As the Digital Transformation evolution continues, once far-fetched ideas on digitizing inefficient processes and increasing productivity, have become vital projects that are shifting the way organizations operate. Software and Data Integration is crucial to the success and impact of these projects. Without strong data integration, organizations will simply be trading one inefficient process for another, constantly focused on closing gaps between their newly launched systems. This is especially true for asset-intensive organizations in the Utilities, Transportation, Pipeline, and Government spaces.
But we know the seemingly endless options for integration software can make getting started with integration overwhelming. If you are searching for a GIS and Asset Management integration solution, especially as your organization moves from Esri’s Geometric Network (GN) to their Utility Network (UN), we’ve got you covered. Read on to learn how Safe Software’s FME and Geonexus’ Integration Platform stack up.
The Geonexus Integration Platform (GIP) is a middleware integration platform with a library of connectors to popular GIS, Asset Management, and Customer Information systems. Geonexus’ business logic connectors easily connect through REST APIs directly to organizations’ enterprise systems (like Esri, SAP or IBM Maximo) so that organizations can connect their systems quickly with no code. GIP is a true bidirectional synchronization solution that detects change using a comparison method that identifies creates, deletes, discrepancies, and duplicates every time data is synced.
Unlike Geonexus, which is a data integration and synchronization tool, FME is an ETL tool, which means extract, transform, and load. ETL tools are typically used for data migration, not data integration. While users could build complex rules and mappings to compare data in different systems, FME does not provide a live view of data with its user-interface and is not built to sync data from one system to another.
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Both FME and Geonexus have user-friendly graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Because ETL data migration can take dozens of steps to complete, FME makes it easy for users to visually organize their transformation steps and rules. But, only more technical users can design complex custom transformations and rules to help push data via its ETL process.
Alternately, the Geonexus Integration Platform aims to enable citizen integrators with its user-friendly GUI and out-of-box business logic processes. After working with Geonexus to configure integrations based on each organization’s specific integration needs, users of all technical backgrounds can access the platform to review the status of the integration, add attributes rules or new asset classes, and reconfigure the integration based on changing business requirements.
The Geonexus Integration Platform also automatically produces detailed PDF and XML data quality reports each time synchronization is run between two systems. Geonexus reports identify any errors, discrepancies, or changes in the data, and can be sent to the organization’s key stakeholders so data issues can be resolved quickly. Though FME has the capability to produce text file reports about data, it has no built-in reporting feature, meaning the user has to set-up and format custom reports on their own.
With increasing numbers of Utilities organizations transitioning to the Esri Utility Network in the coming years, GN to UN migration capability is crucial for data integration solutions. With the Geonexus Integration Platform, GN to UN migration is simplified by providing clearly defined tools and built-in logic to handle complex scenarios when migrating to the UN. The process boils down to identifying data sources between the 2 models, building migration rules (association creation), and letting the system run. In utilizing the Geonexus Integration Platform to migrate and synchronize a legacy GN with a UN, organizations can keep current system integrations in place during the GN to UN move.
With FME, users need to extract all data from the GN and UN and build out individual migration rules and comparisons for each attribute. Ultimately this can prove overwhelming for the user as they are handling dozens of screens and mappings instead of viewing everything in one place.
Geonexus prides itself on having a solution that works for data integration and migration from GN to UN. Contact one of our integration experts today to learn how our software can help your organization with its GN to UN migration needs: www.geo-nexus.com/contact.
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