Systems North Arrow Technologies NTB Associates OHM, Inc. OneGIS PBS&J, Inc. Psomas Schneider Corporation Short Elliott Hendrickson Sunrise Engineering Tetra Tech Timmons Group US Infrastructure Varion Systems Velocitie Integration, Inc. Vanasse, Hangen, Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) VESTRA Resources, Inc. Wade Trim Associates Westin Engineering Weston Solutions Woolpert

INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

Woolpert, Inc. is a civil engineering and GIS/IT consulting firm headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, with offices throughout the United States. Since 1911, Woolpert has provided public- and privatesector clients with comprehensive, multidisciplinary resources and technological expertise resulting in innovative solutions.

Woolpert, Inc. Offices throughout the United States Contact: info@woolpert.com or 800.414.1045 www. woolpert.com

Woolpert-Azteca Profiles City of Grand Rapids, Michigan

By Steve Phipps, Woolpert, Inc., Dayton, Ohio

 Developing asset management for a city serving beyond its borders  Taking GIS directly to citizens The City of Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan and serves a population of approximately 200,000 with a municipal area of 46 square miles. As the major city on the west side of the state, Grand Rapids is also a regional provider of water, wastewater, and stormwater services for a number of municipalities in Kent County and nearby Ottawa County, serving a total population of about 280,000 and covering 137 square miles of service area.

The city asked Woolpert, Inc. to help employees better manage and maintain city assets – specifically by helping to more effectively map the applicable infrastructure and to analyze the existing GIS as it related to asset preservation, renewal, and replacement.

Woolpert met the city’s request by planning and implementing a comprehensive computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) using Azteca Systems’ Cityworks. Cityworks is the only GIS-centric asset and maintenance management system

available. Created and coupled with Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI’s) GIS software, Cityworks leverages the GIS investment without costly duplication of effort or data.

The resulting CMMS-integrated Grand Rapids’ Water Systems, Environmental Protection (wastewater and stormwater), and the Streets and Sanitation department.

Planning, implementation, and configuration. Woolpert evaluated the city’s existing systems, databases, GIS datasets, and IT infrastructure. Then Woolpert worked with city staff to install and implement Cityworks software.

Woolpert recommended and implemented modifications Cont. page 7 PAGE THREE

PARTNER NEWS - Woolpert-Azteca Profiles (Cont.)

City of Fort Collins, Colorado

By Bryan Dickerson, Woolpert, Inc., Denver, Colorado

 Integrating Cityworks with PeopleSoft The City of Fort Collins, Colorado, located 50 miles north of Denver, covers approximately 50-plus square miles and is home to more than 127,000 residents in the Rocky Mountain Front Range. The city’s Department of Transportation, comprised of streets and traffic operations, is responsible for maintaining more than 160 traffic signals, 20,000plus signs, and 800-plus lane miles of roads in and around the city. Typical daily maintenance activities include street sweeping, snowplowing, road paving and grading, pavement marking, and signage and signal maintenance.

Prompted by requirements to begin inventorying and tracking the maintenance of its infrastructure assets, the city, a long-time ESRI user, selected Azteca Systems’ Cityworks for asset management. With an additional requirement that the selected system must also

configuration of the Cityworks product, including problem code definition, work order template design and configuration, and materials and equipment hierarchy definition and integration. Numerous custom reports were also developed for the department.

The final phase involved integrating the city’s enterprise resource planning and financial system, PeopleSoft, with Cityworks. PeopleSoft is the primary repository for citywide employee data such as human resources information, payroll and timesheet data, and citywide inventory of capital assets. The first task involved developing a methodology for regularly updating employee information within Cityworks from information maintained in PeopleSoft. Employee information, such as hourly pay rates, is updated each night from PeopleSoft through a Woolpert-developed Windows Service created in Microsoft.NET. The second task was eliminating the manual creation of employee timesheets within the department.

To accomplish this, the city selected an innovative approach within Cityworks for tracking all employee time – not just the time spent on maintenance activities. Work orders are created for shop, vacation, sick, and administrative time as well as for maintenance activities, such as snow plowing and sign repair. At the end of each biweekly pay period, a Woolpert-developed Windows Service automatically generates an electronic timesheet submittal for PeopleSoft and reports any anomalies (i.e., employees with less than 40 hours per week) to accounting staff within the department. By automating this process, the city has saved substantial time each week in generating and validating timesheet data. Future interfaces between the two systems are planned for warehouse inventory of signage and signal materials as well as requisitions and purchase order generation.

City of Fort Collins, Colorado Website: www.fcgov.com

successfully integrate with the city’s existing PeopleSoft financial management and enterprise resource planning system, the city selected Woolpert to implement Cityworks and to perform the integration between Cityworks and PeopleSoft.

Woolpert began the project by assisting the city with an enterprise geodatabase design to support streets and traffic infrastructure assets. The design accounted for all aspects of the complex hierarchy of the city’s infrastructure. Each asset was accounted for in the design, and then city staff performed a field inventory to populate the enterprise geodatabase.

