PSE&G selects Locus’ cloud platform to augment EHS compliance

Locus Platform will provide “out-of-the-box” configurable software to streamline PSE&G’s regulatory compliance and spill management, tracking, and reporting.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 4 April 2019 — Locus Technologies, (Locus), the industry leader in EHS, sustainability, and compliance management software, is pleased to announce that the Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G), the largest provider of gas and electric service in New Jersey, servicing 1.8 million gas customers and 2.2 million electric customers in more than 300 urban, suburban, and rural communities, selected the multi-tenant SaaS Locus Platform to streamline its spill compliance and incident tracking and reporting programs.

“With Locus’ configurable solution, we can set up applications, dashboards and reports to align with our current compliance application and tailor the functionality to our specific business needs.  We can continue to use our same data collection forms, but with more robust tracking tools to help our team keep on top of our EHS regulations and reporting requirements throughout PSE&G,” said Robert Pollock, Sr. Dir Environ Projects & Services.

“By using Locus Platform Compliance and Spill Management application, PSE&G is combining the advantages of off-the-shelf software with Locus Platform’s powerful configuration tools. This means PSE&G will get exactly the software solution they need to fit their business processes in the shortest time,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.

A better way to manage all those ops readings

Manage all those ops readings without spreadsheets or paper forms

I am constantly reminded by the number of calls we receive, that no matter how robust a SCADA and HMI system is, there is always a requirement for in-field O&M verification and documentation. It’s almost universal, and spans a myriad of industries, large and small, the need to monitor and record thousands of periodic (daily/per shift/weekly, etc.) routine readings/recordings at a prescribed frequency often recorded on pen to paper field forms. The same processes sometimes use “template” spreadsheets for data collection that are then emailed/placed on shared file servers or otherwise sent to some central location for review and post processing. These processes are antiquated and subject to data quality and record keeping challenges.

It’s time for an upgrade!

Why simple form builders are not a good software solution for ops data

Electronic forms are great for collecting data and almost every business entity has built such forms in spreadsheets, word processing or simple databases to collect the information. In addition, there is a software category of form builders and they can certainly build forms. The question becomes is it a good fit so solve your business process issues?
Most customers have more sophisticated needs than simply collecting information on one or more custom forms – they want to do something with all the information collected far beyond what simple form builder tools can provide. Even customers with sophisticated spreadsheet forms, can’t manage them as they multiply exponentially or their Excel gurus retire.

Here are some examples of where you may require software tools beyond a simple form builder:

  • Collecting equipment readings on each shift at multiple locations and report the data to centralized management, who review the data, look for trends/ issues.
  • Verifying and validating data at the point of data entry to eliminate data entry errors.
  • Automatically visualizing (charts or tables) information in near real time to make operations decisions.
  • Sharing the information with others.
  • Scheduling activities related to periodic or infrequent data collection events.
  • Receiving notifications when actions are due.
  • Automatically creating regulatory reports in prescribed formats.
  • Creating complex work flows and audited approval processes.
  • Creating intelligent forms with calculations based on past data or other criteria
Locus Platform Mobile Summary Table

Forms with Benefits

Locus Platform is a configurable platform with standard applications that are easy to configure to customers unique requirements. One of its many strengths is its powerful form builder capable of creating simple or complex forms with simple or sophisticated logic. So for customers looking to move from paper and spreadsheet templates, it’s an excellent option to consider, especially if you require more than a simple “fill in the blank” form for transmittal using mobile devices. Best of all, the data are securely stored in a database structure for reporting and alternative business uses and analyses, compared to the almost impossible management of hundreds of spreadsheets or paper forms.

