This "best practice" is part of a collection of advice provided by information technology professionals on how they have solved various challenges, and addressed IT priorities within their organizations.
The company
Puget Sound Energy (PSE), one of the leading energy providers of natural gas and electric services in the United States. PSE is Washington State's largest and oldest energy utility, serving more than 1 million electric customers and approximately 718,000 natural gas customers.
The challenge
PSE selected ITTIA to mobilize and improve their data collection process in the transformer field that was previously conducted manually. Collecting data manually was labor intensive and challenging in harsh weather.
The solution
ITTIA developed custom software for a rugged handheld computer to collect, manipulate, and store data about the transformer inventory. Data collected off-line in the field is synchronized to streamline the preparation of shipments.
How it worked
The PSE transformer facility is a transfer point for equipment to be stored, prepared for resale, or decommissioned. Before PSE's engagement with ITTIA, field workers had to collect data by visiting each transformer in the field and gather data on papers. Then after, to prepare a shipment of transformers, field workers had to search through the entire stack of papers to find the paperwork for each item on the shipment. Also in order to create shipping reports data was entered into a spreadsheet.
ITTIA's solution for the transformer collection application was developed on a handheld device embedded with ITTIA DB which collects, manipulates and transfers data to an Oracle® database server back-end. A desktop client application is developed to manage collected data and organize transformers into shipments. Now, when a shipment of transformers is ready to leave the facility, a report is printed listing vital information about the transformers stock. As a result, mobile data acquisition is now part of the main system, making data management safe and efficient without relying on connectivity or papers.
Rules for success
1. Selection of reliable technologies - Selecting reliable software and hardware, including a fast lightweight database with small footprint and a reliable mobile handheld device, was critical to the ultimate success of the project. It was important for the database to completely satisfy the data management requirements when accessed by an application in the field with no back-end connection.
2. Elimination of paperwork - Typically field workers are comfortable and familiar with their existing tools and methods for doing their job. It was important for ITTIA's solution to be easy, reliable and fast to capture field workers attention and encourage them to replace the old paper work approach with the new solution.
3. Increasing productivity - It was important for the managers to measure the productivity of their field workers and experience improvement with the new solution from ITTIA. The measurement for these productivities included, reducing the number of back and forth trips, not getting delayed when there is a poor connection and becoming fully mobilized with no connection. Success criteria included a reduction in the number of trips to the transformers, no delays caused by connectivity problems, and the ability to collect information in the rain.
4. Affordable cost - It was important for PSE to finalize this project on budget and rely on ITTIA to obtain reasonable ITTIA DB licensing and consulting costs. Therefore, ITTIA's main objective was to minimize PSE's TCO for this project. Upon final delivery, PSE confirmed the professional quality and affordable price of ITTIA DB software and development services. It is important to determine in advance, before application is implemented, whether mobile technologies match the expected budget for the business? ITTIA ensures that the estimated returns on the investment are positive.
Five classic mistakes
1. Not using an embedded database - Most software applications manage data and in some cases, the data is managed in a flat file. This is fine for applications as long as they have a short life cycle and their data is stagnant. If the application is going to have a long life cycle and/or is going to grow, having a database management system is a must to make the development efforts durable and cost effective. Mobile and embedded applications are no longer stand-alone and now require capabilities to gather, store, analyze and share data. As a result, an embedded database is an important component for mobilization.
2. Selecting an enterprise rather than embedded database - An embedded database addresses a different type of solution requirement than that provided by a conventional enterprise RDBMS. It is important for the embedded database to offer the required functionality but be suitable for mobile and embedded system environments. The embedded database should ensure the integrity and safety of data. In addition, the database must be configured so it may be deployed in a remote environment. In contrast to the enterprise databases, an embedded database is part of the application not a separate running application and its operations are invoked by the application. Embedded databases are embedded within an application and are not seen by end-users. Typical relational databases are big, expensive, and slow. They are general purpose because they must serve a wide range of applications and end users. They tend to be separate running applications that are independent of the system application.
3. Not carefully estimating the total cost - There are various cost structures in developing applications for embedded systems and mobile handheld devices. These cost components include the operating system, database, development tools, and more. Each of these components are supported by maintenance cost, including technical support, updates and upgrades. It is important to fully understand and accurately estimate the total cost of a project.
4. Not understanding the benefits gained in mobilizing the fieldworker - Protecting data kept at a desktop PC with a firewall can no longer be the only way in today's dynamic business world to conduct successful business. Workers need to carry mobile computers to access their applications outside the office, even when there is no connection. It is important to become educated about the value gained through utilizing mobile handheld computers for field workers. Various studies and research have continuously proven that mobile computing offers improvement to workforce efficiency, increases productivity, and justifies the initial investment.
5. Not preparing for tomorrow - Mobile and embedded application requirements are becoming more complex and as the size of the collected data increases in size, end users can no longer rely only on a folder-based interface to manage their data. Embedded database will allow mobile application developers the flexibility of powerful relational database access methods, combined with a great performance. A main advantage is meeting the needs of business application developers by allowing the developer to easily deploy robust mobile applications with complete control of data.
Must-ask questions
1. How does performance and reliability compare with other available solutions?
2. How does the total cost of ownership compare with other available solutions?
3. What maintenance (technical support, updates and upgrades) is offered during and after development?
Who's a candidate?
All kinds of businesses find mobilizing their work force advantageous. Benefits include better communication, increased productivity, less paperwork and faster turn-around times. Industries that can benefit include manufacturing, utilities, financial, insurance, retail, communication, healthcare, and many more.
Final takeaway
It is important to understand the business requirements and existing software framework in the assessment of new software development. Selecting correct technologies and working with consulting experts who offer appropriate knowledge are an important part of the project's success. ITTIA's next-generation lightweight database (ITTIA DB) and its consulting expertise offer decades of experience to make data management fast, reliable, mobile, and portable. ITTIA has earned the trust of the world's leading companies, and its cost-effective database software and consulting services have simplified development in numerous applications.
This Best Practice was provided by:
ITTIA
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