{"id":588500,"date":"2026-10-06T18:04:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T18:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&p=588500"},"modified":"2026-10-06T20:16:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T20:16:02","slug":"small-team-big-impact-modernizing-a-mission-critical-gis","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/small-team-big-impact-modernizing-a-mission-critical-gis","title":{"rendered":"Small Team, Big Impact: Modernizing a Mission-Critical GIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was developed by Kristin Meseck and Euclides Paulo<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Keeping Water Flowing Starts with Reliable Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

When a water utility needs to locate a valve, plan a capital improvement, respond to a service issue, or prepare for excavation, one question is fundamental: What do we know about the utility infrastructure? At Providence Water, the answer increasingly comes from an enterprise geographic information system (GIS) that has grown far beyond its original role as a mapping tool.<\/p>\n\n

Providence Water<\/a> delivers clean, reliable drinking water to nearly 600,000 people across Rhode Island through more than 1,100 miles of water mains and approximately 80,000 service connections. Supporting that infrastructure requires accurate, accessible information that employees can trust when making decisions.<\/p>\n\n

Behind that information is a relatively small GIS team demonstrating that successful digital transformation depends less on organizational size than on clear vision, strong partnerships, and continuous improvement.<\/p>\n\n

GIS at Providence Water has evolved into an enterprise business system supporting engineering, operations, customer service, records management, asset management, and executive decision-making. Modernizing the system required careful planning to replace outdated technology while maintaining reliable access to critical infrastructure information and continuing to support customers, field operations, and emergency response.<\/p>\n\n

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Providence Water\u2019s GIS team supports engineering, operations, customer service, asset management, and field staff across the organization. From left: Euclides Paulo, Pedro Pichardo, Michaela Derderian, Kristin Meseck, Karen Jordan, Lincoln Dark. Not pictured, Raymond Goins with IT.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

GIS Supporting the Entire Organization<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Since 2008, GIS has evolved from a departmental application into an enterprise platform supporting engineering, field operations, customer service, records, and executive leadership. Following a period of planning and study from 2004 to 2006, Providence Water\u2019s first major GIS project, conducted from 2006 to 2008, acquired aerial photography, converted paper records and as-built drawings into digital assets, incorporated CAD plans, and established the organization\u2019s first GIS viewer.<\/p>\n\n

The geospatial division began with a database administrator, a GIS specialist responsible for data maintenance, and an engineering manager who recognized the transformative potential of GIS. These efforts established a shared source of infrastructure information and enabled employees to visualize, search, and better understand the transmission and distribution system.<\/p>\n\n

Throughout the 2010s, the division expanded to three GIS specialists as Providence Water\u2019s service area grew to encompass neighboring municipalities. Hansen, the primary asset management solution in the original GIS implementation, synchronized data with ArcGIS through third-party software. Maintaining separate systems created data discrepancies and delays of up to a month before completed fieldwork was reflected in GIS.<\/p>\n\n

In 2018, Providence Water transitioned from the nonspatial Hansen system to a spatially centered Cityworks <\/a>application. This organization-wide initiative required collaboration across departments to document, redesign, and modernize critical workflows. GIS became the authoritative repository for infrastructure assets, while a mobile field solution replaced paper-based processes. As a result, GIS updates could be completed the same day work was performed, improving the timeliness and accuracy of enterprise data.<\/p>\n\n

By 2022, the division consisted of a GIS manager, a GIS supervisor, and four GIS specialists. In addition to processing hundreds of Cityworks work orders and managing infrastructure updates, the team supported internal and external mapping requests, data analysis, engineering, regulatory reporting, strategic planning, workflow development, data quality initiatives, mobile GIS, and enterprise solutions.<\/p>\n\n

As reliance on GIS grew, the division evolved from a data maintenance group into a trusted business partner supporting operational decision-making and organizational planning. Because GIS had become deeply embedded in daily operations, maintaining business continuity throughout modernization was essential.<\/p>\n\n

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Customer service employee Susan Silvestre uses eMap to check service line material for a customer.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Modernizing the Foundation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Providence Water\u2019s enterprise GIS supported the utility for many years as the authoritative source of infrastructure information. The core GIS environment was built on Esri\u2019s ArcGIS<\/a> platform and included ArcMap, an Oracle enterprise geodatabase, a geometric network, and ArcGIS Server<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Over time, Providence Water expanded its GIS use across engineering, operations, customer service, asset management, and records management. These additions increased the value of GIS but also added technical complexity, making it more difficult to maintain custom workflows, adopt newer ArcGIS capabilities, and support future growth.<\/p>\n\n

The need for change became more pressing as ArcMap approached retirement and the legacy geometric network reached the end of its technology life cycle. Providence Water recognized that replacing individual components would not be enough. The organization needed a modern GIS architecture that could support current business requirements, improve data management, and provide a sustainable foundation for future growth.<\/p>\n\n

Working with Esri partner DCSE<\/a>, Providence Water developed a phased, one-year migration focused on three primary objectives:<\/p>\n\n