Here are some examples where sophisticated forms are integrated with a flexible database:

  • Water Utilities – Tracking chlorination and aerobic digestion processes with daily inputs/outputs with a monthly summary and chart, and tracking well production across well fields.
  • Water Utilities – Tracking periodic sewer discharges and water samples for permit compliance.
  • Agriculture – Monitoring food processing equipment for compliance with optimum equipment operating parameters for air permits.
  • Pharmaceutical/Chemical Manufacturing Facilities- Tracking EHS daily, weekly, monthly, etc. investigations and in-house audits.
  • Universities – tracking chemical inventories.
  • Facility Engineering – Documenting O&M activities for groundwater treatment systems.
  • Electric Utilities – Monitoring water/energy/gas usage from old style meters for sustainability reporting with data entry validation.
  • Refineries and Terminals – Collecting O&M, usage and wastewater data.
Locus Mobile integrates with Locus Platform

If you still rely on paper forms and template spreadsheets and are ready to streamline your process and enhance the value of your data, give us a call and we can show you a range of options that will retire the paper forms for good!

 

 

Locus Technologies receives the prestigious EBJ Award for innovation and growth for 13 consecutive years

Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) recognized the firm for growth and innovation in the field of Information Technology, customer diversification and IoT integration

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 5 March 2019 — Locus Technologies, a leading provider of multi-tenant, SaaS-based EHS software, was awarded its 13th consecutive award by Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) for growth and innovation in the field of Information Technology. EBJ is a business research publication providing high-value strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry. Locus received the award for its 2018 customer diversification along with pioneering IoT integration for its various platforms and taking a leadership role in water quality management software for water utilities. Locus’ flagship products Locus EIM, Locus Platform and Locus Mobile continue to resonate with the marketplace and attract a wide range of forward thinking customers who rely on Locus software to provide innovative, secure and scalable applications to solve environmental compliance challenges.

“Locus continues to influence the industry with its forward-thinking product set, pure SaaS architecture, and eye for customer needs,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI), publisher of Environmental Business Journal.

“We are honored to receive the EBJ Information Technology award once again, and we shall continue to design robust solutions to meet diverse and complex EHS challenges with innovative cloud and mobile-based applications,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus Technologies.

Make your O&M mobile apps work harder for you!

Mobile apps for water and wastewater operation and maintenance (O&M) activities have been around for some time now. Most users are familiar with the benefits such as instant data collection and access to reference information for better, more reliable O&M monitoring. However, as new software tools are consistently becoming more powerful and more accessible, that “ground-breaking” mobile app that you purchased five years ago may now be looking a little dated.  When you are ready to upgrade, here are some of the features that are the new “must haves”.

Unique and custom forms

For many O&M programs, you may have your own data collection needs that are specific to your facility or industry.  Mobile O&M apps now allow you to tailor your input forms to add new data fields, remove unwanted fields, change some of the logic like making certain fields required, and make certain fields tied into established pick lists.  Even better, you can match the mobile form to the original paper form, making the transition to mobile simple and intuitive for staff.  And, the more the merrier, as modern mobile apps let you have multiple forms on the same app so you have everything you need in one place.

Real-time entry validation

It is not enough to just enter your O&M information into a mobile device.  You also want to make sure you are entering correct data.  Current O&M mobile tools can check your entry as you enter it and validate against whatever criteria are established for that data.  So you make sure that you’re entering a pH reading of 7.2, rather than 72.  You can also use configurable pick lists to limit data entry to your specific desired entries and not have to correct misspellings or 16 different ways to say “out of service”.  Make sure that pick lists are configurable and can be shared with each of your company’s devices.

Barcode and QR code scanning

You are probably already using your phone to compare prices at your local store.  It is amazingly easy to simply scan a product’s barcode and instantly see the best available price locally or online.  Since virtually every phone/tablet now has a built-in camera, you can use that to scan barcodes or QR codes to associate data entry with a tagged sampling port or asset. This can save you from possible mismatch errors that can occur when simply selecting from a list or typing in data.