Woolpert then assisted the city with design and PAGE FOUR

Don’t forget to register online at:

www.azteca.com INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

PARTNER NEWS - Woolpert-Azteca Profiles (Cont.)

Horry County, South Carolina

By Jim Kiles, Woolpert, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina

 Providing seamless integration with an existing GIS  Going beyond borders to develop a regional call center Horry County and Woolpert are working together to implement Azteca Systems’ Cityworks CMMS for the county’s Street Maintenance, Parks and Recreation, and Stormwater divisions and to integrate the software with the county’s existing GIS. The Woolpert team worked closely with Horry County’s IT/GIS Department to install the Cityworks software and demonstration data, including Cityworks’ Call Center, Desktop, and Storeroom products. This allowed the county to understand the installation process; to evaluate and learn the software functionality; to review data requirements and usage; and to identify potential customizations. Woolpert demonstrated Cityworks products using sample data from Azteca Systems. The demonstration gave the IT/GIS Department’s core implementation team an opportunity to review and understand the software, any potential impacts and changes in daily business processes, and the purpose of adopting the toolsets.

Woolpert also worked with Horry County to create the county’s enterprise geodatabase models for the Wastewater and Street Maintenance divisions. The implementation team continues to evaluate the models and to work with county staff to make recommended enhancement modifications in ESRI ArcCatalog and Microsoft Visio as the system grows and additional departments are brought on board, including having the IT/GIS Department process work orders through Cityworks for network, personal computer, and mappingrelated issues.

When the Horry County IT/GIS Department significantly upgraded the hardware to facilitate the enterprise use of GIS, Woolpert provided extensive SDE and SQL implementation and conversion training to prepare county team members before the county upgraded all related GIS hardware in the department. This training included setting up the SQL database and SDE as well as migrating existing data over to the new servers and then training the IT/GIS staff on database tuning and maintenance techniques to keep the system running at optimal performance.

The county is reaching beyond its own departments to provide support, data, and even fiber connectivity to municipalities within its borders. To realize the goal of true integration, Woolpert and Horry County are working

INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

with the South Carolina cities of Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Conway to create an integrated Call Center system that will allow citizens and visitors to call just one number to submit a work request regardless of jurisdiction, thereby saving a lot of time and frustration, and making the interaction between government and the public easier and more effective.

Horry County, South Carolina Website: www.horrycounty.org

Newport News, Virginia

By Ron Butcher, Woolpert, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina

 Migrating from a legacy system to GIS-based asset management  Meeting GASB Statement 34 and other requirements Customization of Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34 interfaces and a series of custom reports were components of a huge GIS-based asset management system project for the City of Newport News’ Public Works Department.

The department replaced its existing legacy command-line infrastructure management system with the new GISbased asset management system. Also, the department generated new ESRI ArcGIS geodatabases and interfaced its GIS with existing customer accounting, human resources, purchasing, and pavement management systems to create an enterprise infrastructure management system.

The City of Newport News selected Woolpert and Azteca Systems for this geodatabase design, data migration, and CMMS and mainframe integration project, which included a phased implementation of stormwater, wastewater, and streets (pavement) operations in conjunction with system interfaces.

The initial effort included conducting a series of strategic workshops to address overall system functionality, geodatabase maintenance, and operational and comprehensive software system requirements for the Cityworks application, as well as developing interfaces for integrating the existing customer accounting system, human resources, purchasing, and pavement management systems with Cityworks.

A subsequent effort involved installing and testing the Cont. page 6 PAGE FIVE

PARTNER NEWS - Woolpert-Azteca Profiles (Cont.)

Newport News (Cont. from page 5)

asset management system and associated geodatabases.

Simultaneously, the Cityworks database configuration and system functionality were designed to accommodate the functional, business, and end-user requirements.

•

As part of a Phase 2 implementation, Woolpert addressed call center and field data collection requirements.

City of Newport News, Virginia, Website: www.ci.newport-news.va.us

Charter Township of Waterford, Michigan

By John Przybyla, PE, GISP, Woolpert, Inc., Dayton, Ohio

 Pioneering asset management  Building a data warehouse  Going enterprise-wide Waterford Township, a growing and affluent area on Michigan’s east side, has long been a pioneer in CMMS technologies. In 1996, the township contracted with Woolpert to provide GIS planning and implementation services. Woolpert has since worked with Waterford Township over these years to plan, develop, and deploy an enterprise GIS. The work has included the following components:

•

software with existing applications.

Data warehouse development (1998-2000).

Woolpert created a data warehouse that integrated data from the township’s permit system, assessor’s system, and fire reporting system into an enterprise data warehouse, which was then integrated with the GIS. Woolpert also developed an Internet/intranet GIS application for internal township use and for public access.

ESRI ArcGIS and ArcSDE 8.3 implementation, geodatabase design, and Cityworks upgrade (2003-2004). Woolpert provided GIS consulting services and training to Waterford Township for the implementation and successful use of ESRI’s ArcGIS Desktop and ArcSDE for Oracle 8.3 software.

