IBM asset and service management solutions

White paper

Geospatially enabled asset and service management.

December 2007
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.


Executive summary
Contents Geographic information systems (GIS) already play a major role across utilities,
energy, government, transportation, telecommunications and many other asset-
2 Executive summary
intensive industries, by providing the capability to gather and summarize data
3 Introduction
about the diverse geographic locations and movements of strategic assets.
5 GIS and asset and service
management
As GIS systems move from departmental, desktop-based solutions based on
6 Usage scenarios
proprietary architectures to enterprise systems based on technology standards,
7 Benefits of geospatially enabled asset
management organizations now have the opportunity to “spatially enable” a wide range of
8 Maximo Spatial Asset Management enterprise applications, including asset and service management solutions.
9 Maximo Spatial Asset Management Spatially enabled applications can support complex data analysis based on
use case geographic location, such as representing data on maps in various spatial or
15 Key features of Maximo Spatial Asset geographic contexts, and determining proximity, adjacency and other location-
Management
based relationships among objects.
16 Architecture overview
17 Eliminating data duplication By combining GIS with asset and service management business processes in a
18 For more information modern, service-oriented architecture (SOA), a particularly powerful geospatial
18 The ESRI-IBM Alliance solution can be created — one that enables decision-makers across the enterprise
19 About Maximo software from IBM to make better-informed decisions, helping organizations increase productivity
19 About Tivoli software from IBM and efficiency while improving service to customers.

IBM Maximo® Spatial Asset Management is the first available solution that
unifies the full functionality of industry-leading GIS and asset and service
management products in a thoroughly modern architecture based on Java™,
XML and Web services. With access to the full feature set of the industry-leading
ESRI® ArcGIS Server™, its capabilities go far beyond the generation of static
maps that typify traditional GIS/CMMS (computerized maintenance management
system) integrations. For example, Maximo Spatial Asset Management supports
queries like “Show me the locations of any units within one mile of this failed
unit’s location that have not yet been inspected this year,” or “Show me the units
most likely to be affected in the event of a flood in this area.”
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.


Organizations that own, operate and/or manage geographically dispersed assets

Highlights can accrue significant business benefits by further leveraging the tremendous
value of their GIS-related investments in this way. Maximo Spatial Asset
Organizations that own, operate or manage Management enables asset and service management users to view assets in a
geographically dispersed assets can combine
geospatial context, so they can more easily and dynamically visualize the spatial
GIS with asset and service management
processes to create a powerful geospatial
relationships among managed assets and the roads, buildings, pipelines, and
solution. other mapped features around them, empowering levels of awareness and insight
that dry numbers alone cannot provide. Similarly, a wide range of asset-related
data becomes available to GIS users to enrich their decision-making context as
well. No duplication of data is required to support this unified view of asset and
geospatial data.

This paper offers an overview of the key features and business benefits of the
Maximo Spatial Asset Management solution, as well as a high-level description of
its architecture.

Introduction
Geographic location is a fundamental reference point in the physical world.
As enterprise business systems evolve to more accurately reflect real-world
conditions, the capability to represent location has become increasingly critical.

GIS software creates, organizes, maintains, analyzes and visualizes information

related to location. Among these core capabilities, mapping — i.e., the
visualization of location-based data — is by far the most recognizable function
that GIS systems perform. Other fundamental GIS capabilities that are highly
valuable in the asset management context include proximity functions to more
quickly determine adjacency, nearness, shortest distance, shortest path and other
related functions.
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.


The widespread popularity of Web-based 2-D and 3-D personal productivity tools
for mapping and visualization, like Google Earth and Yahoo! Maps (see Figure 1),
has caused an explosion of interest in making visualization part of core business
processes and workflows.

Figure 1: Geospatial applications have become pervasive

While GIS technology has long been valued for its capability to display features
(such as pipes, wires and buildings) and to help reduce costs by enhancing
decision-making, the value of traditional desktop-based GIS has often been
limited to workgroup, project or departmental level activities within the
enterprise. GIS applications have largely been robust, vertically integrated, client/
server systems that are optimized to support specific business workflows like
utility asset management, land or natural resources management, linear asset
management, and many similar applications.
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.