Use your voice

We are starting to use voice recognition technology in our mobile devices to quickly send out text messages.  Why not use it for recording inspection/audit comments or field issues?  Voice recognition is improving every year, and can provide your comments onto a data collection form much faster than typing and can be especially useful for conditions where gloves are required and typing or stylus input is not practical.  Using the phone’s native abilities, take advantage of voice feature to streamline note taking, knowing that you can always fix up any issues back in the office.

Review, Sync, Repeat

Mobile apps should have a summary screen to review your data before sending it back to your database, such as a summary form for all data collected during a shift.  And once you do sync your data back to the main database (you have a main database right???), instantly reset the form for the next day data collection event so you are always ready.

No Internet?  No Problem!

Mobile apps that won’t function when there is no connection should be abandoned.  You need to be able to collect data no matter the location and the signal strength.  Look for mobile apps that function with zero connectivity, and save the data until a signal is found.  Not every location at modern water and wastewater facilities has a hot spot, so be prepared with the right app.

Learn more about Locus Mobile.

Locus Technologies partners with RegScan to provide EHS regulatory content and updates

The partnership will enhance Locus Platform’s Compliance and Task Management applications by providing real-time access to current regulations

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 12 January 2019 — Locus Technologies, the leader in enterprise EHS compliance and sustainability software, has partnered with RegScan, a trusted resource for up-to-date regulatory information, to enhance its Compliance and Task Management applications via its configurable SaaS Locus Platform. An integration from RegScan into the Locus Platform will give Locus users seamless real-time access to current EHS regulations. This will allow Locus users to customize a WatchList in RegScan to quickly and readily view relevant EHS regulations.

“We are excited for this opportunity to partner with Locus, it’s important to be able to access all your regulatory information, legal registers and audit protocols in one place,” said Ned Ertel, President and C.E.O. of RegScan, Inc.

“By using Locus Platform’s Compliance and Task application with integrated regulatory content services, our customers can reap the benefits of using the out-of-the-box and configurable Locus Platform to build the exact solution that they need for their business process in a short time,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.

Simple and reliable tank emissions calculation tool for accurate reports

EPA announced that it will no longer support its TANKS 4.09D emission calculation tool. Have you been researching various software options in the market? Look no further, Locus has a reliable, easy to use, scalable replacement Tanks Emission application for you!

Infographic | Locus Platform Tank Emissions application

 

 

Simplify your EPA fenceline regulatory reporting

Locus handles all the EPA required environmental data collected at your refinery giving you a simple solution for all your data management and reporting needs.

5 time-saving tools for EHS compliance

We all know the struggle of getting things done with shortened staff without compromising the quality of our work, especially in EHS. Locus Technologies’ Locus Platform (LP) offers multiple options to ease your complexity by providing a truly SaaS platform packed with some nifty apps. Here are some tools in LP that can help you utilize your workforce much more efficiently:

 

1) Dashboards tailored to your needs

Every software has built-in report and dashboards, but they may not meet all your needs when purchased off the shelf. If you need a new report, chart, or other visualization of your data, it usually incurs a custom software development charge, but not with Locus Platform (LP). LP allows you to assemble the information you want in your chosen format (bar or line charts, maps, tables, treemaps, diagrams, etc.) and share your custom dashboards and real-time information/data with your team.  In addition, the views and dashboards export to Excel, so you can easily integrate with commonly used tools and further mine the data. At the enterprise level, powerful dashboards will help you understand the status of each facility based on a matrix  you design. With the LPs flexibility, facility information can be automatically populated based on the user credentials, saving your team time and frustration.

Screenshot of Sustainability reporting dashboard on Locus Platform

 

2) Simplified Sustainability Reporting

Locus Platform’s Sustainability application and calculation engine support simultaneous calculations using multiple methods for various reporting programs including EPA, California ARB, CDP, TCR, DJSI, and others. This allows users to input data only once and utilize it to report to multiple federal, state, and voluntary reporting programs, according to their required format. The application will also support direct electronic reporting formats for many reporting programs, so that additional manual transcription and submittal of data are no longer necessary. This is a very powerful tool and a huge advantage to customers in terms of improving efficiency, while reducing costs.