Consultation was also provided for the design of water and sewer geodatabase models using Microsoft Visio, upgrading Cityworks software from Version 3.7 to Version 4.2, migrating coverage and shapefile data into the geodatabase, and writing SQL scripts to resynchronize the data relationships between Cityworks and the geodatabase.

In 2005, Waterford Township plans to continue to work with Woolpert in upgrading to Azteca Systems’ ArcGIS server-based product and to implement additional GIS integration tools.

Charter Township of Waterford, Michigan Website: www.twp.waterford.mi.us

Welcome New Cityworks Users! 

• • • • •

Existing conditions, needs assessment, and implementation plan (1996) Network design (1997) Digital orthophoto basemap development (1997) GIS pilot project (1997) Cityworks implementation. Woolpert assisted the township in deploying the first Azteca Systems Cityworks (then known as Pipeworks) implementation in Michigan. Woolpert helped Waterford work through a number of initial issues in integrating the Pipeworks

PAGE SIX

             

Frederick County Sanitation Authority, VA New Albany, OH Ingersoll, ON, Canada BC Transit, BC, Canada AUI, LLC, TN Lee’s Summit, MO Allegheny County, PA Baltimore Sewer, MD Horry County, SC Denton, TX St. George, UT Butler, IN Easley Combined Utilities, SC Denver Wastewater, CO Flower Mound, TX INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

Citrus Heights (Cont from page 1)

integrated, allowing staff the ability to easily access data in the office and in the field.

unique GIS-centric design and open architecture. Both supported the master plan’s criteria.

Solution

The master plan also included a customer information system (CIS), finance and human resources system (FIS), electronic document management system, and operations reporting system implementation.

CHWD contracted with Westin to develop a Technology Improvements Master Plan offering a road map that

would be aligned with the guiding principles of the District’s technology vision and business priorities.

The plan includes the necessary resources and expenditures that would be required over a five-year deployment period. A series of projects were undertaken to discover, acquire, or develop supporting organizational and productivity improvements. The District selected Cityworks as their maintenance management solution because its

The implementation for Phase 1 systems was completed over a 16-month period, beginning with business process reviews, design and development, and deployment of GIS-centric enterprise solutions. The implementation process included GIS data conversion and data integration with other applications. Westin also developed several custom applications including a facilities map book, a customized editing package, and cellular-based mobile access to all of the GIS and maintenance data.

Result Citrus Heights Water District has completed software implementation,

integration, startup, and training.

Benefits of the integrated system include improved response times, streamlined maintenance, automated processing, and more sophisticated analyses. In general, the new system has enabled substantial business improvements including a migration to detailed, metered billing rather than flat rate, and other improvements, all establishing the foundation for CHWD to better manage its business and facilities in the future.

Statistics Partner: Westin Engineering Platform: Cityworks version 4.2 – Site license Cityworks Storeroom and Wireless ESRI’s ArcGIS 8.3 Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Great Plains Software (FIS) Cogsdale CSM (CIS) Crystal Decisions Network: LAN & WAN, includes all facilities.

Users: 20 Installation: April 2004

Westin

Westin Engineering 11150 International Dr Suite 200 Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 (916) 852-2121 www.we-inc.com

Grand Rapids (Cont from page 3)

to the existing database tables for each department and worked with city staff to prepare the GIS data for use within the new CMMS environment. Once the system was up and running, Woolpert performed software testing by creating workorder scenarios in each department.

These simulated scenarios checked the workflow and the materials used in each process and ensured that procedures were in place to support field reports and office activities.

Application integration for citizen access. Another effort was to review an existing application

INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

called Public Inquiry – a Web-based application served up to the public via ESRI’s ArcIMS – and to integrate this solution and the data transfers with Cityworks. The enhanced application provides security for three different internal user groups, accepts public submissions from Internet users, stores those submissions, provides notifications, logs transactions, converts submission data into service requests, and provides notification for action events.

City GIS Manager, Paul Klimas, stated that the Public Inquiry

application has ushered in a new era of citizen-centered government. “Citizens have used Public Inquiry for simple requests, such as reporting potholes, and for comprehensive ones, such as using the application as a tool to improve entire neighborhoods. We’ve found that the technology is helping citizens to take ownership not only in their communities but also in the actual process of government,” Klimas said.

City of Grand Rapids, Michigan Website: www.grand-rapids.mi.us

PAGE SEVEN

Cityworks Roundup 2005 User Conference!

June 27 - 29, 2005 Park City, Utah

Register online at www.azteca.com

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PAGE EIGHT

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INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

2005 Workshop Schedule (Subject to Change) Monday - June 27

Tuesday - June 28

Wednesday - June 29

8:00 - 8:50 am • Introduction to Designer • Service Requests • Cityworks Toolkit • Call Center • Case Study: Douglas County Roads, Omaha, NE 9:00 - 9:50 am • Advanced Designer • Work Orders • Storeroom • Extending Enterprise GIS to the Field: Tadpole Technology Group • Integrating Maintenance Management with your ERP/Billing System: A Case Study of the City of Fort Collins, CO

10:00 am Morning Break

10:00 am Morning Break

10:00 am Morning Break

10:30 am - Plenary Session (Cont.)

