System Success Factors and the top ten reasons AM/FM/GIS projects falter
Members of the general public are at an even greater risk than internal staff for unintentionally
misusing or misinterpreting spatial data. For example, many citizens will improperly compare
accurate parcel maps with schematic flood zones from the Federal Emergency Management
Agency and will draw erroneous conclusions about whether particular properties fall in particular
flood zones
Two ways to mitigate the risk of internal misuse are to educate end users and to maintain
metadata that explain how specific data sets should be used. User education should include the
fundamentals of mapping and map interpretation as well as the basics of database management.
Metadata should be maintained as rigorously as the data it documents, and users should have
automatic access to metadata any time they query the GIS.
In order to combat data misuse by the general public, an organization can utilize standard
disclaimers on all spatial data products it distributes. Public education may also be an option for
local governments.
Turfism
Who manages the GIS? In a multi-departmental or regional project, people may perceive that
one agency or department will end up controlling the system and the data. Some departments
will be delighted that somebody else will have the all headaches, but others may be concerned
that they will lose influence or that the GIS will not meet all their needs. This can lead to battles
over who “owns” the system, who administers the hardware and software, and who maintains the
“real” data.
When turfkm surfaces and is not adequately addressed, it is a safe bet that some departments or
agencies are going to be dissatisfied with the cooperative effort. These dissatisfied groups may
406?become impatient with the speed of implementation, or they may decide that they cannot work
with the data sets or applications built and maintained by other departments. In either case, the
detractors often decide to embark on their own projects. This can lead to incompatible data and
systems as well as redundant development costs.
One way to prevent turfism from becoming an issue is to involve all agencies and departments in
the GIS planning process. In extreme situations, a new and separate agency or department may
have to be created for the GIS. There is know way to order people not to feel threatened by turf
issues, but the top official(s) in the organization or region can issue a directive prohibiting all
agencies and departments from pursuing GIS outside the scope of the cooperative project. Then,
if a particular group becomes impatient with the process and wants to expedite development of
particular data sets and applications, its only alternative is to work with the recognized GIS
manager to fund or assign additional resources for those tasks.
GIS in a Vacuum
GIS benefits depend to a large extent on the existence of an integrated information environment,
including an enterprise database. Organizations will struggle to gain value from their GIS
investments if they do not have clear information systems goals and standards or if they allow
staff to develop standalone databases.
- An electric utility decided to build an AM/FM system and to integrate it with their existing
maintenance and customer information systems. However, the existing systems were home-grown
products on an outdated mainframe computer with an obsolete architecture. There
were no AM/FM software products on the market that could interact directly with the legacy
system. Staff knew that the utility would eventually have to move to a more modem
architecture for its corporate system, but there were no formal plans, goals, or standards. As
a result, they spent several years designing an AMEM that could link to a system that they
knew they would eventually abandon.
In order to mitigate this type of risk, an organization should complete a strategic plan for general
information systems before planning specifically for a GIS.
The New Homeowner’s Disillusionment {Maintenance Woes\
Anyone who has ever purchased a home will remember that sinking feeling common to all first
time home buyers as they realize that their evenings, weekends, and paychecks are about to be
consumed by home maintenance. Just like houses, GIS databases must be carefully maintained
to retain their value. And procrastination just makes the maintenance harder and more
expensive !
The biggest risk of any data development project is that people will refuse to use the data because
the content is inadequate or, more frequently, because the records are too far out of date. GIS
data conversion can take many months, and sometimes the source data itself is months or years
old.
- A medium-sized southern city hired a conversion firm to create digital infrastructure maps.
At the time the files were delivered, the city had not yet purchased software, written
applications, or designated personnel to maintain the data. Five years later, when the people,
software, and policies were in place, the data was so old that the city had to discard it and
start from scratch.
- A utility near the West Coast spent seven years converting its facility maps. The utility
decided to wait until everything was converted before releasing the data, so the Engineering
Department continued using its paper map books. During this time, the utility’s service area
underwent rapid growth. As a result, they had a huge, seven-year backlog of updates that had
to be posted before the conversion project was completed.
The first step in combating data conversion risks is to thoroughly specify all data conversion
projects and to scrub all source data to ensure it is as up-to-date as possible. Another important
step is to define interim source data maintenance procedures so that changes that occur during the
conversion process can be added to the new files as quickly and efficiently as possible. Once a
geographic area has been converted, the old data should be replaced by the digital data as quickly
as possible in order to minimize update backlogs. For some organizations this will result in
hybrid map set during the conversion process, but this temporary inconvenience is usually less
burdensome than the update backlog that would otherwise result. Finally, in order to ensure that
its data sets retain their value over time, it is absolutely critical for an organization to define data
maintenance procedures and responsibilities for each new data set. These procedures and
assignments should be documented well before the new data comes on line.
Summary of critical success factors
Successful AMIFM/GIS projects prevent or overcome the implementation obstacles described
above. Such projects share many of the following critical success factors:
- A full-time GIS Coordinator whose only responsibility is AM/FM/GIS implementation
management
- A highly placed GIS Project Champion
- An automated project management tool that reflects a thorough implementation plan with a
clearly defined project scope
- Rapid development of simple end user applications
- Programmed, formal communications with end users, which may include a regular newsletter
Officials who have been educated about the realistic potential and the costs of AM/FM/GIS
- A participative planning effort that includes all agencies, departments, and officials
- Metadata
- A strategic information systems plan that identifies general IS goals and standards
- A GIS education program for end users
- Clear data maintenance assignments and documented data maintenance procedures