Locus Platform Sustainability

 

3) Integration

Integration, if done correctly, can save you a great deal of time and headache during some of the most tedious and cumbersome tasks in EHS data management. Locus Platform (LP) has built in a unique point and click integration application to enable connection with major databases or third-party systems that have open API (Access privileges). Some integration, database, and communication standards and methods that are supported include OLE compliance, SOAP, COM, Java, XML, web services, ODBC/ODMA/SQL/Oracle, VIM, and MAPI. LP also works well with MS Excel and provides a powerful two-way synchronization allowing users to download parts of the database to Excel, then work, edit, and verify or append data on their local copy of Excel where they have no internet connection. Any revisions they perform to the downloaded data in Excel can be automatically synchronized back to the Locus Platform application. During the process, a complete audit trail will be preserved. This can be a great time saver especially when you are sending large volumes of valid values in a database or if you are migrating any historical data.

Locus Technologies Integration

 

4) Mobile

Locus’ Mobile application allows you to sync with your server to create data collection profiles on a mobile device, whether it’s your phone or a tablet. It will allow you to click through and enter data on the device even when you are offline. Data validation is performed in real time and is stored locally on the device, once the phone reaches an internet signal, it will sync with your server, and the data will automatically be updated in Locus’ cloud-hosted solution. What’s more, Locus Mobile works seamlessly with both EIM and Locus Platform.

Using Mobile you receive the benefits of data entry directly on the mobile device, with immediate data availability on the cloud when you reach an internet signal. Other advantages of using Mobile include location metadata and mapping integration, bar-code/OR code scanning, voice recognition, and form customization. If you’d like to know more about the Locus Mobile application, check out the Top 10 cool features in Locus Mobile.

Locus Mobile integrates with Locus Platform

 

5) XML Exports

Locus has prioritized enhancing its GHG application in Locus Platform to make it easy to manage GHG emission inventory tracking and reporting requirements. Locus Technologies is the only software vendor that is a certified GHG verifier under the State of California’s AB32, and has performed the most GHG verifications in California since 2015. The State and Federal eGGRT web portals are notoriously cumbersome and require a significant amount of your time to input all the required data and generate your report. But with XML support, you can bypass almost the entire data entry process, and complete your submittal within a few minutes.  XML reports support many greenhouse gas subparts, including EPA GHG Subparts C, D, W, and NN.  And because data entry for EPA and CARB is consolidated in the XML GHG application, it eliminates the need to maintain separate agency spreadsheets and software. Additional reporting programs are also adding support for XML submittals, such as EPA’s eManifest.  This functionality can be a huge time saver for anyone working with these online regulatory reporting tools.

Locus Platform XML export

 

 

EHS software switch to multi-tenancy: Too late to switch for many vendors

The announcements by several EHS software vendors this Fall caught my attention. After offering their software on-premisses for over a decade, suddenly many are discovering and planning to introduce multi-tenant Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) while promising to continue to maintain their current on-premises or single tenant offerings. In essence, they are introducing multi-tenancy as if it were a new version of their software. This plan is not going to work! Let me explain why.

Most public announcements begin something like this: In the next several years we plan to expand our software offerings and offer our customers the option to move from their current on-premises solution to the cloud. However, is this even possible? What they consider the “cloud” may not be a true multi-tenant cloud. That train departed years ago, and most of the current EHS software vendors missed it. While multi-tenancy has been a game changer in the tech industry, many are uncertain of exactly what makes an application “multi-tenant” or why it matters.

Locus Multi-Tenant Software

There is a considerable degree of (intended) confusion in the EHS software space when it comes to the definition of a real cloud or better said, multi-tenancy. Companies that are considering SaaS solutions for EHS software hear all sorts of things from EHS software vendors hoping to tap into the momentum of cloud computing. Many go as far as saying “sure; we can do multi-tenant, single-tenant, whatever tenant you need!” –anything to win the job. These vendors do not understand the real cloud.