Technology Review cont.

11:00 am Implementation Overview - George Mastakas

10:10 - 11:00 am • Meeting Regulatory Requirements for Water and Wastewater • Cityworks 101 • Mobile Solutions • Interfacing with Cityworks • Case Study: Horry County, SC Enterprise GIS and the Importance of GIS-Centric Software Applications 11:10 - 12:00 pm • Managing NPDES with Cityworks • Cityworks Interoperability Suite • Reporting • Tests & Inspections • Case Study: Essex County, Ontario, Canada

10:10 - 11:00 am • Cityworks 101 • Cityworks 4.3 • Cityworks Interoperability Suite • Harfan Infrastructure Planning • Case Study: Waterford Township, MI 11:10 - 12:00 pm • Cityworks Server • Mobile Solutions • Cityworks: Behind the Scenes • Reporting • Case Study: White House Utilities, TN

12:00 – 1:00 pm Boxed Lunch

12:00 – 1:00 pm Boxed Lunch

1:00 - 1:50 pm • Cityworks 4.3 • Cityworks 101 • Meeting Regulatory Requirements for Water & Wastewater • How to Effectively Select and Implement Maintenance Management Systems: A Case Study of the City of Topeka • Case Study: City of Richmond, VA - A Comprehensive Transportation Model & Linear Reference System for Use with Cityworks 2:00 - 2:50 pm • Reporting • Cityworks: Behind the Scenes • Managing NPDES with Cityworks • Migrating to the Geodatabase • Case Study: City of Hamilton, OH

1:00 - 1:50 pm • Cityworks Server • Cityworks 4.3 • Migrating to the Geodatabase • Customizing the GUI & Output • Case Study: Concord, NC 2:00 - 2:50 pm • Cityworks: Behind the Scenes • Introduction to Asset Data Models • Interfacing with Cityworks • Moving in the 21st Century Technology at Warp Speed: Citrus Heights, CA 3:10 - 4:00 pm • Introduction to Designer • Service Request • Advanced Asset Data Models • Storeroom • Case Study: Oklahoma City, OK 4:10 - 5:00 pm • Advanced Designer • Work Order • Cityworks Toolkit • Call Center • Case Study: Ann Arbor, MI

3:00 – 6:00 pm Exhibit Hall Open House 6:00 pm Vendor Fair & Chuck Wagon Social

6:00 pm Social Hour 7:00 pm Wild West Fest – Dinner and Entertainment

Exhibit Hall Open

8:00 – 8:50 am • Meeting Regulatory Requirements for Water & Wastewater • Introduction to Designer • Service Requests • Case Study: City of Sacramento, CA Cityworks Implementation Documented • Case Study: Newport News, VA - A Year in Review 9:00 - 9:50 am • Managing NPDES with Cityworks • Advanced Designer • Work Orders • Tests & Inspections • Case Study: El Paso, TX

12:00 – 1:00 pm Boxed Lunch - User Feedback Session 1:00 - 1:50 pm • Migrating to Geodatabase • Interfacing with Cityworks • Cityworks Toolkit • Customizing the GUI & Output • Case Study: Philadephia Storey

Exhibit Hall Open

INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

Exhibit Hall Open

8:30 am - Plenary Session Welcome - Tom Palizzi 8:45 am Report to Users - Brian Haslam 9:30 am Technology Review - Carl Horton

PAGE NINE

REGIONAL NEWS Marketing & Sales Director Tom Palizzi

AZTECA SALES REGIONS - 2005

303-467-2738 tpalizzi@azteca.com

We made some slight changes in our regional territories recently. As you can see on the map above, David Horton added the western half of the Rocky Mountain states to his region while Brent Wilson picked up the eastern half. This allows me more time to focus on marketing challenges, strategic alliances, and international opportunities. We’ve added a number of new Authorized Business and Strategic Partners.

On the international beat, we’ve been discovered by several of ESRI’s international distributors. As a result, we’ve established relationships with ESRI Israel (Systematics), ESRI Sweden (MELDIS), ESRI China - Hong Kong, and ESRI Australia. By working with ESRI’s International Distribution channel we can safely and carefully react to Cityworks opportunities around the world. Though exciting, our primary focus remains on the United States. Working with ESRI and other partners, we’ve also begun to introduce Cityworks to other industry sectors including agriculture, oil, natural gas, and electric markets. Being data model independent, Cityworks is as scalable as ArcView across industries.

Central Region Brent Wilson

214-507-0579 bwilson@azteca.com

The Central Region is expanding with new clients and established clients. Azteca is participating in many conferences this year and I hope to see you all there.

What’s happening in the Central Region…?

•Hot Springs, AR has been expanding Cityworks into all of their Public Works Departments.

•Oklahoma City, OK is almost PAGE TEN

Southbend Northeast



Salt Lake City Western



finished implementing the Public Works Department and are about to start implementing the Parks Department.

So the city currently uses Cityworks in the Water, Sewer, Airport, and Public Works Departments.

•LBJMUD, TX has completed the implementation which was done by PBS&J. •Lees Summit, MO has selected and is implementing Cityworks citywide using Varion Systems.

