ArcFM/ArcGIS Data Migration

So, you’ve just chosen the ArcGIS from Esri and the Schneider Electric ArcFM Solution. Great decision!

Now you need to migrate data from your current mapping system into an ArcFM Geodatabase. You may have valid source data to be loaded and you may not.  If you do, this is where BSL can help. Here are a few reasons why BSL:

Experience

BSL staff have migrated data from CAD systems, non-ArcFM Esri Geodatabases, Non-Esri GIS databases (some common and some obscure) and even from engineering analysis models into ArcFM-compliant databases.  We’ve done it  dozens and dozens of times under all kinds of schedules and special conditions.

ArcFM knowledge

To take full advantage of the ArcFM solution, it’s not enough to simply “load the data.”  It’s important to understand the consequences of data migration decisions, and valuable to understand the nooks and crannies of the ArcFM data models.  Here are a few illustrative examples:

• Electric conductor phase designation/orientation

  Say you want to include both phase designation (phases present on a line segment) and phase orientation (i.e., “ACB” versus “ABC” or “CBA”, etc.) in a single field and still meet the expectations of an ArcFM Phase Designation field?  We can help you do this – with no custom code.

• Gas cathodic protection designation

  Say you want to designate which pipes are “conductive” for use with the ArcFM Cathodic Protection Tracing without adding an extra field to designate its CP status – we can help here, too.

• Fiber Connectivity

  Say you’re current fiber management solution represents fiber strand connectivity by storing ranges of fiber pairs that connect at a splice point and you want to map this to the ArcFM Fiber Manager connectivity mode – again, this is a place we can help.

Utility expertise

Your data is not just “GIS Data.” It represents equipment in the field used to provide service to your companies end customers. The data are not lines and points – they’re features used to represent  conductors, pipes, wire, devices and structures present in the field that your company depends on to provide reliable service. You know your data best, but BSL has worked with many of your peers and can talk your language.

Assuring quality

BSL uses both standard and specialized processes to ensure that, at minimum,  data quality in the migration target matches the data quality in the source. A data migration effort can also be an occasion to examine your data in ways that you may not on a day-to-day basis.  So where possible we look for opportunities to improve data conditions; sometimes by simplifying a data model, sometimes by adding validation, sometimes by uncovering existing systematic erroneous conditions and sometimes in ways no one had really foreseen.

Competitive rates

While BSL offers solid expertise and quality, our rates are very competitive.

When and Why of Automated Data Migration?

If you’re moving from another electronic mapping system into ArcFM  you’ll need to move your data. The best course of action may be to employ an automated migration process. But it also may not be. If the complexity of building and verifying an automated migration process exceeds the effort required to have skilled technicians re-digitize and re-attribute the data you should really consider this course. This could be the case if the spatial accuracy and/or completeness of your source data is questionable or if there is additional value to be added that can only reasonably be done by human inspection.  If these conditions don’t apply, then moving your data by automated process is nearly always the most cost effective approach.