Multi-tenancy is a significant shift in computing and requires an all-new approach to the software architecture and the delivery model from the ground up. It is transformational, and customers who intend to buy the next generation of EHS software should spend the time to understand the differences. More importantly, multi-tenancy is a principle, not a software version or an upgrade. It is not an evolutionary step; instead, it is a revolution in the software delivery model and it matters in the long run for the customer.

Multi-tenant architecture

Figure 1: The single-tenant model cannot easily be switched or “upgraded” to multi-tenant. The software architecture does not allow it for easy switch the same way as single family home cannot be “remodeled” to become a multi-tenant highrise. What differentiates multi-tenant application architecture is its effectiveness in achieving the same goal in a scalable and sustainable fashion.

Can anyone imagine companies like eBay, Salesforce, Google, Workday, or Amazon offering a “single-tenant” solution side by side to their multi-tenant clouds? I argue that any EHS software vendor who offers a single-tenant solution of any type, cannot be a serious contender in multi-tenant SaaS.

EHS software vendors with on-premise software applications or single-tenant web-enabled offerings are seduced by the seemingly low barriers to entry into the SaaS market with an architecture that leverages virtualization. This approach allows a software company to quickly offer subscription-based services of their legacy product to their initial customers. In the long run, however, this multi-instance approach just won’t scale economically. A recent wave of ownership change of EHS software companies is the best indicator that sold companies became victims of their initial success. A SaaS provider who leverages virtualization puts the long-term viability of the business at risk as more efficient SaaS competitors come to dominate the market.

Multi-tenant architecture

Figure 2: Single-tenant requires many more vendor resources. The resource costs are eventually passed to customers. Each upgrade of the application will require each customer to upgrade independently and the ability to implement tenant management tools and tenant-specific customizations is significantly limited. The benefit of multi-tenancy is that instead of 100 copies of the OS, 100 copies of the database, and 100 copies of apps, it has 1 OS, 1 DB and 1 app on the server with significantly less vendor resources required to manage it. And it is those savings that are on a long term passed to customers.

Multi-tenant architecture

Figure 3: Multi-tenant model requires less resources and easier (and rolling) upgrades (i.e. no version number necessary). Only one software instance and hardware stack for multiple tenants. All customers are always on the latest version of software. Locus Technologies figured this out in 1999. And they contribute their phenomenal success since then exactly to the multi-tenancy. They could scale up infinitely without adding proportional cost. Others cannot.

Multi-tenant architecture

Figure 4: “Can’t we create a separate stack for just this one customer? I promise it’s just this one…” Even a single installation for one “special” customer, breaks the multi-tenant model. Don’t do it.

I would also add that single-tenant (hybrid) cloud applications are worse than on-premise installment. Why? Because they are fake clouds. In single tenancy, each customer has his or her independent database and instance of the software. These instances may reside on the same or different servers. In this model, a customer is, in fact, outsourcing maintenance of their application (software and hardware) to a vendor (or their consultant) that is not likely equipped to perform these tasks. No single vendor in the EHS software industry is large enough to undertake maintenance of the single-tenant infrastructure on behalf of their customers regardless of how inexpensive hardware or software virtualization may be. Even if they offer their hosting on Microsoft Azure Cloud or Amazon Web Services (AWS), they still cannot guarantee multi-tenancy as these solutions address only hardware challenges.

The Economist magazine in 2004 described it: “Those forerunners also promised a software revolution by hosting the software applications of companies. But they failed because they simply recreated each client’s complex and unwieldy datacentre in their own basements, and never overcame the old problems of installation and integration with other software. With each new customer, the old ASPs had, in effect, to build another datacenter; there were few economies of scale.”

To improve their position in a shifting marketplace, on-premises EHS vendors have found a way to market their solutions as “cloud-based” when they are not backed by the fundamental principle of what that means. Considering the large investment that is associated with the purchase or licensing of EHS software, it is critical for customers to be able to tell a true cloud product from a fake one. But how can you spot a fake?