However, the geospatial data and analytical capabilities that GIS technology
Highlights makes possible are now beginning to be leveraged by an ever-wider range of
business users, as GIS implementations evolve from proprietary architectures to
networked, server-based solutions that leverage SOAs and Web controls.

GIS and asset and service management

Geospatial technology and data can Geospatial technology and data can extend the capabilities of asset and service
extend the capabilities of asset and service management systems in a number of fundamental ways, including:
management systems in a number of
fundamental ways. Enhancing spatial context. Along with time, location is a fundamental reference
point for countless human activities. In asset and service management systems,
location data provide a useful context that makes other asset-related data more
meaningful. For example, the capability to visualize the locations of recent asset
failures on a map can provide the context needed to spot a trend that might well
be missed by looking at a table of data.

Improving measurement capabilities. Geospatial data can help us understand

the physical relationships among assets, such as the distance between them for
routing purposes. This data also makes it possible to judge proximity, such as
determining if something is “nearby” or “within” something else.

Extending modeling options. Analyzing and visualizing geospatial patterns can

help identify trends and predict future events with greater accuracy. The ability
to analyze unified GIS/asset management data sets enables you to ask questions
such as: What unpaved roads washed out due to flooding more than twice in
the past year? Is this the result of land use changes in those areas, resulting in
increased runoff and, if so, might it make sense to pave those roads?

Deeper knowledge about asset locations. Many organizations with widely dispersed
assets, such as municipal water utilities, electric and gas distribution utilities,
and departments of transportation, find it useful to track the locations of assets
over time. GIS provides a robust framework for managing these types of data to
better support asset management activities, from documenting efforts to comply
with federal mandates on gas pipelines, to the ability to more quickly locate open
work orders pertaining to nearby assets when a crew finishes a job early.
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.


Greatly improved visualization capabilities. Visually displaying location data

Highlights on maps is the most familiar, and often the most valuable, use of geospatial
technology. Applying this capability to strategic assets has a vast range of
implications for improving business performance.

Usage scenarios

Geospatially enabled asset and service

Geospatially enabled asset and service management systems better support
management systems better support customer service, work order management, emergency (outage) response, mobile
customer service, work order management, dispatch and more. A geospatially enabled asset management system permits
emergency response, mobile dispatch and
users to know that an asset exists (as well as information about its condition,
more.
cost, maintenance history, etc.) and precisely where it is on a map and in
relationship to other assets of various types.

In government public safety operations, for example, geospatially enabled asset

management systems are the key IT components that support core business
information needs, from a “common operating picture” of current assets and
their condition to “situational awareness” dashboards that display how and where
assets are deployed in real time.

There are numerous other applications, such as those described below, where the
capability to dynamically combine GIS and asset management data is particularly
powerful.

Work planning, scheduling and execution. Using a map interpolated from GIS and
asset location data, planners are able to visualize current and potential work
locations for decision-making purposes. They can, for instance, pinpoint the
location of a single utility pole among thousands and automatically generate a
work order to repair or replace it.
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.


Locating assets for inspection, maintenance and repair. At large facilities, such as a
military base, it can be challenging to locate assets for preventive and corrective
maintenance activities. A geospatially enabled asset management system can
create a map on which asset locations, including their Global Positioning
System (GPS) coordinates, are color-coded to indicate condition, exposure, time
since last maintenance, etc. Combining geospatial referents with desired asset
attributes helps coordinate inspection and maintenance activities and serves as a
basis for planning routes and optimizing resources.

Call center. Using a GIS-based map, call center agents can more rapidly pinpoint
trouble locations by entering a key identifier (nearest intersection or cross street,
customer address, etc.). The agent can then check whether other trouble has
been reported nearby, whether a crew is assigned, and the status of the existing
work order(s). The GIS can show the related infrastructure, thus providing a
more comprehensive view of the situation. If needed, the agent can initiate a new
work request.

Decision support. Enterprise decision-makers can leverage GIS-based mapping

capabilities in combination with asset management data to facilitate investment
planning or other forms of analysis. For example, upon viewing a map showing
the locations of all pipe repair work orders on water mains over a specified
period, managers can better determine whether it makes economic sense to
replace the water main. Both “outside plant” and “inside plant” analyses are
enabled by a single system, simplifying high-level analysis and modeling efforts.

