Recently a lot of people have been asking us how Elements Management Software came to be. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Elements, feel free to check out these Videos.
It was late 2004 when we began discussions with a local secondary water system that was looking for a GIS-based work order and asset management solution. Before we finished the initial meeting I could already see how this would play out – the water system would pay us a lot of money to build some great software package, then right smack dab in the middle of the project they would come to us all fired up because they would find a commercial product that did the same thing for a fraction of the price. Not good. With that in mind, the first we told them was to take a look around and see what was already out there. Given our experience in the software world we figured the chances were slim to none that we’d ever hear from them again – certainly there had to be a commercial product out there that would suit their needs – not only would it suit their needs, but they would be able to implement it much quicker and easier than developing an entirely new software package from the ground up.
After doing a bit of homework, they began conversations with us again. What did they find? Two things. First, they found that yes, there were commercial products available that do this type of thing. However they also discovered that with all of the licensing costs that would be involved, they would never be able to afford one of these fancy-schmancy packages. Not only would the software break the bank, but even if the water system had unlimited funds, the packages were so dang confusing that they wouldn’t be able to figure out how to use it anyway.
Well, we were back on track. We worked closely with them to put together a GIS-based management package that would be a fraction of the cost of other systems and much more user-friendly. How did we do this? By implementing several unique GIS integration methods that allow all users to access GIS data and tie asset management data to the GIS without purchasing any third-party GIS licenses. Next, we came up with the ‘Folios’ concept – which made finding and organizing data much simpler than what was available in the existing systems.
In short, we finished the product and it wasn’t long before other water systems and municipalities found out about it. Elements is now sold as a commercial product across the United States to utility systems and municipalities who are looking to take advantage of their GIS investment without spending a lot of money (and without spending a lot of time learning how to use complicated software).
If anyone has questions about Elements or novotX that they would like to see answered on our blog, please feel free to leave them in the comments!