•Cityworks was selected by South Sioux City, NE. Implementation will start soon.

•Denham Springs, LA has selected NTB and Associates to implement Cityworks.

The plan is to still have at least two User Groups for the region, one in the South and one in the North. If anyone is interested in hosting a meeting, please contact me.

Northeast Region

Becky Tamashasky 574-231-8029 btamashasky@azteca. com

The Northeast Region is glad to announce that winter is finally over! Hopefully everyone will be able to make it to the Cityworks User Conference in Park City to enjoy the great weather and informative sessions.

I’d like to give a big welcome to our

Dallas Central

Augusta Southeast

newest regional clients: •Town of Butler, IN •City of Kentwood, MI •Village of New Albany, OH •Frederick County Sanitation Authority, VA Please mark your calendars and remember to check out Cityworks at the following events: •September 15th – Seminar with ESRI-Philadelphia in New Brunswick, NJ •September 18th to 21st – NE ARC in Portland, ME •October 5th to 7th – MWAUG in Bloomington, IN

Pacific Region David Horton

801-523-2751 dhorton@azteca.com

It has been a busy quarter in the Western Region. I ‘ve been fortunate to visit several client sites and meet many of you to observe your operations for the first time. I hope to meet many more of you at our annual Cityworks User Conference in June. I look forward to attending the many user spotlight presentations to see how Cityworks is being utilized in the region and throughout the country.

I’d like to add a special welcome to our newest Western regional client, St. George, UT.

INPRINT / SUMMER 2005

REGIONAL NEWS (continued) Mark your calendars and drop by and visit us at the following events to catch up and see what’s new in Cityworks: •June 12th to 15th AWWA show San Francisco, CA •July 25th to 29th – ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, CA

Southeast Region Jen Hernandez 706-364-8812 jhernandez@azteca.com

I would like to thank all who attended the user’s group meeting in Gainesville, FL. It was great to see everyone there and have a day to talk about what we can and are accomplishing with Cityworks. A big “Thank You” to Gainesville Regional Utilities for hosting the meeting and to ESRI, Timmons, OneGIS, TransMap, JEA, and Woolpert for participating.

Project Management Update City of Durham Plugs Cityworks into the Matrix...

LEICA MobileMatriX that is!

By George Mastakas, Project Management Director, Azteca Systems, Inc.

The City of Durham, North Carolina, was one of the first to rollout Cityworks with ArcGIS, making the conversion to a geodatabase. Durham’s Cityworks installation supports 110 users in the following departments: Public Works (including Stormwater, Street Maintenance, and Traffic); Department of Water Management (including water and wastewater maintenance as well as their storeroom and customer billing services); and Solid Waste, Housing, and the Durham CrimeStoppers program. In the very capable hands of David Cates, P.E., GISP and Terri Birth, GISP, Cityworks has become a great success throughout and, as a result, Durham is ready to undergo another expansion—the rollout of Cityworks in the field.

Cityworks Desktop is packaged with a field application called DataPump.

DataPump is a checkout system for Cityworks Desktop which saves service requests and/or work orders and related inspections to an Access database on a PC notebook for field access and updating. Checked-out items can still be viewed by any Cityworks user but can only be updated by the user who has checked them out. The central database is updated at check-in. This allows field maintenance staff to process work orders and service requests utilizing a tablet PC in Durham’s case, Fujitsu ST5021.

Cont. page 16

Be sure to mark your calendars for the next user group meeting tentatively planned for October 2005.

If you are interested in hosting a user’s group meeting in your area, please let me know.

Please join me in welcoming Easley Combined Utilities, TN – the newest Cityworks client in the Southeast region. Whitehouse Utilities in TN has expanded their use of Cityworks with Storeroom. They are currently utilizing our remote web implementation to get Storeroom up and running. Gainesville Regional Utilities in FL and Nashville, TN Public Works have also expanded their install base.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Cityworks User Conference in Park City, UT! Anyone interested in advertising or contributing to this publication, please contact: Tom Palizzi (801-523-2751)

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PAGE ELEVEN

Client Services Update What’s going on in Customer Service?

by Wayne Hill, Director of Client Services

We’re excited about the new ways we are improving customer service at Azteca. Our newest focus is on our knowledgebase, the new web support services (GoToMeeting), and interactive web training.

Knowledgebase As part of our support services, Azteca has implemented a knowledgebase-tracking system on MyCityworks.com. The true benefit of the knowledgebase is that it allows the end users to see vital software information for help in troubleshooting issues and overall general questions about Cityworks.

GoToMeeting With the purchase of GoToMeeting, Azteca’s support team has dramatically expedited problem resolutions. Now instead of talking on the phone and asking the end user to try this and try that, or having clients email copies of their database, Azteca can use

GoToMeeting and see the client’s PC from their own desktop. This technology gives our support team the advantage of viewing exactly what issue(s) the client is having and even the capability to control the client’s PC if needed.

Interactive Web Training Interactive web training gives you the best of both worlds when it comes to training. Have you ever needed some training but didn’t have the time to travel to another location to get it? I know I’ve been in this situation many times. So what do you do? How about taking an interactive web-training course?