Benefits of geospatially enabled asset management

By leveraging extended asset management capabilities, government and
commercial enterprises can derive fundamental, cross-functional benefits from
geospatially enabling their asset and work management business processes. These
potential benefits include:

Cost savings through greater efficiency. Streamlining work and scheduling

activities, such as the logistics of maintaining assets, can help organizations save
labor, time and materials.
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.


Better informed decision-making. Knowing more about where assets are located
Highlights spatially and relative to one another naturally improves both tactical and strategic
decision-making, from better route selection to improved long-range planning of
inspection, maintenance and repair activities.

Enhanced communication and collaboration. Maps and visualizations created using

GIS data make it possible for individuals and teams to view and understand
situations more quickly and completely. Maps provide an intuitive, visual
framework for conceptualizing, understanding and determining activities.
Ultimately, “the map becomes the report,” illustrating key relationships and
insights in an intuitive, visual manner that stakeholders can better relate to.

Creation of new business value. Through its support for new forms of data analysis
and insight, geospatially enabling the asset management system can help drive
new sources of business value and possibly even change how business is done. By
creating a single source of information, all disciplines in the organization have
access to the same information at the same time, eliminating the need to track
data in multiple locations or synchronize asset attributes between the GIS and
asset management systems.

Maximo Spatial Asset Management

Maximo Spatial Asset Management is a

Maximo Spatial Asset Management is a geospatially enabled asset management
geospatially enabled asset management solution that enables users to visualize all assets and work in a geospatial context
solution that makes the power of desktop to help optimize resources and decisions enterprise-wide.
GIS directly available to enterprise asset
management users. While the integration of asset and work management with GIS is not a new idea,
the technology approach taken by this solution, and the capabilities it delivers,
represent a new level of innovation, usability and business value. Combining the
ArcGIS Server v9.2 from ESRI with the Maximo asset and service management
solution using standards-based, service-oriented technology common to both
architectures, Maximo Spatial Asset Management makes the power of desktop
GIS directly available to enterprise asset management users. It offers a seamless
user experience that incorporates map-based user interfaces, dynamic access to
GIS data and interoperability with other GIS systems and data sets.
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.


Maximo Spatial Asset Management use case

Maximo Spatial Asset Management can help organizations identify and plan work
by enabling call center agents, supervisors and others to more easily locate assets
geographically and select assets for work. Further, executives can leverage insight
into the geospatial relationships among assets for stronger decision support and
more meaningful reporting.

Consider a scenario in which a customer calls to report water in the street near
her home. Using Maximo Spatial Asset Management, the agent can quickly create
a Service Request containing geospatial data, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Creating a Service Request using geospatial data

Go to Map
tab to show
location of
water

User Reported
Priority can be
reprioritized
by Work
Manager later

Simple
screen for
service
requests
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
10

The agent can easily associate with the service request a map showing the
location of the potential leak in relation to other assets and the street grid (see
Figure 3). An automated workflow then routes the unresolved service request to
the appropriate reviewer.

Figure 3: Associating an asset location with a Service Request

Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
11

Figure 4 shows the location and boundaries of the Service Request in the
Maximo Map tab.

Figure 4: Displaying the boundaries of a Service Request

Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
12

Since the workflow indicates that there have been multiple customer reports
from that location, the supervisor quickly identifies the gate valve nearest to that
location and creates a Work Order to dispatch a repair crew to check it out (see
Figure 5). The asset location information is now available in the Work Order tab.

Figure 5: Creating a geospatially enabled Work Order

Create Work Order

from the Service
Request — the asset
information moves to
the Work Order tab
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
13

Next, the supervisor checks for other open Work Orders in the area, thus
maximizing the value of the truck roll, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Looking for related work

Query for
1453 Banbury
Lane
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
14

The geospatial context also allows an engineer to visually identify “hot spots” of
repair activity and to leverage other asset-related data to make decisions on how
best to restore service (see Figure 7). These same capabilities can also be used to
pinpoint the locations where the most work on the system has been required, in
order to recommend upgrades to management on that basis.

