Central Arkansas Water’s Digital Transformation
Modernizing Water Infrastructure Management
with CyberTech’s ArcGIS Cloud Modernization
When your GIS system goes down, field crews managing 2,C37 miles of water infrastructure are working blind. For Central Arkansas Water - serving nearly 500,000 residents - that wasn't a hypothetical risk. It was real.
Overview
Central Arkansas Water (CAW) serves nearly 500,000 residents across eight counties, managing extensive infrastructure including 2 lakes, 1 reservoir, 3 water treatment plants, 2,697 miles of pipe, 41,622 valves, and 202,000 metered connections. For years, CAW’s GIS team operated in reactive mode. . Every system crash meant field crews working from outdated paper maps while residents waited for repairs. When outages started affecting emergency response times, leadership knew something had to change.
The organization recognized the critical need to modernize their geospatial infrastructure by transitioning from an on-premises ArcGIS Server Environment to a cloud-hosted ArcGIS Enterprise system. Their legacy setup with ArcMap 10.7 and geodatabase version 10.0 would be transformed through CyberTech’s ArcGIS Cloud Modernization to establish GIS as a mission-critical system.
Challenges
Every day the legacy system limped along was another day CAW risked service disruptions affecting hospitals, schools, and homes across eight counties. Alex Harper, GIS Manager at CAW, identified these critical pain points. The GIS team wasn't just managing outdated software - they were managing risk:
Time
- Limited time to manage infrastructure vs. doing actual GIS work
- Giant wish list with not enough time to achieve it all
- Time spent on infrastructure rather than GIS value delivery
Resources
- Lack of resources to properly manage the environment
- No dedicated GIS infrastructure team
- Limited personnel for system administration
Data Management
- Data not centralized in one place
- Not authoritative or well documented
- Data integrity issues across environments
Technology
- On old technology (geodatabase version 10.0)
- Unable to leverage the latest GIS features
- Legacy systems preventing innovation
Scalability
- Unable to easily scale the environment
- Performance degradation during peak usage
- Infrastructure limitations for growth
Availability
- Environment going down frequently
- System not performing well
- Interruptions affecting field workers
Solution
CyberTech’s assessment revealed something the CAW team had suspected but couldn’t prove: their infrastructure wasn’t just outdated – it was actively holding them back. The four-month transformation that followed would change everything. CyberTech’s engineers transformed CAW’s geospatial infrastructure through a comprehensive Cloud Readiness Assessment of more than 20 years of data. CyberTech upgraded the geodatabase from version 10.0 to 10.9.1 using a staged migration approach, established an Azure Relay Bridge for seamless data movement, and implemented ArcGIS Monitor for 24/7 system surveillance.
Through CyberTech’s MACS White Glove Service and DataSafe security approach, CAW achieved complete infrastructure management in the cloud with multi-layered protection. The solution included custom tool development for ArcGIS Pro transition and proactive communication through weekly and monthly cadence calls, ensuring alignment and building trust throughout the transformation.
Key Accomplishments & Benefits
A Mission-Critical System
Today, when a main breaks in Little Rock, field crews pull up real-time valve data on mobile devices backed by 99.99% uptime. The system that once caused emergencies now helps resolve them. CAW achieved a truly mission-critical GIS platform with unprecedented reliability:
The Power of Time: From Infrastructure Management to GIS Innovation
The most transformative benefit is the time CAW gained back. CyberTech's MACS White Glove Service freed CAW's team from infrastructure management, allowing 100% focus on GIS innovation and strategic initiatives. The system now operates as a robust platform achieving 99.99% availability with only 11 tickets per year average.
Processing over 10.3 million requests in just 5 months - growing from 13,368 in January to 3.6 million in July - demonstrates exceptional scalability. With centralized data management, modern GIS capabilities through the upgrade to 10.9.1, and 24/7 monitoring via ArcGIS Monitor, CAW has established GIS as a truly mission-critical system. This transformation has reduced infrastructure costs significantly while enabling the GIS team to focus on value delivery.
Unique Value Proposition
Future Roadmap
What started as a cloud migration has become a digital transformation. With Utility Network launching in 2025 and continuous innovation, CAW isn't just keeping up with GIS innovation - they're leading it.
Conclusion
CAW’s transformation with CyberTech exemplifies how strategic cloud migration revolutionizes utility operations. By achieving a mission-critical system with 99.99% availability and processing over 10.3 million requests, CAW has set a new standard for digital excellence. Most importantly, CyberTech’s MACS White Glove Service gave CAW the gift of time – time to innovate and serve their community with exceptional water services powered by cutting-edge GIS technology.
Read the entire case study
Central Arkansas Water’s Digital Transformation
CyberTech Systems and Software Inc.
www.cybertech.com
connect@cybertech.com
Recent Articles
Central Arkansas Water's Digital Transformation
"*" indicates required fields