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Game-changing Technologies Revolutionize how Networks are Monitored, Maintained, and Optimized

Written by Steve Grise, Head of Strategic Consulting at VertiGIS

The Role of GIS in Modern Utility Management

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become indispensable for utility companies managing complex networks. From electricity to water to gas, utilities are tasked with delivering essential resources across vast geographic areas while navigating challenges such as aging infrastructure, outages and sustainability requirements.

Throughout this blog series, we’ve looked at the foundational role geospatial technology plays in helping utilities streamline their operations. In the first post, Looking at your IT Modernization Strategy Through the Lense of Patterns of Use, we explored how understanding existing business workflows helps utilities to modernize smarter, avoid unnecessary spending and improve user technology adoption. In part two, Unlocking the Power of Asset Data Management in Utilities Using Geospatial Technology, we examined how GIS-enabled Asset Data Management, (ADM) solutions can deliver the tools needed to improve utility operations.

Now, we will examine the critical role spatially-enabled Network Operations Management (NOM) plays in advancing utility modernization initiatives.

ADM vs. NOM in GIS-Enabled Utility Operations

For decades, utilities have used GIS platforms, like Esri’s ArcGIS^®, to digitize networks and maintain records of physical assets. Activities within ADM include:

Mapping the Asset Landscape: Documenting the location of critical infrastructure like valves, power lines, or pumps.
Tracking Asset Details: Logging key information such as installation dates, manufacturers, and maintenance history.
Supporting Long-Term Planning: Facilitating workflows like proactive maintenance, emergency readiness, and outage planning through accurate, static data.

While static data provides utilities with foundational infrastructure maps for efficient planning and resource management, it doesn’t support the dynamic, real-time insights essential for addressing immediate operational challenges. NOM resolves this limitation by combining static data with real-time insights, enhancing flexibility and operational efficiency.

Network Operations and the Role of Utility Networks

With advancements like Esri’s Utility Network (UN) model, GIS can now support dynamic operations. UN’s robust spatial modeling enables real time NOM, laying the groundwork for advanced digital twins of a utility networks, and offering the potential for utilities to dynamically represent, monitor, and adapt to changing network conditions in real-time.

The potential is enormous—not just for efficiency, but for predictive, agile responses to operational challenges. Here are some examples:

Current Status of the Network

What it does: In addition to the Normal or As-built status of assets, the UN provides the ability to manage current status. So, the normal status of a switch could be ‘open’, but the current status may be ‘closed’. But it’s not just the status of the switch, it’s also the management of circuits (subnetworks), phase, and other network elements within the core ArcGIS system to provide near real-time analysis of the network in one platform.
Why it matters: While many organizations may choose to manage current status in other operational systems (such as Outage or Distribution Management Systems for electric networks), it is possible to manage this all within VertiGIS Networks. Users can alter the status, phase, and connectivity in the GIS applications to more fully represent what is happening in the field.
Who it’s for: Organizations looking to manage real-time status within their GIS environment will value the new Utility Network capabilities. These features are suitable for utilities of any size and appeal to those with a DIY mindset, offering the potential to build comparable systems at just 10% of the cost and complexity of multiple platforms. With reduced data latency and no need for nightly batch updates or syncing, these organizations see the benefits of a streamlined, cost-effective approach. While this audience is niche, they have the expertise to recognize the potential and are motivated by their vision and resources

Real-Time Monitoring

What it does: Supports the use of sensors and data collection technologies to continuously track and analyze system performance in advanced energy systems and dynamic water/gas distribution networks.
Why it matters: By feeding status and network updates to the GIS database, all users can quickly see the status changes and real-time state of the network.
Who it’s for: The status isn’t just for GIS experts or control room teams; it’s accessible to internal and external users needing to understand the situation and its impact on services. VertiGIS Networks enables multiple apps on a single platform, allowing tailored solutions for different groups. For instance, executives require summary insights and performance comparisons, while customers need updates on service impacts and resolution timelines.

Predictive Asset Management

What it does: Tracks the location, condition, and status of all assets in the network.
Why it matters: Utility companies can pinpoint where maintenance is needed or which assets are nearing failure, reducing downtime and improving reliability.
Who it’s for: Any organization that manages electricity grids, water networks, and gas pipelines and needs to balance compliance, risk, and resources to ensure reliable service. It minimizes failures, optimizes maintenance with real-time data, improves reliability, and reduces operating and capital costs by up to 20% and 60% respectively. With tools like digital twins to monitor infrastructure, utilities can move from reactive to proactive strategies, making smarter investments and ensuring service continuity.