Figure 7: Using geospatial data for decision support

Concentration of
Work Orders
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
15

Key features of Maximo Spatial Asset Management

Going far beyond simply publishing static images of asset locations, embedding
ArcGIS Server v9.2 Java controls directly into the Maximo software provides
access to the full power of GIS for spatial analysis, tracing, location-based
services, etc. from within the Maximo application. This uniquely rich and
powerful functional integration reflects the investments both ESRI and IBM have
made in component architectures.

• Any Maximo entity can be spatially enabled: Assets, Service Requests, Locations, Work Orders,
Tools, Materials, Labor, etc. This allows work orders and service requests to be created directly on
maps. Results sets from Maximo software queries can be viewed on maps, or selected from maps to
form results sets in the Maximo application.
• Maximo Spatial Asset Management provides a valid geospatial context for all asset and location
types: Linear (roads, rails, pipelines, power lines, waterways); Area/Polygon (buildings, roofs,
forests, service areas, campuses, offices); and Points (poles, hydrants, meters, signs, transformers,
houses).
• Maximo Spatial Asset Management supports geo-coding — the capability to convert street ad-
dresses and similar location data into latitude/longitude (GPS) coordinates, and vice versa. This
capability is the foundation for capturing asset location data in the field using GPS.
• Maximo Spatial Asset Management supports tracing networks — the capability to spatially relate
the components of a pipeline system or network, taking into account the direction of “flow” of the
gas, water, electricity, etc. This capability is the foundation for determining which customers will be
affected by maintenance activities and other service interruptions.
• Maximo Spatial Asset Management supports enhanced routing or route planning capabilities by
providing core GIS routing capabilities in combination with rich asset management data such as
maintenance and other historical data.
• Maximo Spatial Asset Management gives asset management users the ability to more conveniently
edit certain GIS-based data elements from within the familiar Maximo software interface.
• When working with GIS data in the Maximo application, all Maximo Administration Controls
are supported (Security, Organizations, Sites, Stored Queries, Preferences, etc.). There is no need
to set up special security for Maximo Spatial Asset Management; for instance, a maintenance
worker can see the GPS coordinates of a customer but will not be able to access the customer’s
account data.
• GIS data entered in the Maximo application can be edited by the standard ESRI desktop applications.

Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
16

• Because of its SOA-based architecture and ArcGIS components, Maximo Spatial Asset Management
Highlights can leverage data from virtually any external GIS data source. Examples include GPS Automatic
Vehicle Location (AVL) feeds to track resources, assets, and tools, and data from services such as
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for flood plain data, census data, and data in other
Web services compatible formats.
• The Maximo Spatial Asset Management solution is a dynamic framework for unified, enterprise-
scale, Geospatially enabled asset and service management. This means that when ESRI creates new
features for its ArcGIS product family, Maximo Spatial Asset Management users can enjoy seamless,
immediate access to these features with no need for coding or customization.

Architecture overview

Maximo Spatial Asset Management leverages

The Maximo asset management solution, developed by the Maximo business unit
the full feature set of the industry-leading within the IBM Tivoli® software brand, is the industry’s leading asset and service
ESRI ArcGIS Server. management solution. The ArcGIS Server v9.2 is the state-of-the-art in GIS
from ESRI.

Figure 8: Maximo Spatial Asset Management architecture

Architecture Design
Maximo User Interface with Embedded GIS Web Controls

Maximo Web Controls GIS Web Controls

Tables, Fields, Tabs Map, Layers, Toolbar, Search

Web Server (HTTP) ESRI - ArcMap

Desktop
J2EETM Application Server Application
Maximo ESRI Editor
Note: ArcGIS
interoperates with
Maximo Business ArcGIS Server 9.2
major GIS systems Components ArcObjects
and reads more
than 70 different Spatial Database Engine
data formats

RDBMS
Intergraph, MapInfo,
Smallworld, etc. GIS
Interoperate with Maximo SPATIAL
ArcGIS Data
Interoperability Interoperate with
Extension ArcGIS 9.2 or
earlier
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
17

To combine the power and business value of these two industry-leading

Highlights solutions, Maximo Spatial Asset Management takes advantage of the component
architecture in the ArcGIS Server v9.2 software. ESRI ArcObjects™ and IBM
Maximo Spatial Asset Management supports Maximo Business Objects, both Java-based, are utilized in combination with
complex queries across database instances map and navigation controls to provide spatial capabilities within the Maximo
without the need for data duplication or software user interface. Both applications are browser-based and use commercial
synchronization.
application servers to provide scalability, performance, and failover capability.
Figure 8 illustrates the Maximo Spatial Asset Management architecture.

