Connecting systems. Empowering cities.
How Connected Workflows Support Better Capital Planning
Every city wants to make smarter long term investments, but capital planning often relies on incomplete information. Asset condition data lives in one system. Maintenance history lives in another. Financial forecasts come from a separate source altogether. When each department brings a different version of the story, planning becomes a negotiation rather than a strategy.
Connected workflows change this landscape by creating a single view of how assets are performing, what they cost, and when they are likely to need attention. Instead of stitching together reports from multiple systems, leaders can base decisions on information that flows naturally from daily operations.
Better capital planning begins with better data. When field inspections update GIS in real time, and that information flows into work management and ERP, the true cost and condition of each asset becomes visible. Patterns emerge. Assets that experience frequent failures stand out. Networks that are approaching end of life become easier to identify. Budget conversations shift from guessing to understanding.
One city we supported used connected workflows to analyze the long term cost of its water infrastructure. Once their systems were linked, they could see the relationship between asset age, maintenance history, and failure frequency. This allowed the city to prioritize projects based on real operational impact instead of historical assumptions. The result was a capital plan that reduced emergency repairs and redirected funding toward the most critical needs.
Connected workflows also help teams stay aligned. When engineering, finance, and operations see the same information, it becomes easier to agree on priorities. Meetings become focused and productive because everyone is working from a shared picture of the city’s infrastructure.
The strongest capital plans are not built from a single report. They are built from a continuous flow of reliable data. Smart Workflows create that foundation by ensuring that every update, from the field to the finance office, reflects the same reality.
Cities that embrace this approach gain something valuable. They stop planning based on what went wrong last year and start planning based on what is likely to happen next. That shift turns capital planning into a proactive, strategic process that supports long term resilience.
Next in the Plugged In series:
The Integration Myth: Why Technology Alone Does Not Fix Operational Problems.
