The National Park Service is responsible for 285 areas in the United States. These areas encompass approximately 83.6 million acres overseen by 7 regional offices and they have over 270 million visitors annually. Administered under the Department of the Interior the mission of the National Park Service, established in 1816, is to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education and inspiration for this and future generations. The NPS spends the majority of its budget on construction projects in order to maintain and enhance these resources.

What was needed…

The NPS needed to integrate their Oracle-based maintenance, repair and operations asset management system, Maximo, with their cost estimating system from Timberline Software. In addition they needed a process that could easily be used by field maintenance workers located in parks across the country as well as professional estimators from construction contractors. The system had to meet sophisticated validation requirements that complied with executive order and withstood audits by the US General Accounting Office and Inspector General.

Steps taken…

Eos Group provided the National Park Service with professional services including strategic planning, configuration management, infrastructure architecture, project management, and support. They provided system capacity planning and data conversion services as the NPS upgraded vendor software and hardware during the implementation process.

Working with other NPS consultants, Eos Group designed and developed a complex but seamless integration process between Timberline and Maximo. The integration technology provides real-time, two way integration. With the click of a button, Maximo data is transferred into the NPS Cost Estimating Software System (CESS). Once the estimator develops the estimate in Timberline, the data is validated and sent to Maximo asset work order maintenance data.

A configurable validation engine was developed that could be modified to meet future business rules. In order to ensure proper usage, customized training documentation was developed by Eos staff members. Hands-on, “train-the-trainer’ instructional sessions were provided for NPS trainers.

Results…

The National Park Service now provides an efficient, easy to use, integrated solution to over 550 users in their parks around the country.

To learn more about the Redwoods National Park, featured in the October 2009 issue of National Geographic   Click here