Eliminating data duplication

Currently, many systems require you to copy or synchronize GIS data to work
with it in other applications, introducing significant IT complexity and cost.
Maximo Spatial Asset Management offers full flexibility in how organizations set
up their GIS and asset management database instances. Complex queries across
database instances are supported without the need for data duplication
or synchronization.

When a relationship exists between a feature class in the GIS environment and
an asset in the Maximo application, the two can be linked and viewed together
within the Maximo Map tab. GIS maps and data are not duplicated; instead, the
most current data is dynamically accessed on request.

Figure 8 illustrates Maximo software tables and Maximo Spatial Asset

Management tables within the same database instance. In cases where an
organization has a production GIS environment and prefers not to move these
tables into the Maximo database instance, ESRI replication functionality supports
replication between Maximo Spatial Asset Management tables and the production
GIS (even in earlier versions of the ESRI software).

ESRI ArcGIS Server v9.2 also includes powerful data interoperability extensions
that allow Maximo Spatial Asset Management to interoperate with a number of
competitive GIS systems. In addition, ArcGIS Server can “read” some 70 data
types and interoperate with the great majority of them.
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
18

For more information

To learn more about Maximo Spatial Asset Management from IBM, please
contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit
ibm.com/tivoli or maximo.com

The ESRI-IBM Alliance

IBM and ESRI ( ibm.com/government/esri) have formed a global alliance
to serve the growing market for enterprise GIS solutions. ESRI provides GIS
software technology and IBM provides infrastructure products and services
critical to making spatial applications enterprise-ready. Together, ESRI and IBM
can deliver hardware, software, installation and training, as well as outsourcing
if required.

IBM has industry-leading information technology project management and

systems integration capabilities necessary to deliver complex end-to-end solutions.
Enterprise GIS solutions are now often seen as an information technology
deployment, and IBM is well positioned to help organizations address their
business problems through enterprise GIS.

ESRI is an industry leader in geographic information systems and has earned a

market share leadership position. ESRI technology is used today to solve critical
business problems for customers in industries such as government, utilities, retail,
banking, insurance, oil and gas, transportation, and health.

ESRI-based enterprise GIS solutions have frequently been deployed with

IBM hardware, software and services to address the business requirements
of governments and other industry clients. IBM hardware and software
technologies deployed include System p™, System x™, System z™, TotalStorage®,
WebSphere®, DB2® and Informix® products, and AIX®. ESRI is a Premier
member of IBM PartnerWorld® for Developers and an IBM Strategic Alliance
Partner.
Geospatially enabled asset and service management.
19

About Maximo software from IBM

IBM Maximo software was recently named the #1 market share and technology
leader by ARC Advisory Group in its 2007 EAM/CMMS Solutions Worldwide
Outlook — Market Analysis and Forecast Through 2011. IBM Maximo
software is used by many of the world’s top companies to efficiently manage
how they buy, maintain and retire assets — such as production equipment,
facilities, transportation and IT hardware and software — in a wide variety of
industries including utilities, manufacturing, energy, pharmaceutical, and
telecommunications. IBM Maximo software builds upon IBM’s strategy to
leverage business consulting, IT services and software to develop repeatable tools
that help clients optimize and transform their businesses.

About Tivoli software from IBM

Tivoli software provides a set of offerings and capabilities in support of IBM
Service Management, a scalable, modular approach used to deliver more efficient
and effective services to your business. Helping meet the needs of any size
business, Tivoli software enables you to deliver service excellence in support
of your business objectives through integration and automation of processes,
workflows and tasks. The security-rich, open standards-based Tivoli service
management platform is complemented by proactive operational management
solutions that provide end-to-end visibility and control. It is also backed by
world-class IBM Services, IBM Support and an active ecosystem of IBM Business
Partners. Tivoli customers and business partners can also leverage each other’s
best practices by participating in independently run IBM Tivoli User Groups
around the world — visit www.tivoli-ug.org
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