Just ask the EHS software vendor these four questions:

  1. Do you support both single-tenant and multi-tenant deployments of your software?
  2. Does your software have version numbers? 
  3. Do you charge for upgrades?
  4. Can we install your software on our infrastructure?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, the vendor is not committed to only multi-tenant architecture, and you should not move to their “cloud.”

Multi-tenancy is the only proven SaaS delivery architecture that eliminates many of the problems created by the traditional software licensing and upgrade model where software is installed as a single-tenant application on a customer’s premises or at a customer’s or vendor’s data center. In contrast, in multi-tenancy, all customers access the same software on one or a set of linked servers.

Multi-tenancy requires a new architectural approach. Companies have to develop applications from the ground up for multi-tenancy. Once companies commit their limited financial resources to one architecture, it becomes nearly impossible for them to switch to the multi-tenancy model, no matter how many resources they have available. Moreover, for this reason, I am skeptical that many current vendors will be able to make a switch to multi-tenancy fast enough.

A vendor who is invested in on-premise, hosted, and hybrid models cannot commit to providing all the benefits of a true SaaS model due to conflicting revenue models. Their resources are going to be spread thin supporting multiple versions rather than driving innovation. Additionally, if the vendor makes the majority of their revenue selling on-premise software, it will be very difficult for them to fully commit to a true SaaS solution since the majority of their resources will be allocated to supporting the on-premise software.

And if they suddenly introduce a “multi-tenant” model (after selling an on-premises version for 10+ years) who in the world would want to migrate to that experimental cloud without putting the contract out to bid to explore a switch to well established and market-tested true multi-tenant providers? Even Google and Microsoft are playing a catch-up game with Amazon’s AWS when it comes to cloud hosting business. The first mover advantage when it comes to multi-tenancy is a huge advantage for any vendor.

In summary, an EHS software vendor can be either truly multi-tenant or not. If a vendor has installed their software on somebody’s else hardware and runs multiple instances of that software (even if the code base is the same) they are not and will never be true multi-tenant.

Multi-tenant architecture

Figure 5: Where do you want your software to reside? In multi-tenant or single -tenant infrastructure? If multi-tenancy is attempted on old infrastructure or legacy application upgrade watch out. After vendor built the first few floors of that skyscraper, there is no easy way to replace the foundation. You will be lucky if they end up like the tower of Pisa or Millennium tower in San Francisco. To keep the tower alive they will have to do constant underpinning of the foundation and restrict access to the structure. And you, the customer, will pay for it. That is what many customers of single-tenant EHS vendors are facing today.

Therefore, when considering a SaaS solution, make sure that the vendor is a true SaaS vendor who is solely committed to the multi-tenant SaaS delivery model and has invested in a true multi-tenant platform. This is the only way to reap all the benefits that a SaaS model has to offer.

Recology selects Locus Technologies EHS Compliance software

Locus Platform will provide “out-of-the-box” configurable software to streamline Recology’s compliance tracking and reporting.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 4 December 2018 — Locus Technologies, the leader in enterprise EHS compliance and sustainability software, today announced that Recology, an integrated resource recovery company headquartered in San Francisco, California had selected Locus Platform EHS software for its system of record for EHS compliance activities. 

“With Locus’ out-of-the-box solution, we can configure the applications to align with our current workflow and tailor the functionality to our specific needs.  The Locus Platform integration with the compliance content provider RegScan will help our Environmental Compliance team keep on top of all the regulations throughout California, Oregon, and Washington,” said Amy Dietz, Director of Environmental Compliance for Recology. 

“By using Locus Platform Compliance application with integrated regulatory content services, Recology is combining the advantages of off-the-shelf software with Locus Platform’s powerful configuration tools. This means Recology will get exactly the software solution they need to fit their business processes in the shortest time,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.