{"id":3442,"date":"2014-11-17T07:16:03","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T15:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/?p=3442"},"modified":"2014-11-17T07:16:03","modified_gmt":"2014-11-17T15:16:03","slug":"what-about-the-big-problem","status":"publish","type":"insider","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/what-about-the-big-problem","title":{"rendered":"What about the Big Problem?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Don\u2019t <em>think <\/em>you\u2019re solving it. <em>Know <\/em>you are.<\/strong><br \/>\nFor decades, utilities have used some form of digital mapping system. It could be a CAD system, an automated mapping\/facilities management (AM\/FM) system, or a full-featured <a href=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/what-is-gis\" target=\"_blank\">GIS<\/a>. Yet the vast majority of utilities use the GIS mainly as a basis for network documentation. Sure, it often is the basis for asset management, outage management, and network design. That\u2019s good. Utilities have come a long way from the old paper maps and awkward processes of keeping records up to date. Yet, many don\u2019t see their GIS as a true mapping or location platform. They often don\u2019t see it as one that extends into nearly every corner of the company.<br \/>\nMany senior executives still view GIS as just a component, albeit a vital component, of operations groups instead of a strategic tool to help run the business. Executives do not necessarily see the GIS as a strong tool in helping solve their big problems. <!--more--><br \/>\nWhen I visit with senior executives from the power industry, I like to ask three questions: \u201cWhat\u2019s your biggest problem?\u201d \u201cWhat are you doing about it?\u201d <em><\/em>And, <em><\/em>\u201cHow do you know that what you are doing is really solving your biggest problems?<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3447\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3447\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3447\" src=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2014\/09\/9-25-2014-1-03-58-PM-1024x555.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"346\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3447\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Answer the question \u201cWhy?\u201d Contrast customer satisfaction in two neighboring block groups and identify drivers of satisfaction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhen asked what their biggest problems are, most utility senior executives would not answer<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The mapping system is out of date (although it probably is).<\/li>\n<li>The data is inaccurate or missing key pieces of information (again, it probably is).<\/li>\n<li>We are missing cool mapping tools (which they probably are).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Instead, what they would likely say is<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We have serious budget issues.<\/li>\n<li>People are rapidly adopting solar panels and we are losing money.<\/li>\n<li>The board of directors is coming down hard on us to cut costs to maintain earnings.<\/li>\n<li>The press is hounding us about all-too-frequent outages.<\/li>\n<li>People have a negative view of us.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, what\u2019s GIS or spatial technology got to do with their big problems? Plenty\u2014<em>if<\/em> the GIS is seen as a mapping or location platform for the utility and not just a mapping machine.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nWhat about the Big Problem?<\/strong><br \/>\nI recently had a chance to meet with a senior executive from a large power company. I asked her the simple question, \u201cWhat\u2019s your biggest problem?\u201d She replied without hesitation, \u201cCustomer satisfaction.\u201d She said that for the past several years their company had been ranked lowest in customer satisfaction compared with neighboring utilities. The board was furious and told her to fix it. I then asked, \u201cWhat are you doing about it?\u201d She rattled off a couple initiatives, like sending the call center employees to sensitivity training, stepping up the smart meter roll out, and increasing tree trimming to improve reliability.<br \/>\nI asked my follow-up question: \u201cHow do you know that what you are doing is really solving your customer satisfaction problem?<br \/>\nShe replied, \u201cWe hope so.\u201d<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3448\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3448\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3448\" src=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2014\/09\/9-25-2014-2-12-25-PM-1024x478.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"298\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3448\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Answer the question \u201cWhere?\u201d See where your customer satisfaction ranks by block group, as seen here in Westerville, Ohio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWe hope so? Her job depended on fixing the customer satisfaction problem, but she really had no idea whether any of the initiatives would do it. I asked her if she had thought about mapping the results of customer satisfaction surveys? She said, \u201cNo, and why would I?\u201d<br \/>\nI gave her three reasons. <em>Where? Why? <\/em>And, <em>What to do?<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>Where? <\/strong><br \/>\nFirst, by mapping the results of customer satisfaction surveys, she would find out <em>where<\/em> people are most unhappy.<br \/>\n<strong>Why? <\/strong><br \/>\nSecond, she could use the utility&#8217;s GIS-based location platform to discover <em>why<\/em> that might be the case. The utility could take all kinds of historic data from both inside and outside the company, perform spatial analytics, correlate demographic data and social media, and combine this with customer satisfaction data to gain insight into <em>why<\/em> customers are unhappy.<br \/>\n<strong>What to do? <\/strong><br \/>\nOnce she knows where and why customers are not satisfied, she could figure out <em>what<\/em> to do about it. She could craft a solution that focuses on the area of greatest need. She could even use the GIS location platform to track and visualize progress and success.<br \/>\nThe strategy is simple, elegant, and focused on solving her big problem.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nGIS Tells You You\u2019re Solving the Big Issue<\/strong><br \/>\nHaving a GIS-based location platform puts real decision-making knowledge into the hands of people who need it the most. It puts the right information into the right hands on any device.<br \/>\nAlthough GIS is very good at serving as a technical network documentation system, it is much more than that. By accessing GIS tools and taking advantage of the investment in data, utilities can solve the big problems. GIS is a location platform that encompasses network documentation. Let\u2019s take a more strategic approach to the business by putting the GIS location platform to work. Then, the next time I ask the senior executive if the solution he or she poses will solve the big problem, the answer will not be, \u201cWe hope so.\u201d<br \/>\nThe answer, based on reliable data and GIS analysis, will be, \u201cWe know so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about how GIS is a location platform for you utility business, please visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/software\/arcgis\/arcgis-for-electric\">http:\/\/www.esri.com\/software\/arcgis\/arcgis-for-electric<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[275862],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3442","insider","type-insider","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-focus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What about the Big Problem?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/what-about-the-big-problem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What about the Big Problem?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t think you\u2019re solving it. 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