ESRI and Pipeline Database Standards

The principal focus for ESRI is the supply of generic spatial data management software which can be used by a variety of industries to build focused business solutions (see Data Models). For recent developments in this area, please see the ArcGIS Pipeline Data Model [PDF].

The pipeline industry is one of the newest markets for ESRI: This has largely been driven by new regulations in the U.S. and large projects overseas. As such, ESRI itself is not involved in the construction of pipeline solutions, except in consulting on the integration of our component technology. ESRI as such neither builds nor offers for sale any specific pipeline database solution, although several of our Business Partners use ESRI technology to do so.

ESRI implemented standards itself in using component object technology to rewrite ArcGIS and using VisualBasic for scripting. Standards make many of the current communications media possible, and ESRI specifically supports and approves of both PODS and PPDM standards. We thus encourage third party implementations of ESRI technology to build on PODS or PPDM data models, including both underlying physical database capability and applications interface.

ESRI's ArcGIS Server technology enables the construction of spatially enabled pipeline data stores, both PODS- and PPDM-based. We are working closely with our business partners to ensure that ESRI technology is ready to spatially enable the upstream corporate data store. Further press announcements and pipeline exhibits by major upstream pipeline database vendors show the application of these new technologies in ArcGIS scalable solutions.