Outage and Incident Response

What it does: Combines geospatial data with sensors and monitoring equipment to detect and locate outages or leaks in real-time.
Why it matters: Crews can quickly identify the affected area and dispatch resources efficiently, minimizing service disruptions.
Who it’s for: Utility professionals needing to respond quickly to disruptions, reduce downtime and maintain customer trust. With help from an advanced geospatial platform like VertiGIS Networks, personnel can identify issues quickly, receive real-time updates, identify opportunities for cost savings, and ensure compliance with reliability standards.

Dynamic Network Visualization

What it does: Provides an interactive visual representation of the utility network overlaid on geographic maps.
Why it matters: Decision-makers gain situational awareness, understanding how network performance is influenced by natural and man-made factors (e.g., weather impacts, construction zones).
Who it’s for: Any network operator that wants to utilize GIS-enabled dynamic network visualization to improve infrastructure management by integrating GIS with real-time monitoring to map systems, predict failures, and make data-driven decisions. This approach accelerates troubleshooting, optimizes resources, and prioritizes maintenance based on network health, transforming utility management into a more efficient process.

Integrated Planning and Forecasting

What it does: Uses historical and live geospatial data to predict and plan for future demands on the network.
Why it matters: Helps utilities prepare for peak usage periods or growth in certain areas, optimizing resource allocation.
Who it’s for: Utility personnel who want to leverage spatial forecasting to analyze geographic energy trends and guide smarter grid expansion with real-time and historical data. This approach improves load forecasting to enhance grid reliability and enables scenario-based planning to prepare for electrification and boost grid resilience.

Sustainability and Compliance

What it does: Maps environmentally sensitive areas or zones with strict regulatory requirements.
Why it matters: Promotes adherence to environmental regulations while enhancing the capacity to deliver sustainable services.
Who it’s for: Sustainability teams seeking to align operations with environmental standards. Integrating information from geospatial platforms enables utilities to optimize resources, reduce environmental impact, and ensure compliance with regulations, supporting efficient and sustainable operations

Customer Engagement

What it does: Offers tools for customer notifications and geospatially targeted communications, such as informing residents about localized outages or repairs.
Why it matters: Builds customer trust and transparency.
Who its for: Utility companies, municipalities, and providers seeking advanced digital tools to enhance communication with residents and customers regarding service disruptions, localized outages, or ongoing infrastructure repairs.

Why Geospatial Integration Is Vital

The geospatial element fundamentally enhances how utilities manage their operations. It adds layers of data intelligence that help utilities to:

Optimize Resources: Understand spatial relationships between assets to streamline repairs and inspections.

Enhance Reliability: Respond faster to disruptions by visualizing issues directly on a map.

Improve Safety: Identify hazards like areas with a high risk of floods or wildfires that may threaten infrastructure.

Support Smart Grid Technology: Enable smarter, more adaptive utility grids that evolve with changing spatial conditions

The Role of GIS in Network Operations Management

Geospatial technologies, particularly GIS, form the backbone of network operations management in utilities. GIS allows for:

Mapping of infrastructure and resources
Real-time data integration with IoT sensors and SCADA systems
Predictive analytics for asset lifecycle management

GIS empowers utilities with the tools to visualize, analyze, and act—and thereby transform how services are delivered.

Final Thoughts on NOM

Network operations management in a geospatial context equips utility companies with the tools to handle the complexities of modern utility infrastructure. By integrating geospatial data, utilities can not only boost efficiency but also enhance reliability and sustainability while staying adaptable to challenges like climate change, urbanization, and evolving customer expectations. This makes geospatial-aware operations management a crucial part of the future for utilities.

Modernizing utility business operations often involves shifting from traditional, monolithic software applications to smaller, purpose-built apps. This approach is most effectively empowered by leveraging web-first, low-code platforms like VertiGIS Networks to facilitate streamlined solutions. By adopting such systems, organizations can enable a more efficient workflow and support the next generation of modular, task-oriented applications designed to meet specific user needs.

Contact us today to learn how VertiGIS solutions can revolutionize your approach to Network Operations Management and unlock new levels of efficiency and reliability for your organization.