OSMOSE DEPLOYS OBJECTIVITY IN FASTGATE MANAGER UTILITY ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
- Object-oriented Database Delivers Superior Performance while Minimizing Database Administration Requirements -
For Immediate Release:
SUNNYVALE, Calif., -- (June 13, 2005) -- - As demand increases for its real-time data management solutions for complex inter-related data, Objectivity, Inc., today announces that Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. has deployed Objectivity/DB in the FastGate Manager for Poles. FastGate Manager is a new application for electric and telecommunications utility companies and transportation markets worldwide. The FastGate Manager software product is designed to help utility companies of all sizes manage and maintain their poles and related field assets.
Helping Utilities Manage Field Assets The new FastGate Manager provides viewing and editing of poles, field assets and other network features in both map and table formats and offers numerous query and reporting options. Integrated data-maintenance functions, including FastGate Mobile software, support field operations and maintenance personnel and help keep utility asset data accurate and up to date. FastGate Manager lets utility companies manage pole and field assets more effectively making inspection, maintenance, and related information easy to retrieve, analyze, and maintain. This in turn provides greater departmental control over the field asset data and permits more informed decisions regarding utility assets. The new FastGate Manager product makes field asset information easy to access and edit and also provides full data-maintenance. Having these components integrated in one application is what makes this a comprehensive pole management solution.
Objectivity Delivers Availability and Flexibility The FastGate Manager application uses the Objectivity/DB platform to provide a geographic "map" view of pole and other network features. Osmose has deployed approximately 200 installations of this Objectivity-based viewer that provides a spatial view of the location of utility assets, their condition, and an inventory of what they contain. The map view gives users a visual sense of location which is especially helpful in detecting trends and patterns and in planning work assignments. Editing can be accomplished by repositioning poles in a map view or by altering attribute values in a table-based view. Using integrated FastGate Mobile data-collection software, existing information can be taken to the field for updates. Changes are then uploaded to the desktop system for posting. "By embedding Objectivity/DB, Osmose realized superior database performance while minimizing database administration requirements, something that is critical to the acceptance of the FastGate product," states Mark Brule, chief technology officer for Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. "Objectivity occupies a small footprint yet it provides a robustness that is perfect for managing utility asset data." In order to accommodate the changing requirements from one utility customer to the next, Osmose implemented a dynamic schema management system in the Objectivity/DB. Under this scheme the attributes that are stored and manipulated for each pole can be changed without recompiling the application. "We really leveraged the ability of Objectivity/DB to efficiently maintain and utilize relationships to make this solution reach some pretty lofty performance targets," said Brule. "Osmose joins our other process control customers including Emerson Process Management, Rosemount Division and Siemens Building Technologies in enjoying Objectivity's performance advantages," according to Jay Jarrell, president and CEO for Objectivity. "Objectivity/DB is superior when it comes to managing complex data and relationship information from multiple data sources."
About Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. Osmose Utilities Services, Inc., is a leading provider of asset-management solutions for electric, gas, and telecommunications networks. It serves utilities across North America, providing field inventory, pole maintenance and restoration, and capture of data related to joint use, phasing, customer connectivity, vegetation status, and other important network conditions. Osmose also provides inspection and maintenance of padmount transformers, steel towers, grounding systems, and integrated vegetation management services. Osmose pole and line products include guy-markers, Kudzu-Guard™, signs and tags, remedial treatments and restoration systems. The company's Data Services business unit delivers data solutions that help to improve system reliability, OMS performance, regulatory compliance, and management of network assets. For more information, please visit http://www.osmose.com/utilities/
