GIS in the Center: The Architecture Utilities Actually Operate On

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Utilities often talk about “integrated systems,” but in practice most integrations already revolve around one platform: GIS. Not as a mapping tool—but as the operational system of record that defines how the grid actually exists.

The reality behind the diagram

The diagram in this post is closer to how utilities actually operate than most vendor slideware:

flowchart TB
GIS["GIS<br/>(Authoritative Network Model)"]:::center
subgraph OPS["Operations"]
direction LR
OMS["OMS"]
ADMS["ADMS / DMS"]
SCADA["SCADA"]
FIELD["Field / Work Mgmt"]
end
subgraph PLAN["Planning & Analysis"]
direction LR
ENG["Engineering Studies"]
DISTPLAN["Distribution Planning"]
end
subgraph ENT["Enterprise & Customer"]
direction LR
EAM["EAM / Asset Mgmt"]
CIS["CIS"]
AMI["AMI / MDMS"]
DERMS["DERMS"]
end
OMS --> GIS
ADMS --> GIS
SCADA --> GIS
FIELD --> GIS
GIS --> ENG
GIS --> DISTPLAN
GIS --> EAM
GIS --> CIS
GIS --> AMI
GIS --> DERMS
OMS -. "Outage history / event analysis" .-> GIS
ADMS -. "Switching / study feedback" .-> GIS
classDef center fill:#01696f,stroke:#0c4e54,color:#ffffff,stroke-width:2px;

GIS is in the center as the system of record for the network model.
OMS, ADMS, SCADA, DERMS, field, planning, asset, CIS, and AMI/MDMS all radiate out from that center.
A few systems have dashed feedback loops back into GIS, where it makes sense to feed data and results into spatial and engineering analysis.

GIS on ADMS Readiness

GIS in the Center: The Architecture Utilities Actually Operate On

The reality behind the diagram