Hi everyone, Our organization is a mid-sized municipality currently running Cityworks for asset management. The system has been breaking down for us, and leadership is exploring whether we can replace it entirely with Esri-native solutions/apps given that we already have ArcGIS Enterprise. I am happy to find out if anyone has any of such experience out there as we are looking for Esri applications that can help us handle core functions that cityworks does for us including; * Service Requests: Capturing citizens and internal reports tied to specific assets. * Work Orders: Assigning field crews to jobs, tracking labor hours, materials used, equipment, and total cost per job. Has anyone built a complete work order workflow purely within the Esri ecosystem that tracks full cost without a dedicated CMMS. * Storeroom: Tracking inventory and materials, linking consumption to work orders, and managing stock levels. Are there lightweight Esri-integrated inventory tools or apps that can handle this for us? I want to understand how far Esri apps and tools can take us in our asset management and if that is not possible, I am open to ideas on any good CMMS Any real-world experience, case studies, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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GIS for Asset Management

Ikeen

Hi everyone,

Our organization is a mid-sized municipality currently running Cityworks for asset management. The system has been breaking down for us, and leadership is exploring whether we can replace it entirely with Esri-native solutions/apps given that we already have ArcGIS Enterprise.

I am happy to find out if anyone has any of such experience out there as we are looking for Esri applications that can help us handle core functions that cityworks does for us including;

Service Requests: Capturing citizens and internal reports tied to specific assets.
Work Orders: Assigning field crews to jobs, tracking labor hours, materials used, equipment, and total cost per job. Has anyone built a complete work order workflow purely within the Esri ecosystem that tracks full cost without a dedicated CMMS.
Storeroom: Tracking inventory and materials, linking consumption to work orders, and managing stock levels. Are there lightweight Esri-integrated inventory tools or apps that can handle this for us?

I want to understand how far Esri apps and tools can take us in our asset management and if that is not possible, I am open to ideas on any good CMMS

Any real-world experience, case studies, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

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Jennifer_Parmeley

Love the inclusion of Tasks into the solutions.

joyoung_kerrvilletx

Hello @MikeDagle I guess I am thinking about a solution that handles the creation and management of workorders in general that ties into all of the other solutions for asset management. It would be something deployed completely independent of the other solutions but as you deploy the other asset management solutions they can be linked to this workorder solution. I would also like to see it work with the Citizen Problem Reporter solution.

For example, a request comes in from the Citizen Problem Reporter about a defaced street sign, the request is assigned to Public Works, Public Works generates a new workorder from the request and assigns it to a field crew, the field crew gets the assignment and generates a new inspection for the sign, the field crew inspects the sign and makes any needed changes to the asset in GIS. From there it all propagates back up to the initial citizen request. Now there is a record of what the citizen requested, the work done, and what was found in the field.

Web hooks could be utilized to facilitate notifications and passing attributes back and forth between the solutions (at least until attribute rules come to hosted feature services). I am not looking for a workorder system that rivals dedicated solutions from other vendors. Just something that has the basics that fits in with and utilizes what Esri already offers.

I can see this working great with the upcoming "vibe solutioning". That can be used for assets that do not already have a management or inspection solution.

MikeDagle

Hi @Joshua-Young Several of our solutions are designed to be "light-weight ArcGIS based asset management solution". We organize those light-weight capabilities around particular assets. For example, in the Sign Management solution you can inventory signs, record maintenance and condition assessments, respond to requests for service. Would be interested in learning about the capabilities you'd expect in a "light-weight ArcGIS based asset management solution."

We're also currently working on using Field Maps Tasks to conduct recurring programs like preventive maintenance. We'll be releasing those capabilities this Fall.

joyoung_kerrvilletx

Also, this might be something to keep an eye on from the ArcGIS Solutions team. Honestly, I have not had much interest in AI/vibe coding until I saw this post. If Esri can add attribute rules to hosted services, this announcement and web hooks could greatly change how we use GIS at my organization (and possibly replace some other software we use).

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scott-oppmann_sneak-peek-vibe-solutioning-in-arcgis-activity-7470094638679486466-jf5l

joyoung_kerrvilletx

I wonder if this would be something the ArcGIS Solutions team would like to collaborate on. Surely there are many small to medium sized utility companies or municipalities that could benefit from a light-weight ArcGIS based asset management solution.

However, I do not think it would be feasible until attribute rules come to hosted feature services because there are things with workorders that you would want to calculate automatically in the background.

Jennifer_Parmeley

You should organize this on a larger scale @AmyRoust 😉
I'm willing to bet some of our pain points are the same despite using different software packages.

AmyRoust

I'm searching for a user group for people who manage ArcGIS Enterprise and Cityworks integrations. I'd like to compare notes to see where other organization's pain points are and if they have found workarounds or solutions to our various issues.

rsalvaleon

Once you've got 1 and 2 figured out, for Storeroom I have a UC22 demo in the 41:15m part of this video (I hope you have access to UC proceedings) - where I demonstrate what is a Vehicle/Storeroom field solution that keeps track of inventory using ArcGIS Data Interoperability for Pro extension. Since you are using ArcGIS Enterprise for your feature services, this is the appropriate tool if a no-code solution is desired.

