What is a GIS Quickstart and can it Help ROI?

I’m cautious about my use of the term quickstart. That also applies to terms like jumpstart. In this post we will talk about both getting started with GIS and moving forward with GIS. Ultimately how to answer your organizations WHERE questions with GIS.

Let me ask this question: if you throw technology (GIS) at your WHERE question will you be able to find an answer?

My answer: if you understand GIS and can approach the problem from a spatial perspective, there is a good chance you will be successful.

Can anybody simply invest in GIS technology and … click click click … answer their WHERE questions.

NO

What then is a GIS quickstart? In simple terms its guidance towards answering WHERE questions. It’s help understanding where to start and a guided journey to a solution. Why quickstart? You could spend much time (and money) trying to answer a simple WHERE question with GIS. Leading you to question your return on investment (ROI). Help up front, and support over time can move you forward quicker.

‘Quickstarts’ or ‘Jumpstarts’ have traditionally been technology focused services. Set up, configure, some quick training and off you go. We don’t see this as a complete solution. Our approach is to push the technology away, at least initially, and focus on the problem at hand. To focus on the reason you have an interest or have purchased a GIS in the first place. We’ve even gone as far as to formalise the process; we call it from WHERE to THERE in 4 steps. We step customers through answering WHERE questions using GIS as follows:

1. Define the problem – Clear definition of the WHERE problem.
2. Story evolution – What might a solution look like?
3. GIS – A gentle step into the GIS solution suite: data, GIS server/platform, mobile/web/desktop application
4. Widening and deepening the WHERE questions answered with your GIS.

Today GIS is increasingly seen as a tool to answer WHERE business questions within organizations. No longer simply a mapping tool. Much more. We’ve found we can help move organizations forward quicker and more effectively by taking a more holistic approach. To stay focused on the problem not the technology, and guide customers down the path to answer their WHERE questions.

Find out more about our GIS approach. Contact us on 801-733-0723.

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

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 11th, 2016 at 6:17 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.