Picking a pipeline data model - PODS, APDM or PODS Spatial?
Posted by Tracy Thorleifson on Mon, Apr 12, 2010
Lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my! Or at least that’s how it feels when you're trying to select an industry standard pipeline data model for use by your organization. It seems like every expert has a different opinion, all of us vendors are trying to sell you something, and you don’t know who to trust. Well, fear not, Dorothy! You, too, can follow the yellow brick road through the dark forest of pipeline data model selection. Just remember, it's not a matter of which model is best; it's a matter of which model is the best fit for your organization. This is the first of a four part series called "Picking a pipeline data model", or "How to follow the yellow brick road to pipeline Oz."
As for the trust question, we're not trying to sell anything in these blog posts (at least not directly). Since Eagle Information Mapping offers solutions for all three data models, we truly are data model neutral. Eagle has a tremendous range of experience with each of these data models; we have been intimately involved in their designs; we have used each of them since their inceptions. So we understand their strengths and weaknesses better than most.
The Pipeline Open Data Standard (PODS, www.pods.org), the ArcGIS Pipeline Data Model (APDM, www.apdm.net) and PODS Spatial differ from each other in both concept and execution. Understanding these differences will help you make the best choice for your organization. In the following series we'll concentrate on the high level differences between the three models to give you ideas for further investigation. We'll tackle PODS first, then the APDM, and finish with PODS Spatial. And remember, the yellow brick road will lead you to a pipeline Oz that will work for you.