FlowWorks: Efficient Ways to Manage Data

Today, analytics and reporting tools are an integral part of relational database management. The problem is that database administrators and analysts must understand the relationship or structure of the data being collected prior to storage and analysis. Today a large amount of unstructured data which cannot be stored in a relational system is being created. To handle this new data, organizations need to add a “big data” storage solution in order to continue to maximize the benefits gained from the information they collect. While many companies desire efficient collection, storage and analytics to gain a competitive advantage, the challenge mostly lies in combining together structured and unstructured data for analysis. To address these challenges, “We build applications using Microsoft Azure’s HDInsight platform to assist our customers with storage, stream analytics and machine learning for predictive analytics,” states Greg Johnston, CEO and Director, FlowWorks. “With this new advanced technology customers are able to store and analyze their data in a manner which until recently was not possible,” he adds.

Headquartered in Seattle, WA, FlowWorks delivers efficient data management solutions to various levels of governments, industries, and consulting companies that deal with environmental data. Additionally, in order to help customers be less dependent on their stretched internal resources or shared services, the company offers a big data platform with advanced features that help users quickly and easily begin working with their existing data.

The FlowWorks platform consolidates data from any source and allows users to perform real-time analysis, set alarms and transform raw data into actionable information through a single web interface. Further, the solution not only integrates all the sensor data into one platform, but also can add data sets from USGS and NOAA (public data sources) into client’s existing data.

Our goal is to provide intuitive applicationsthatcombine all relevant data sources and deliver meaningful insightsallowing users to make intelligent decisions

Additionally, FlowWorks specializes in the delivery of diverse tools—IDF (Intensity, Duration and Frequency) Rainfall Analysis, I&I (Inflow & Infiltration), and the FACE (FlowWorks Advanced Calculation Engine) to monitor the impact of rainfall events and the remaining capacity in the sewer system.
The company also provides Rainfall Hyetographs, and Summary Reporting, which allow users to monitor and summarize each rainfall event. “All of these factors and tools will continue to make FlowWorks the obvious choice in Flow Monitoring and Analysis,” states Johnston.

FlowWorks has empowered many large and small municipalities, by eliminating the need to run several different on-premise servers and software packages. The company can also help municipalities that have received EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) consent decrees, for sewage overflows, by providing transparency to the public on when and where the overflows have and are occurring. Being able to monitor your network, in near real-time, is critical for observing when and where overflows have occurred so effects can be mitigated as much as possible. Moreover, by integrating data from public and private sources, users can easily increase their monitoring network, without having to incur the expenses of installing new hardware and/or software. FlowWorks allows its customers to store all their data in one consolidated location, rather than having data in isolated silos.

In the near future, FlowWorks wants to continue to expand their business throughout the North American and European markets and plans to explore new verticals with their products for oil, gas and asset management. Moreover, “Our goal is to provide a platform that consolidates data from any source, through a single interface, and allows users to perform real-time analysis and transform raw data into actionable information,” states Johnston. Later this year, the firm is planning on introducing its new dashboard feature to help provide a customizable user experience for its many diverse users.