Best Practices in GIS Implementation

Mark Robbins, ESRI

Agenda

Overview of the GIS Planning & Implementation Process

The Why Part

Planning & Implementation Steps

The How Part

Planning & Implementation Best Practices

Whats the Purpose of this Session?

Encourage successful organization-wide GIS Implementation

Help you understand how technology fits within the organizational objectives
Broaden the perspective of Implementation to be more than a specific project or technology implementation

Help you understand how important the planning is to the success of the GIS Implementation

Why is Implementation Planning Necessary?

Now more than ever, short and long term planning are critical to successful on-going GIS Implementation
Technology has evolved and is now more integrated and interdependent than ever before Business needs have evolved and demand better planning to meet those needs

Implementation Planning is proactive problem solving

Implementation:
to carry out: ACCOMPLISH: esp. to give practical effect to and ensure of actual fulfillment by concrete measures. - Webster

Overview of Implementation Planning Steps

1. 2.

Identify GIS Business Objectives and current Business Processes Determine the Technology and System Infrastructure Readiness to Meet the GIS Business Objectives Determine GIS Database Readiness to Meet the GIS Business Objectives Determine Organization Readiness to Meet the GIS Business Objectives Develop Enterprise GIS Implementation Plan to Meet the GIS Business Objectives Validate the Implementation Plan meets the GIS Business Objectives in R&D Lab

3. 4. 5.

6.

Step 1. Identify GIS Business Objectives and Business Processes

A successful implementation depends on a clear understanding of the organizations GIS business needs, which must be met by the GIS. If the business needs are not met the entire implementation is at risk. While a Business Analyst usually performs these tasks using systematic and proven methods, it is possible to conduct in-house analysis.

Define the GIS Business Need

What are the organizations Critical Success Factors?

Profitability Public Facilities Stewardship Public Safety

What are the GIS Business Needs that support these Critical Success Factors?
We need to integrate our CIS with our GIS in order to stay competitive and be more efficient. We need web access to the same GIS database as desktop users We need to provide remote field inspectors with up-to-date land information We need to integrate infrastructure planning with billing systems We need the planning department, water and sewer departments to share the same property and address information with transportation department.

Describe the current Business Process

Examples
Customer numbers are printed out in tabular format to be compared with a plot of our customer locations.

Remote field inspectors currently must make a request to GIS services that print a map of the most recent land data and give it to the field inspectors.
Each department maintains their own property and address information

State the expected Business Objective

Examples
Customer numbers will be updated daily in the GIS Remote field inspectors will use handheld GIS to view up-to-date property information in the field and download it to the central GIS database when returning to the office. All departments will have access to the standard city address and property database

Understanding the business needs of the request

Understand the workflow, challenges, and expected outcomes that help solve the problem
The technology is applied to the business problem The technology or how you do that comes next

Expected Outcome for Step 1

Document
GIS Business Needs Business Objectives GIS Business Procedures GIS Business Use Case Scenarios

Step 2. Determine the Technology and System Infrastructure Readiness to meet the Business Objectives

The Technology Readiness Assessment should be driven from the Business Need perspective rather than from the technologies capability perspective. The readiness of the system infrastructure (hardware, software and network), are critical to the success of the implementation plan.

This part of the plan addresses the size and number of data servers, application servers, end-user desktops, and the expected network traffic or capacity.
May require purchasing considerations.

Breakdown

Determine Hardware requirements to support GIS applications and procedures

Define Software requirements to support implementation

Determine Network and communication requirements to support implementation

Identify which Business Objectives the technology is intended to fulfill

Determine if any existing technologies should be replaced Determine the type of technology needed based on the Use Case Scenarios Technology Readiness Assessment

Determine Hardware requirements to support GIS applications and procedures

Data Server configuration sizing and compatibility Web Server configuration sizing and compatibility

Desktop image configuration

Head-room/growth forecasting

These are not limitations created by current hardware. It is information generated as a result of meeting the business needs.

Define Software requirements to support implementation

Number of web viewers Number of desktop viewers/editors/analysts Underlying Software dependencies (RDBMS, Servlet Exec, Apache, VB, etc) Number of licenses in each system environment for testing custom applications on new software releases and data releases

Determine Network and communication requirements to support implementation

Bandwidth requirements Communication protocols based on system design Location of web servers to data servers File transfer vs. transaction based methods Assess nature and amount of anticipated application traffic

Identify which Business Objectives the technology is intended to fulfill

Use the outcomes from step 1 to determine which Business Objectives should be targeted for a specific technical solution. Match the appropriate technology solution to the individual user or business need

This task implies some level of prioritization based on the entire organizations needs.