If the video is not accesible, reach out to me using my mail rsalvaleon@esri.com and I'll be happy to demo he solution and browse through that video highlights with your account manager.

Inerestingly, a utility land management department is in a similar situation and looking at a field solution as a replacement for inspections and that it will integrate with their custom work and lease management system using Data Interoperability. Budget was their primary issue for the move.

ShareUser

One and two is easy achievable, the last one will need really careful database design and protentional need 3rd party software like FME flow.

Jennifer_Parmeley

We are using a different asset manager. Less than optimal performance here as well, means I am also trying to find a more native GIS solution. I believe this can be done, what I don't know is if I have the time to do it.

I've begun to experiment with field maps/tasks for our work order/task needs and really like what I see and how flexible it has been in testing.

I've chatted with a few others who are doing asset piles for storerooms - I have not experimented with this - simply passing on the info.

The big hurdle I see here (other than time) is asset degradation curve.

CalvinHarmin

That's very well said, and I'm surprised you aren't in the Administrative side of things since that's precisely what I see as our organization's de facto Cityworks Administrator.

I was the lone GIS worker in our org in 2021 when I was graciously 'handed' Cityworks out of the blue. It became my responsibility to be the implementation project manager, and that turned into managing it indefinitely. Five years later, I am now the Assistant IT Director, but we still don't have a dedicated Cityworks Admin, nor is it in our five year plan... I'm still managing it, barely, but I think we're suffering for it. There may be a breaking point coming sometime soon where management will realize our people aren't collecting data in a manner that actually feeds their analytics pipe dream. It requires more eyes and more hammers beating concepts into heads constantly; more training, re-training. Investing in 'power users' in different work groups to serve as liasons for proper methods and keeping eyes out for efficiencies or improvements to workflows.

I am wondering if OP is in a similar boat where their org has not applied the resources necessary to really get the most benefit out of the platform. Choosing an asset management system - like most enterprise systems - is a harrowing gauntlet of compromises. Cityworks is the devil I know so I can complain out of one side of my mouth while supporting it from the other side.

MErikReedAugusta

As someone in an organization that also uses Cityworks (though I don't have access or experience to the administration side of this) a few thoughts on the underlying problem:

A significant percentage of the issues we tend to face in our work flows come from people not doing all of the steps they're supposed to do. (We've had people forget to attach assets, not close work orders out properly, etc.) These sorts of problems are almost always managerial & administrative, and in theory, merely require higher-ups to lean on their subordinates to do the steps they've been told to do.
When workers are routinely forgetting steps in a Work Order—especially across multiple employees—you have a reasonable case to ask questions like, "Is the problem that they're not doing their jobs, or is it that the requirements of the task are unreasonable?" Sometimes it can be easy to lose sight of the "good enough" in chasing the ideal. I know even in our work orders, it sometimes feels like there's well-meaning dead weight that we could reasonably give up on and take it off the shoulders of the field workers.
Another problem we've run into in our organization is that we don't have the PLL extension, and yet we're tracking plan review-type activities in Cityworks. There are a number of growing pains there that basically amount to "square peg/round hole". Take a look at your Cityworks implementation(s) and see if you're actually using the right tool for the job inside the Cityworks ecosystem, before you fully reinvent the wheel.

As others have said or alluded to, there's a very strong chance that the road you're about to walk may end with "So, I built a work order management software suite from the ground up and could probably start a company on this, at this point." Many of ESRI's solutions are great, and for a smaller municipality, you could probably get a lot of effectiveness out of tying a few of them together. But beyond a certain footprint of municipal responsibilities, I think it's reasonable to ask whether the problem is better tackled by software that was purpose-designed for municipal asset tracking by folks in that side of the industry.

ShareUser

The short answer is it's very very difficult. If ESRI had an actual Asset Management available, it would be a very strong competitor against things like Cityworks. In fact I know of only one municipality in my area that's had success using an ESRI-only suite for asset management. Check out this blog reference from a couple of years ago to get some additional info/contact info for those who might be able to give you some good information.

MikeDagle

Hi @Ikeen,

We currently have a large portfolio of asset management solutions that public works, utility, parks and grounds organizations develop asset inventories, conduct inspection and maintenance, and coordinate field work. Several of those also work with Citizen Problem Reporter solution which can used to solid and manage requests for service.

You may be familiar with recently released Field Maps Tasks. We're currently implementing Tasks into several of our asset management solutions to support recurring maintenance and inspection programs where Tasks are tied to specific assets. That work is scheduled to release later this year.
We aren't planning to build material inventory and tacking workflows into our solutions out of the box. Those and a few other capabilities are best served by our asset management partners.

Feel free to reach out if you want to learn more, would be happy to connect.

- Mike

CalvinHarmin

With enough time and effort, it must be possible, but it would basically be a development job even if you're not primarily coding.

So, my initial question for you is:
How many staff do you already have dedicated to the task of administering/managing Cityworks AMS? And then, do you have a plan to dedicate an additional staff member to developing a new system?

Is this driven partly by the forced migration from Cityworks AMS --> Trimble Unity Maintain?

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