GIS-Centric Asset & Work Management Resources for Government and Utilities
Posts tagged Government Software
GIS-Based Asset and Work Management Software with Full GIS Integration and Industry Standard Compatibility
Jul 20th
If you’re looking to integrate your GIS with an asset management package there are several options to consider. Elements Management Software offers the following features in a single, standalone application.
Full GIS Integration
Elements provides a comprehensive set of GIS-based asset and work management tools in a single, standalone application giving utilities and municipalities the ability to:
- Manage work orders, permits, licenses, inspections and other important data in a GIS-based environment using GIS data from any industry standard application including ESRI, MapInfo, Manifold, Autodesk, and others
- Maintain assets and critical infrastructure in a GIS-based environment without requiring third-party GIS licenses
- Tie work history and asset management data to any GIS asset
- Associate asset and work management data to non-customer related assets and accounts
- Take advantage of GIS-based asset and work management without incurring additional GIS expenses
- Visualize work history and asset locations on GIS maps
- Visualize geographic areas containing high concentrations of work orders and other data
- Effectively distribute capital improvement funds by quickly finding problem areas and assets with high failure rates
- Maximize existing GIS investments
- Use GIS data from any source or application to manage assets and infrastructure in a visual, geographical environment
- Powerful GIS Tools In a Standalone Application
Elements provides asset, work management, and GIS data in a single application – reducing costs and minimizing the learning curve.
- All information, including GIS data, is accessible in a single application
- Full GIS integration is provided without requiring third-party GIS licenses
- Reduced learning curve; third-party GIS applications are eliminated
- Reduced maintenance and overhead for support staff
- Quicker overall implementation
Industry Standard Compatibility
Elements allows municipalities and utilities to maximize their GIS investment, regardless of which GIS technologies are currently being used by the organization.
- Full GIS support for any industry standard GIS application including ESRI, MapInfo, Manifold, Autodesk, and others
- Organizations with little or no GIS can use Elements to take advantage of GIS-based asset and work management by obtaining GIS data from resources such as counties, state, and local governments then using that data with Elements
- GIS data from varying sources and multiple applications can be used together to manage assets and infrastructure
Elements Management Software integrates with ESRI and other GIS applications to provide GIS-based asset and work management tools for utilities and government. To learn more about Elements and related products offered by novotX visit www.novotx.com.
Using HTML with Elements GIS-Based Asset & Work Management Software
Jun 25th
There’s something to be said about good old HTML. Nothing new, nothing fancy, just plain old coolness.
Elements harnesses the power of HTML in several areas – configuring record layouts, designing data input forms, setting up web submission forms, and rendering GIS maps.
Yes, that’s right – you can use HTML with your GIS map renderings in Elements. What I love about HTML is you can pretty much do whatever you want with it; it’s simple to learn, and adds an incredible amount of flexibility to any application.
So here’s a quick map I threw together using basic HTML to render labels on a GIS map showing Work Order locations. This map is nothing incredibly fancy or over-the-top… but it’s clean, simple, it displays the information I’m looking for, and it took about 2 minutes to put it together.
Basic GIS map showing Work Order locations; using HTML to render labels. (click to enlarge)
The neat thing about Elements is you can do the same thing I did here with Service Requests, Business Licenses, Permits, Inspections, and just about anything else you can think of.
Super Mario Bros. and GIS-Based Work Management Systems
May 19th
In 1985 Super Mario Bros. was released in United States and was the best-selling video game of all time for over two decades (until Wii Sports outsold it in 2009).
Part of the reason Super Mario Bros. was so successful is because Mario was able to eat those gigantic Mushrooms and double his size – giving him the ability to take an extra hit from most enemies and break those red bricks with ease (he could also shoot fire balls if he ate the Fire Flower, which was pretty cool).
In Super Mario Bros. 2 he gained a different power – you’ll remember that Mario was able to pull up weeds out of the ground (which would turn into bottles of magic potion), and throw those bottles of potion on the ground to create magic doors – leading to an alternate world where he could make himself rich by collecting lots of coins.
Then, in 1990, came Super Mario Bros. 3 – a billion-dollar-plus gross revenue producer that gave Mario his best powers yet:
- He learned to fly (always wished I could do that), and
- He got a GIS-based work management system.
Apparently sometime between 1985 and 1990 Mario realized he could do his job better if he could see his work on a map.
Mario's GIS-based work management system
Ironically, it was about that same period that companies began using GIS together with their asset and work management software. Originally these systems were crude and extremely difficult to implement and maintain – however they’ve come a long way and today’s GIS-based work management systems are much more manageable.
A modern version of Mario's GIS-based work management system
My favorite thing about Mario’s GIS-based work management system is the dancing cacti and cheerful background music. My favorite thing about modern GIS-based work management systems is the ability for organizations to see where their Work Orders are taking place, use the maps to manage maintenance activities, and visualize work history patterns.
Here’s a quick video demonstrating GIS integration with asset management software:
And just for fun, here’s a video that shows you how to beat Super Mario Bros. 3 in record time (note the dancing cacti and great music that accompany the maps):
…who knows, maybe someday we’ll see dancing cacti and cheerful background music as added features in GIS-based asset and work management software. 