GIS Help to avoid Singing

I’m a terrible singer. Just awful. But does that stop me? You bet not. From football songs:

‘We love you Chelsea we do’

To the Bee-Gees (and I do the squeaky, trousers too tight version):

‘We are children of the world’

To Sweater Weather by the Neighbourhood (I might be old but knowing this stuff keeps me in with my teenage kids):

‘Cause it’s too cold whoa For you here’

My wife’s hates it. I say I could learn to be better. She responds “You have neither the time nor the talent. Stick with what you are good at” (wives can be so … truthful). So to today’s topic. Time and talent and getting help.

GIS Help to avoid Singing

We had two very interesting phone calls last week. With the same lovely chap. Two quite different calls. Mapping data and site selection were his two needs. He admitted he knew nothing about mapping, and had neither the time nor the inclination to learn. In our first call we avoided any technical discussion instead staying focused on his needs. After the call we agreed ArcGIS was likely a good potential solution. We also recognised plenty of hand holding was likely needed to help move from problem to solution, given his (and his organizations) lack of GIS experience.

To our second call. Here we again focused on his needs, but provided a brief demo of ArcGIS Online showing a map with a sample of his data mapped. The tone of the conversation was quite different. Low cost and a few clicks to get complex problems answered became the focus. “I’ll let you know” was how we ended the call. Our post call conversation was one of worry: that somebody had sold a solution and made promises which would ultimately lead this nice chap and his organization to frustration and questions unanswered.

It felt like somebody telling me if I spent X I would be a good singer! True if I spend money and time I might become an acceptable warbler. But honestly I’m better leaving it to others. Enjoy their talent. And stay focused on what I do best.

GIS has always been the bastion of people who know and have been trained in GIS. As others, particularly in the commercial sector, realise the benefits of GIS; we enter new territory. To those who have no GIS skills and no in-house staff who know GIS, we need to avoid setting them up for failure. In this wider market, today GIS is more than a simple software sale. GIS guidance is crucial. Its key to the success of this nice chap, and others like him, in answering their business questions.

Contact me on 801-733-0723.

Categories: ArcGIS Online, cloud GIS, location data, Mobile ArcGIS, Mobile GIS, Web and mobile GIS

This entry was posted on Monday, March 14th, 2016 at 6:24 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.