EAM and GIS today is being conceived and viewed as one system that starts with planning, design, operations and maintenance throughout the asset life cycle. Still, a seamless integration between GIS and Enterprise Asset Management systems is an age-long struggle. This paper talks about tweaking the traditional cumbersome integration approach which uses a series of background data processors, database links and batch jobs and instead embracing the Service Oriented approach.

Major EAM systems are quickly adopting the new service oriented approach and are not only providing plugins for spatial integration of data but are also becoming spatially aware. The integration is not just limited to assets but also for work order tracking, service requests and so on. 

This paper also explores the spatial features that are provided by modern EAM systems and encourages organizations to embrace the service oriented approach to integrate their GIS and EAM systems.