Determine if any existing technologies should be replaced

Deficiencies to meet GIS Business Needs

Hardware replacement issues System maintenance problems Growth limitations

Determine the type of technology needed based on the Use Case Scenarios

Identify desktop based technology needed Identify Server-based technology needed

- Data Server (vector and raster) - Web Server

Identify technology dependencies

- Operating System compatibility - RDBMS compatibility

Web server software environment Identify need for mobility or long-transactions

Technology Readiness Assessment

Identify which Business Objectives the technology is intended to fulfill Determine if any existing technologies should be replaced

Determine the type of technology needed

Specify the Technology Requirements

Document the Hardware/Network Configuration Review

Expected Outcome for Step 2

Document
Technology Readiness Assessment HW/SW/Network configuration review System Design

Step 3. Determine Enterprise GIS Database Readiness

Data is a critical element of the success of the GIS Implementation Plan. The quality and availability of the data will determine whether the technology will work correctly and whether the GIS Business Objectives will be met. After the GIS data requirements have been identified, an assessment of readiness of the data to meet these requirements must be conducted. This assessment should not only address the completeness and accuracy of the data, but also the usefulness of the data to meet the GIS Business Objectives. In addition, data preparation procedures should be identified to complete the GIS Database Readiness.

Identify Geographic Data and other data to be used

Use Case Scenarios in Step 1 will help identify what data is needed The Identified Data Requirements in Step 3 will help determine how the data needs to be structured Inventory the spatial data sets necessary to meet the GIS Business Objectives Inventory the non-spatial data sets necessary to meet the GIS Business Objectives Identify metadata to be used in the assessment Identify pilot area if necessary

Assess the geographic data sets to meet the GIS data requirements

Quantitative Assessment
- Completeness of Geographic area - Completeness of Attribute data

Qualitative Assessment
- Geographic Resolution - Locational Accuracy - Compatible Format - Overall Usefulness

Gap Analysis
- Identify what geographic data is missing - Identify what attribute data is missing

Identify format or structural changes

Prepare the Conceptual Database Design to support the data requirements

Document the Conceptual and Physical Database Design in a diagram Conduct a Conceptual Database Design Review with application, data and system infrastructure team members Verify the Database Design will meet the GIS Business Objectives

Identify Data Preparation Procedures

Determine if a data migration is necessary Determine if data clean-up is necessary Determine how to complete any missing data Develop data maintenance procedures Versioning/Long-transaction policies and techniques Data replication and synchronization implications

Develop a Prototype Database to meet the GIS Business Objectives

Populate the database design with the identified geographic data sets in a prototype database

Test the prototype database in R&D environment

Verify the prototype database meets the GIS Business Objectives Incorporate any necessary changes

Expected Outcome for Step 3

Document
Database Assessment Data Model

Step 4. Determine Organization readiness

Organizational Readiness is the sufficient preparation of the organization to implement the GIS. This can mean changing current work processes that occur in isolation of each other, re-defining roles and responsibilities, skills assessment for technical staff and developing a training plan.

Breakdown

Prepare organization support structure Assess user skill levels and identify Training needs

Develop training plan to support the Enterprise GIS implementation

Identify internal support procedures Develop data and application release procedures Produce Development Decision Criteria

Prepare organization support structure

Leadership Role
- Provide Vision for the Implementation - Provide Direction for the Implementation

Project Management Role

- Responsible for specific projects within the Implementation Plan

Technical Analyst Role

- Responsible for specific tasks within each project

GIS Advisor Roles

- Long-term Management Advisor - Project Implementation advisor - Technology advisor

Assess user skill levels and identify Training needs

Determine technical skill requirements for each category Determine technical staff proficiency in each category Identify knowledge gaps

Develop training plan to support the Enterprise GIS implementation

Determine who has received training in each category Determine if training on current versions of technology is necessary

Identify curriculum paths for each category

- Instructor training - Virtual training - Technical Workshops - Knowledge transfer methods

Develop training schedule for each category

Identify internal support procedures

Data Maintenance Procedures Database support procedures Web support procedures Application and Database Development procedures Designated individual for the purchase of hardware and software

Develop data and application release procedures

Proof-of-Concept Prototype Development Pilot project Production schedules Application Version Control

Produce Development Decision Criteria

When to use Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) technology

Less expensive, less risky, delivered sooner

When to develop custom-built applications

COTS wont meet Business Objectives

When to deliver web-based solutions

Many users, large view-only database, basic functionality

When to deliver desktop-based solutions

Fewer users, data maintenance, more functionality

Expected Outcome for Step 4

GIS Support Procedures Training Plan

Step 5. Develop GIS Implementation Plan

The next step in preparing for implementation is to synthesize the information from the previous planning steps into a plan that can be implemented. This plan should provide management staff with the information necessary to make appropriate decisions during the deployment stage of the implementation.

Document the results of each of the tasks previously identified in this implementation guide

GIS Business Needs Document Technology Readiness Assessment Document Functional Requirement Document System Design Document Database Assessment Document GIS Support Procedures GIS Training Plan

Prioritize resulting implementation tasks

Abbreviate tasks if appropriate Eliminate or add to tasks to fit your organizational needs
For Example Needs assessment is complete, accurate and up to date Hardware review recently completed

Identify any potential conflicts in the implementation tasks

Examples No organizational structure before GIS Business Objectives are defined

Installation scheduled before staff training

Not sure how many licenses are required to support testing and production environments

Identify critical path elements

HW/SW needs to be in place soon after training is completed. Organizational support structure needs to be in place before application or data is released in production

Identify resource constraints

Hiring freeze will not allow me to provide DBA support Current Data Server is not adequate for our GIS Business Objectives Existing support staff is not adequately trained

Create a Work Breakdown Structure

Schedule Tasks Set Milestones Assign responsibilities Document Dependencies Establish budget

Expected Outcome for Step 5

Enterprise GIS Implementation Plan

Step 6. Validate that the Implementation Plan can meet the GIS Business Objectives in R&D Lab

All of the implementation planning previously completed needs to be validated in a Development or Test system environment.

Validation can be focused on data, technology, organizational procedures, or the entire system design.

Prepare test criteria based on defined GIS Business Objectives

Example Customer numbers shall be updated every 24 hours

Remote field personnel can access data live and is never more than 24 hours out of date All addresses will meet US Postal Service standards and will be maintained by one department and accessible to all departments

Prepare testing procedures

Identify staff required Identify technical resources required Develop functional test matrix

Document test results

System environment and testing configuration Pre and post conditions Performance metrics Unexpected anomalies

Step 7. Review results and incorporate changes to the implementation plan

Were the Business Objectives met?

Were the data preparations adequate? Is the system infrastructure adequate? Is the organizational structure and procedures sufficient? Are there any remaining technology issues?

Expected Outcome for Step 7

Updated GIS Implementation Plan

Best Practices for Technology and Infrastructure

1. Match software solution with type of user and business needs

2. Leverage COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) technology to minimize the complexity of the IT environment
3. Periodically review hardware and network environment 4. Minimize the complexity of the IT environment 5. Establish separate environments

Best Practices for Data

1. Utilize most suitable spatial database management technology that supports business needs 2. Consolidate geographic data published for use by multiple agencies into a common data format. 3. Separate editing database from publishing database 4. Establish data standards 5. Establish data update procedures 6. Establish a database design

7. Establish data backup and recovery procedures

8. Assess data prior to publishing it

Best Practices for Organization

1. Periodically review GIS business needs and existing procedures 2. Develop technology/IT infrastructure policies 3. Define data stewardship responsibilities 4. Establish organizational structure

5. Establish technical support procedures

6. Identify staff in each user role 7. Establish systematic processes for development and deployment 8. Develop long term GIS implementation plan

Best Practices for Implementation Planning - Wrap-Up

1. 2.

Identify GIS Business Objectives and Business Processes Determine the Technology and System Infrastructure Readiness to meet the GIS Business Objectives

3.
4. 5. 6.

Determine GIS Database Readiness to meet the GIS Business Objectives

Determine Organization readiness to meet the GIS Business Objectives Develop Enterprise GIS Implementation Plan to meet the GIS Business Objectives Validate the Implementation Plan can meet the GIS Business Objectives in R&D Lab Review results and incorporate changes to the implementation plan

7.

Keys to success

Understanding the business needs of the request

Understand the workflow, challenges, and expected outcomes that help solve the problem
The technology or how you do that comes second The technology is applied to the business problem

I need a Map or a GIS tool that

Requirements are a result of learning more about the business need and workflow to achieve the desired results Over emphasis on requirements may lock you into a system with limitations for future growth and expansion

How ready are you to meet the business needs?

Technology Data Organizational

Thank You!

Questions?