You don’t have to travel anywhere, yet you get the expertise of “live” – interactive communication with one of our professionally trained teachers. Now this isn’t a video recorded training seminar. This is “live” training. Check out all of the details on MyCityworks.com on the training page.

Courses include: #2001 – Cityworks Database Implementation Oracle #2002 – Cityworks Database Implementation - SQL Server #2007 – Cityworks Designer Implementation Part I #2008 – Cityworks Designer Implementation Part II #2009 – Introduction to Cityworks for ArcGIS Part I #2010 – Introduction to Cityworks for ArcGIS Part II #2011 – Introduction to Cityworks for ArcView 3x Part I #2012 – Introduction to Cityworks for ArcView 3x Part II #2013 – Cityworks Reporting with Crystal Reports #2014 – Configuring and Running Call Center

Sample Knowledge Base article from “My Cityworks.Com” PAGE TWELVE

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Feature Article (cont. from page 1) (“It took a village to raise a GIS.”) Still, having data at one’s fingertips via computer was better than the alternative: maps and record drawings and other key data stuffed into drawers, desks, and filing cabinets.

Enter the “teen” years when GIS and related products evolved into powerful, commercial off-theshelf (COTS) software that didn’t require a lot of customization (so, saved money) but decreased interoperability between systems, and, by extension, among departments (sadly, reduced efficiency). Sure, you could easily get data on, say, the size and material of pipe segment. But forget trying to instantly get customer information on that pipe. Nope – that information resided on a completely different system using completely different software.

Underground infrastructure managers found themselves trudging down to billing or other departments to pull the data they needed – kind of like the “file cabinet days” with an ironic twist.

We’ve been stuck in these “teen years” since the early 1990s, but now, GIS and its siblings are on the verge of maturity.

• GIS-Centric Integration – Emerging national GIS software standards will foster increased interoperability among GIS-related software products. Call it “etiquette for infrastructure management.”

Dare we say it’s like the Emily Post of GIS? We do know this: It will make software products “behave” better, get along better. Yes, please!

• “Translator” Software – Software is now available that plugs into a slew of COTS data management software and acts as a go-between. It helps GIS and non-GIS software from completely different developers/companies talk to one another, relate with each other – kind of like a good family therapist.

• Data Warehousing – And finally, there are best practices in data warehousing. Think of a data

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warehouse as the place in which you can store everything and immediately be able to find it – just like a very tidy room in your house where Mom or Dad has laid down the law. It is a peaceful place, a sanctuary for all.

So, whether your operation has been using a data management system for many years, is on the verge of a next-generation upgrade, or is relatively new to the concept and its benefits, read on for a brief primer and how these latest developments and best practices can help you.

Through the Generations…

Like all large organizations, utilities historically were organized by work functions, with each department storing and maintaining the information required to perform its work. Utility functions to this day include everything from creating the initial permit applications and performing engineering design to installing infrastructure, updating record drawings, and billing customers.

Recently added responsibilities include dealing with stepped-up enforcement of water and sanitary sewer regulations in the form of fines, consent decrees, even jail time, for failure to comply.

Also, almost all stormwater utilities must now meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulations. Lest anyone forget, CMOM (Capacity, Maintenance, Operations, and Management) – a rule proposed by the U.S. EPA in 1999 but currently not promulgated – will likely come to fruition in the coming years to further curtail sanitary sewer overflows. And more than 80,000 public agencies nationwide, utilities included, must adhere to Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34 requirements. Approved by the federal government in June 1999, GASB Statement 34 requires public agencies to report all capital assets, including infrastructure, and also to provide a total net depreciated value

of assets.

Data to perform all of these functions and deal with all of these responsibilities typically is maintained in separate databases using various kinds of COTS software.

The result is utility features often stored in multiple places, including: • GIS • CMMS • Fixed asset accounting system • Billing/customer information system (CIS) • Hydraulic modeling software system • Sewer televising system • Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system • Project management system • Permitting system Every time a utility system feature is added, deleted, or changed, the data may need to be updated in each one of these databases.

Because of the inherent problems in maintaining these systems, utilities face: • Excessive costs to maintain multiple databases • Inconsistent results depending on which system is queried (i.e. “How many hydrants do we have?”)

• Poor decision making based on poor data quality • Losses due to inaccurate utility marking • Guesses regarding the need for recurring maintenance, capital improvement planning, etc.

No wonder utility owners are exasperated.

Integration Strategies – Past and Present Nearly all software vendors have claimed their applications could be integrated with other software products. However, the word “integration” has been overused – and not always accurately.

Cont. page 14 PAGE THIRTEEN

Feature Article (cont. from page 13) Software vendors proceeded to develop products that, to one degree or another, provide some level of integration.

These four levels are: • Shared databases – the highest level of integration; typically accomplished by either purchasing applications from a single vendor or by writing custom applications that work together.

• Linked databases – if a user enters or changes a record in one application’s database, the corresponding record in another application is updated at the same time.

• Data repository – information is extracted in read-only form from each application; then, the data is placed into a repository using conduits.

