Wind Lake Solutions-Leveraging technology for utilities, telecommunications & municipal government

History

Our Roots
Wind Lake Solutions, Inc. (WLS) was formed in early 2004 by a seasoned group of career Geospatial Information System (GIS) professionals. These individuals saw an opportunity to apply their unique and extensive spatial data solutions expertise to the utility industry's second and third generation IT integration needs. Teaming with a broad network of IT professionals and partners, WLS provides an unsurpassed level of data-centric service to the utility IT user community.

From significant participation in the telecommunications industry's AM/FM projects of the 1980s to contributing seasoned leadership to enterprise-wide IT integration efforts in today's broader utility arena, WLS' principals have earned the respect, support, and partnership of successive generations of utility IT practitioners.

Best known for the quality and durability of the partnerships they've established with their customers, the principals of Wind Lake Solutions have reaffirmed their long standing commitment by helping utilities "exploit their information environment" to provide real business solutions.

Growth and Evolution
Now entering its fifth year, successes and developments have facilitated the significant growth of Wind Lake Solutions (WLS) and the evolution of the company. Highlights and significant milestones of the company's growth are presented below:

In 2005, WLS added five additional members to its staff, bringing WLS' professional and technical team size to 10.

Staffing growth was facilitated by the award of a significant GIS data maintenance contract by DTE Energy. This award positioned WLS' financial performance well ahead of its contract backlog and revenue plans.

In September 2005, WLS was awarded a contract to provide management services to Analytical Surveys, Inc. (ASI). Under the terms of the agreement, WLS managed ASI's office in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and all ASI projects underway in that location.

In December 2005, WLS moved into a new facility providing for a significant expansion in square footage, upgraded security and fire protection systems, and improved computing and communications infrastructure.

In 2006, WLS continued to experience substantial growth, adding an additional 7 members to its staff, bringing the team to a total of 17 individuals. This staff is also supplemented by several other contract personnel as needed.

An extension and expansion of WLS' work for Michigan Consolidated Gas Company through 2009, together with other new project awards, including Aquarion Water and Wisconsin Rapids Water Works & Lighting Commission, continued to fuel WLS' growth.

In October 2006, WLS released version 1 of its SPANS (Spatially-enabled Permitting And Notification System) application. SPANS is a web-based system which facilitates efficient inter-company communication flows associated with joint use pole attachment projects.

In the late 2006, early 2007 timeframe, WLS captured and geo-rectified property records information for a midwestern electric and gas utility. In late 2007, WLS was awarded a follow-on project to upgrade this data and port it to the utility's GIS.

In the summer of 2007, WLS' SPANS application underwent a highly successful pilot with several utilities in Ohio. Based on this pilot, the sponsoring utility will be undertaking a full implementation of SPANS in 2008.

Additionally in 2007, WLS was awarded a substantial project to reconcile and integrate GIS and ERP data, and design and develop GIS data enhancement and cleanup tools for a large east-coast gas & electric utility.