Log in
  
Home > GIS > Business
Business

What's Best for Your Company?

December 16, 2008 By: Cyrena Respini-Irwin


If you're considering geospatial technology for your company, you may feel overwhelmed by the number of decisions involved. To help Trailblazer readers find the right path, Jay Stinson — the vice president and general manager of Intergraph's utilities & communications and local government & transportation divisions — offered guidance on assessing needs, evaluating benefits and costs, choosing vendors, and more.

What are the primary benefits companies can realize from adopting geospatial technology? How can they use it to gain an advantage in the marketplace?

Geospatial technology helps businesses and governments organize and visualize vast amounts of information for quicker, more informed decision making. For many industries, geospatial technology is becoming a requirement for getting the right people to the right place at the right time. This applies to a wide variety of functions such as public safety and emergency services, military activities, utilities outage management, and many more. An effective geospatial technology system speeds and streamlines operations, creating greater efficiencies and cost savings, and increases the accuracy of data, leading to greater safety and better performance/service.

Are there any sizes or types of organizations that would not benefit?

Geospatial technology is quite versatile, adding value to any industry that possesses and leverages a large amount of visual data, whether it is traditional maps, engineering plans, electric grids, etc. An effective geospatial technology system can be scaled to meet the needs of both small and very large organizations.

In light of the current recession, should companies delay plans to incorporate geospatial technologies?

Each company has to evaluate its own budget and financial situation, but for many companies geospatial technology creates such vast improvements in productivity and performance that it demonstrates a strong return on investment in a relatively short period of time. Having assets and data easily accessible from a single database, with the ability to seamlessly leverage the data in other applications, can greatly reduce the amount of time spent looking for and/or recreating spatial data. This allows professionals to devote more time to their core jobs. A better, more efficient use of resources can quickly lead to a reduction in operating costs and an increase in revenue. Additionally, with our nation's aging infrastructure, many modernization projects that will rely heavily on geospatial technology — such as the electrical grid — simply cannot wait, no matter what the state of the economy.

What types of technologies and services are in high demand right now? How do you expect that to change in the future?

Geospatial technology has a vast number of uses and can be applied to an almost infinite number of industries. However, some examples of geospatial technologies in demand right now include:
  • "Smart grid" for electric utilities: as energy providers are increasingly expected to provide more power using less resources, and as key operators and experts begin to retire, making the electric grid "smarter" through more automation technology (including geospatial technologies) is becoming a necessity.
  • Integrating spatial data into business intelligence platforms: the ability to quickly analyze and report on vast amounts of data is a necessity for most businesses; many businesses are now also seeing the value of incorporating visual data into their analysis and reports to create a more complete picture from which to make critical decisions.
  • Taking geospatial technologies to the field using mobile devices: allowing field personnel to access the same maps and geospatial data as those in the office greatly enhances the productivity gains and ROI of geospatial technology.
In general, we expect to see a continuation of this trend in the future, as more organizations realize the value of geospatial technology and look to extend it into other areas of their business.

How can an executive determine what's right for his or her company?

The best way for an executive to plan for the implementation of geospatial technology is to first assess the organization's needs. Of course there are many geospatial technology providers in the market, each with its own strengths and offerings, so it is important for an organization to first get a full grasp on its requirements. For instance, organizations should evaluate:
  • Which divisions and how many people within the organization will be using the technology
  • What its primary and secondary uses will be
  • Which other enterprise systems they will want to integrate with the geospatial system
  • Which platform they wish to run the software on — Oracle, SAP, etc. — and how respective vendors work with their existing systems
  • Whether they plan to leverage geospatial data on mobile devices
  • Whether they plan to expand their geospatial implementation beyond just simple asset management into other areas (some vendors offer a breadth of applications that leverage geospatial data for more advanced usage, such as outage management systems for utilities and computer-aided dispatch for public safety organizations, among many others)
  • The experience of various vendors in their specific industry and/or region of the world (various industries and countries have differing geospatial needs based on government regulations and industry standards).
What kind of planning is required for a geographic information system? How can a company best prepare for the introduction of new technologies and processes?

The most important form of preparation is determining both short-term and long-term needs (as described above) before rushing into a technology purchase. Organizations have to make sure that the geospatial vendor they choose will meet their needs today and continue to meet them as the organization grows or as its needs evolve. Both immediate and future goals for the technology should be taken into account up front.

If the technology will be used among several divisions/groups, it is important to obtain feedback from each of the groups before purchasing the technology to make sure everyone's distinct needs are met and concerns are addressed as well as possible. Geospatial needs not only differ between companies, but can also greatly differ between divisions/business units.

What costs — in terms of both time and money — are incurred in implementing geographic information systems?

Depending on the size and complexity of the system, geospatial technology implementations can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months or even years. The timeframe should be thoroughly discussed with the vendor at the start of the project. In terms of money, the price of a system can also vary greatly based on the number of users, which features are chosen, and a variety of other factors. The cost to acquire a geospatial system is similar to any other software purchase, including the cost of the software itself, the implementation, any integration work that needs to be done, maintenance/upgrades, and training.

Are there any pitfalls that can increase costs unnecessarily? Can companies that are concerned about costs or commitment phase in geospatial technologies in stages?

Most costly pitfalls result from inadequate planning upfront. With any technology implementation, things can sometimes go less smoothly than planned, but a good vendor will do whatever it can to resolve issues with minimal impact to the customer.

Geospatial technology can be acquired in phases, and often is for larger implementations. For example, a utility might first start with a basic asset management/geographic information system (GIS) implementation, then expand its usage with outage and/or mobile workforce management technology.

How should executives choose a vendor (or vendors) that will meet their needs? Should consultants be employed?

As discussed above, it is important to discuss all immediate and future needs with respective vendors before making a selection, as offerings can vary greatly from company to company. Sometimes vendors are willing to form technology partnerships with another vendor if they cannot meet your needs alone (as is the case with Intergraph and Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution Inc. for the electric Smart Grid). Asking vendors for references is also key, so executives can gauge how each vendor has been able to help other companies.

A consultant can indeed be employed, but it is not always necessary if an organization has a firm grasp on its needs and is able to uncover a good vendor fit through internal research.
Add Comment