• Data transfer – usually accomplished through file exporting and importing, this method generally works, but its value is limited to situations in which data is only occasionally exchanged between systems.

Unfortunately, none of these integration strategies provides the optimal answer for better interoperability. Every time there’s an upgrade, the software must be custom redeveloped, rewritten, or somehow modified. Moreover, integration usually doesn’t work beyond the synchronization of two or three software products. In a nutshell, these strategies aren’t practical solutions for connecting an PAGE FOURTEEN

entire enterprise.

So, what is the solution?

GIS-Centric Integration The first hurdle in the quest for a total solution is to integrate systems that reference underground facility assets – quite simply, a solution that enables all users to see the same view of each asset.

A group of GIS professionals recognized the gap between existing integration strategies and this first hurdle. They determined that the ideal solution must have a common infrastructure database at the core of each database, using the GIS as the primary system to input, store, and manage the infrastructure information.

More completely stated, each application must connect to this database and: • Provide for full bi-directional GIS integration.

• Store core infrastructure data in as few locations as possible (ideally only one place).

• Have a flexible database design.

• Provide tools for importing and exporting data.

• Be robust enough to survive upgrades of any of the other systems.

As a result, during the past year, some of the leading GIS, CMMS, and modeling vendors, and ESRIbased software developers banded together to form the National Association of GIS-Centric Systems (NAGCS; see www.NAGCS. org. NAGCS is based in Sandy, Utah.

See also www.esri.com. ESRI is Environmental Systems Research Institute, based in Redlands, CA).

NAGCS’s main goals are to provide enterprise GIS solutions that promote interoperability, open standards, and shared-database approaches among GIS-centric

software (software that today provides the highest level of GIS integration and interoperability).

NAGCS is in the process of certifying software and applications that meet the following performance-based criteria: 1. A standard ESRI GIS geodatabase as the feature database (including storing feature attributes).

2. Non-redundant feature data storage (no reliance on views, data mapping, database triggers, or “transparent” links).

3. A fully user-definable feature data model (customizable without vendor support).

4. A non-proprietary feature data model format (for data names, fields, tables, relationships, and other data design elements).

5. Product interoperability (providing maximum compatibility with any other GIS-centric application, including concurrent use of the feature database).

6. Inherent feature data coordinate location and connectivity (inherent in the feature or asset data model; enabling full utilization of such spatial analysis capabilities as linear referencing and events).

7. Feature data creation and maintenance using ESRI’s ArcGIS Desktop™, ArcGIS Server™, or ArcObjects™ tools for editing (including data error identification and correction methods, particularly for linear network and polygonal features, which check for connected nodes, overlaps, missing segments, linear segments, flow relationships, and adjacency).

“Translator” Software OK, NAGCS standards will help a variety of GIS and related systems to finally, truly relate.

But what about an asset-based system that connects to a non-GIS system? NAGCS’s “standards of etiquette” don’t apply because a non-GIS system does not have a geodatabase.

Cont. page 15

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Feature Article (cont. from page 14) That’s where new go-between software products come into play.

These products provide automated integration of many different applications through the use of an integration “engine” – sometimes called an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) – and a series of “adapters” and XML (extensible markup language) to share or translate data between products from different vendors. The advantage of this approach is that these tools already

enterprise. iWay’s latest package of adapters integrates, enriches, and updates data to and from GISs. These adapters were developed to work with ESRI’s spatial database engine product known as ArcSDE. The combination of the iWay and ESRI products creates an information backbone that delivers all data, both spatial and tabular. iWay’s adapters are separated by function: one set

Image courtesy of iWay Software - www.iwaysoftware.com

exist for many of the mainstream applications that utilities are already using. This eliminates the need to write a series of custom products and rewrite them each time one of your applications goes through an upgrade. iWay Software from Information Builders is one such middleware product that accelerates business integration. iWay’s experience with complex information systems led to the development of prepackaged “intelligent adapters” to connect to more than 280 packaged applications, transaction systems, legacy data, relational databases, and e-business formats without the need for custom code. This approach to integration significantly reduces the time, cost, effort, and risk of integration projects throughout the

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gets geographic information from an address and the other loads the GIS database. Organizations can now easily create maps to visually represent nearly any data from any information system within its existing information-technology infrastructure.

(See www.iwaysoftware.com) Data Warehousing And finally, what about completely non-transactional-based integration for decision support? What’s the solution in this instance? Here, an organization needs a data warehouse. Over the last 15 years, data warehousing has revolutionized business processes across the globe, boosted customer service, and helped employees to make better decisions. In fact, it is estimated that more than 90 percent of

Fortune 2000 companies currently have a data warehouse. Utilities in recent years have begun tapping the benefits of data warehousing.

What is it exactly? A data warehouse is a complete and detailed collection of an organization’s vital information brought together with specific hardware, software, and service components to help users function more efficiently. Think of a data warehouse just like a real warehouse – it’s got all of the supplies or components that people need to do their jobs. And, if it’s organized right, all materials are easily accessible, but sensitive or proprietary information can be kept secure; the organization decides who gets access to what.

