Shiny, new technology might seem like a great idea, until someone has to implement it across a multi-department organization. The moans and groans from reluctant pupils tasked with learning to work it can be a drag on progress. Choosing integrative tech with something to offer everyone and agile, iterative adoption might help the medicine go down.

CJ Smith (pictured), project manager in the Operational Technology Division of Riverside Public Utilities, is no stranger to these growing pains. “Some people see automation and technology as sometimes a threat because of job security, or the I’ve always done it this way type of mentality,” she said.

The organization provides water and electric utilities for the city of Riverside, California, and has about 120,000 customers. It has made OSIsoft LLC’s PI operational intelligence software the foundation of its inner workings from information technology to administration, Smith explained. She sold higher-ups and staffers on the tech through a process of trials and bit-by-bit expansion. 

Smith spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at the PI World US event in San Francisco. They discussed how PI spread through different departments within her organization. (* Disclosure below.)

Humble beginnings and cross-department winnings

Smith attained buy-in from operations by requesting a humble five-month test run. They agreed, and the organization implemented its first use case in its Water Operations dashboard.

“They were doing it manually in Excel, and it would take a staff person over eight hours to do it,” she said. They put that data into the PI system, and a new, much more efficient method was born. “It’s saved staff time. They now have actual intelligence, real-time data; the managers get alerts to their phones about the status of wells, and so it was really helpful to that workgroup,” she added.

IT was quick to hop on board when it saw how it could use PI as a data catch-all. “We’re using PI as a data hub or like a bus, a data bus essentially,” Smith said. “Instead of having all of these individual points, we’re only going to connect to one system, which will be easier for them to manage and maintain, and we’ll instruct staff to go to PI to get the data. So that’s a selling point for IT. It’s more secure; it’s more manageable.” 

Riverside Public Utilities continues to roll out deeper integrations across departments. “You’re kind of learning as you go, and you’re able to refine it and refine it and make the process that much better,” Smith concluded. 

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the PI World US 2018 event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for PI World. Neither OSIsoft LLC, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE