Build Your GIS Solution

Building your GIS solution requires deciding on and acquiring the necessary hardware,  software and data to support your need. The success of any system implementation , which is particularly true of GIS, is planning!

A key planning consideration is establishing the Startegic Purpose of the GIS solution for your organization. Such purpose guides the scope of functionality & output required of your GIS solution.

Like all solution developments, requirements & specifications for your GIS needs should be established. In doing so, the data required and how it will be used to produce the necessary information output is determined. Effectively, you are designing the scope of the system in terms of data input, processing capabilities and output.

The system scope define the tools – hardware and software – needed to make the solution a reality. When deciding on hardware, the nature of data capture (in-field or centralized), the accuracy tolerance and real-time vs delayed processing must be established. Remember, your hardware requirements for your GIS solutions should partner your existing IT infrastructure as far as possible.

GIS Software is probably your must critical decision with regards implementing your solution. You need to match you system scope to the functionality of the GIS software options, consider cost-effectiveness of the investment and importantly the compatibility and scalability of that software selected. An investment into a product that exceeds your functional needs and locks you into a specific data type or model can be very expensive at the outset and in the long-term respectively.

Implementation through acquisition, data capture and training should then follow to make your GIS solution a success.