One of the most valuable qualities of a data warehouse is its flexibility within existing environments. The data warehouse is designed to coexist with current applications rather than to replace them. Programs are written to use current data, and the process does not require changes to hardware, software, or databases.

Data warehousing can: • Enrich information-sharing among departments.

• Save time by making tasks easier.

• Reduce duplicate record keeping.

• Improve and expand service to a utility’s customers.

Always Evolving One more simile: We humans grow up and (hopefully) mature, but that doesn’t mean we stagnate or stop learning. Similarly, GIS and its siblings, even though on the verge of maturity, will continue to evolve – will be able to be more, do more, in the coming years. There may be a few moments of angst along the way as we adjust to an improved GIS. But just like having kids, it will be worth it.

Przybyla is a licensed Professional Engineer and a certified Geographic Information Systems Professional.

He is a Vice President at Woolpert, Inc., headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, and with offices nationwide.

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CITYWORKS TRAINING Client Training Azteca Sandy Facility September 20 - 23, 2005 Implementation of Cityworks, Introduction to Cityworks Part I & II, Cityworks Add-ons November 29 - December 2, 2005 Implementation of Cityworks, Introduction to Cityworks Part I & II, Cityworks Add-ons Web Training – Courses Available Cityworks Database Integration with ArcSDE – Oracle Prerequisite: ArcSDE experience Cityworks Database Integration with ArcSDE – SQL Server Prerequisite: ArcSDE experience Introduction to Cityworks ArcView 3x Part I Introduction to Cityworks ArcView 3x Part II Prerequisite: Introduction to Cityworks ArcView 3x Part I Storeroom Configuring and Running Call Center Performance for GASB Performance for Pavement Management – Paver Equipment Manager

Partner Training Azteca Sandy Facility September 13 – 15, 2005 December 6 – 8, 2005 Web Training – Courses Available What’s New in Cityworks

Prerequisite – 3-Day ABP Sandy course The Cityworks Implementation Process

Prerequisite – 3-Day ABP Sandy course

Event Calendar Jun 12-16 : AWWA, in San Francisco, CA - Booth #2712

15 : Seminar with ESRIPhiladelphia, in New Brunswick, NJ

27-29 : Cityworks User Conference, in Park City, UT

18-21 : NEARC, in Portland, ME

July 25-29 : ESRI International Users Conference, in San Diego, CA - Booth #1921 Aug 8-9 : MWH Soft User Group Meeting, in Broomfield, CO Sept 11-14 : APWA, in Minneapolis, MN

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Oct 5-7 : MWAUG, in Bloomington, IN 9-12 : URISA, in Kansas City, KS 17-20 : ESRI EGUG, in Truckee, CA 20 - Nov. 2 : WEFTEC, in Washington, DC

Project Management Update

(cont. from page 11)

DataPump first synchronizes the Cityworks Access database on the tablet PC with the Cityworks database on the central server. Next, it downloads any work orders and service requests assigned to the field person logged in.

The employee can unplug the unit, take the records into the field, and process them using Cityworks Desktop in ArcMap... No difference in the application being used in the office and in the field! And finally at the end of the day, the worker plugs the unit back into the network and checks in all of the transactions from the Cityworks database on the mobile unit into the Cityworks database on the central server. If the records coming from the field have been closed, they are not downloaded again. If left open, they are downloaded for processing the next day along with any new work orders or service requests assigned to that person.

In Durham’s case, field personnel also need to be able to update the GIS and reconcile those changes with the SDE geodatabase on their central server. A Durham stormwater worker routinely receives work orders to install a new connection or upgrade a stormwater main to a larger size.

In addition to processing the Cityworks work order, the GIS must be updated to include the new line and/or the attribute change. Since Cityworks Datapump does not perform these types of operations on the GIS, Durham needed a solution that did, and they needed one that would integrate seamlessly with Cityworks Desktop. Enter LEICA MobileMatriX data acquisition software (http://www.leicageosystems.com).

LEICA MobileMatriX Standard edition provides common data collection tasks on point, line and polygon features, along with attributes. The Professional edition adds a whole host of other functions including the support of disconnected editing technology from ESRI, using an SDE geodatabase.

MobileMatriX was an obvious choice for Durham for the following reasons... First, because it integrates with the LEICA survey equipment the City already uses. Second, because of its simple user interface, which makes it easy for field staff to operate. Third, because it supports disconnected editing, making it ideal to maintain GIS data in a disconnected network environment where the checkedout features can be brought back into the office and loaded into the SDE geodatabase on their central server. Fourth, the sale of the LEICA system includes the ArcMap license.

And lastly, it integrates seamlessly with Cityworks Desktop.

Since both applications run directly on top of the geodatabase, developing an interface so that the two systems can “talk” isn’t needed. Drop in a new feature using LEICA MobileMatriX, and voila! We have a Cityworks compatible feature—a perfect example of interoperability between applications using a common shared geodatabase.

Visit with David and Terri about Cityworks Desktop and LEICA MobileMatriX at this year’s Cityworks Users Conference held on June 27-29, 2005.

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