Critigen
Gut-Driven vs. Data-Driven

Every day, CEOs and CFOs make decisions that impact their business. CIOs and operations managers spend millions on technology to gather the information needed to support those decisions. Why, then, are so many of those decisions still gut-driven, and not data-driven?

Part of the answer lies in the fact that much of that technology investment is locked up in silos, or separated by specialization. Take business intelligence (BI) and geographic information systems (GIS), as examples. “If you want to get the biggest bang for your buck, integrate these two systems as soon as possible,” says Jaime Crawford, Critigen’s VP of Geospatial Systems Integration.

Since 2010, Critigen has established itself as a distinguished go-to partner for the geo-enablement of SAP Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) and Work Manager (WM) with Esri ArcGIS. Their deep background in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), GIS, spatial analytics, and consulting is perfect for companies looking to unlock their business potential through spatial integration.

Case in point, Hydro One, the largest power generation, transmission, and distribution company in Ontario, Canada provides power to 98 percent of the population, covering an area twice the size of Texas. “We had everything we needed, SAP WM, Esri GIS, and a scheduling application,” said Tyler Towers, Hydro One’s Business Solution Architect. “But something wasn’t quite right. It was taking 6 months for changes made by nearly a thousand linemen to be updated in the ERP.” What seemed to be a simple problem, turned out to be very complex and had a ripple effect. Data integrity suffered and crews sometimes had to revisit sites a second time.

“Working with Critigen, we were able to tightly integrate GIS with SAP’s Work Manager, cutting the data update time from 180 days to just 4 or 5 days. And now our crews have up-to-date data, every week.”

The dramatic increase in efficiency is exactly what Critigen expected, explains Ty van den Akker, VP of Product Strategy and Business Development.

Working with Critigen, Hydro One was able to tightly integrate GIS with SAP’s Work Manager, cutting the data update time from 180 days to just 4 or 5 days

“It’s not just putting GIS or SAP in the field, it’s the synergy of combining those data together in the same application. It’s about empowering your workforce with data,” he explains.

“That experience led to the release of our Lemur™ product that allows customers to add GIS to their SAP applications faster, cheaper and with lower risk than ever before,” states van den Akker. The user can easily configure the application to give their mobile workforce exactly what they need to do their job, regardless of the industry.

As Critigen moves into the future, application development and system integration will remain a priority. Their background in Geo.e implementation positions them to help SAP users take advantage of the Geographical Enablement Framework (GEF) and exploit the spatial analytical power of Esri. “We are experts in the integration of GIS with SAP,” says Jaime Crawford. “And we are excited to help more SAP customers realize the benefits of integrating their business intelligence and geographic information systems.”

Critigen is already busy at work tying HANA and Esri GIS to the Internet of Things (IoT), helping both public and private organizations to manage their assets more effectively. “Digital transformation is well underway as we move from smart cities to intelligent transportation systems to smart wind farms,” says Ed Riegelmann, Critigen’s Chief Geospatial Officer. “We feel like we’ve only scratched the surface, but every day, we help more customers to make data-driven decisions based on what they care about. We help them unlock their full potential. That’s what geo-enablement is all about.”