In spite of the increased power and flexibility of modern programming languages,
most water utilities buy packaged software for their large, enterprise
information systems: financial, customer information, supervisory control and
data acquisition, work management, laboratory information management system, and
project management. But even the best packaged software doesn't fully integrate
with the business it serves. In the past, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has
tried to compensate for the shortcomings of commercial systems by rewriting large
portions of the code in order to provide the needed functionality. This, however,
resulted in a custom application set that only SPU could maintain or upgrade.
Recently, SPU has implemented PSDI's Maximo work management system (WMS) to
automate and support field staff in the repair and maintenance of the Seattle
water system. As powerful as this system is, it does not fully implement SPU's
vision of how work should be accomplished throughout the utility. This paper
discusses how SPU has extended some key functionality to broaden its approach to
work management without affecting the internal integrity of the Maximo software. Includes figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| Number of Pages : | 6 |
| Published : | 01/01/1999 |
