Solution Roadmap,
Planning and Implementation

With you along the transformational journey

InfraGrid partners with you from nascent stages of pilot network area selection to full scale deployment and network model sustainment. It is our mission to help you realize your Smart Grid vision.

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Pilot Network Selection

One of the important decisions as you launch a transformational program is determining a test or pilot geographic area that you can use as a sandbox to build and test out your DMS or OMS solution. The approach to selecting such a pilot area should be detailed because your chosen demographic must cover most if not all types of network elements and customer types. Missing out on a key network element such as a three winding transformer or a large 5MVA customer in your pilot area can lead your design and build team down a path to potentially reconstruct some of these key elements when you are ready for a full geographic roll-out. We perform an extensive analysis across your network topology and help you determine which network region(s) would be the most suitable to launch a pilot on in order to reduce added complexity and costs later down the road.

Data Remediation and Conversion

Remediating data required for systems such as DMS and OMS can be a daunting task for your source system custodians. One missing data parameter for a type of asset can add thousands of hours of effort to gather and populate the data. Data model changes to accommodate new data elements only convolute the problem further – all the while your team is focusing on sustaining the system for day to day operations. We establish a proven structure around data remediation activities that includes organizational, technology, and process components.

Our team achieves this by doing a deep dive with your source system owners and creating an effort estimating model for each source system that takes into account the tens of thousands of data elements that need to be remediated so that we can empirically assess the impact on your sustainment organization and determine funding requirements and data remediation approach from get-go. This attention to detail is what distinguishes our services from other firms. We can help you identify sources that specialize in data remediation and data conversion at a fraction of cost and time it would take your resources to conduct same tasks.

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Building the Network Model

The process through which the network model is built in DMS or OMS by your team should be well understood and agreed upon to avoid churn and burn-out later during deployment. Our team has pioneered processes that cater to the dynamic nature of a DMS network model build cycle and keep various parties constantly aligned during these activities. These parties include operators, engineers, schematic designers, and data source custodians. Having a structured approach to building your model saves time and frustration later with your project team and end users.

This process includes having a signed-off protocol for the following activities:

i. DMS network import from the enterprise and issue resolution
ii. Creating and validating single line schematic of the network
iii. Testing the network to ensure the application provides results within a required threshold

Network Model Tuning

Just as an airline pilot conducts a pre-takeoff checklist, the operators and engineers using DMS always want to tune the network model to ensure the host of applications are functioning as expected before accepting the network model into production. Given the complex and iterative nature of network model refreshes in DMS we have developed a proven process that includes checklists, test scripts, and protocols each party must follow to get each model refresh into production as quickly as possible. In absence of such a process your teams will be prone to not standardizing work methods and add time to each model refresh cycle since each model upload brings upon unique challenges. But, having a structured set of rules established defines a method to the madness and as a result your stakeholders will always have a compass to decide with.

We have defined a process that streamlines production model delivery, produce detailed and repeatable network check lists, and put structure around defect resolution (such as network topology errors, or application failing errors) when issues arise. Our team works with you to take these processes and customize them to the dynamics of your team environment.