Project management in the AM/FM/GIS world
Lets start with where we are today. Most AM/FM/GIS Coordinators are from one department in Federal, State, City
government or private utilities and you have Project Managers in the vendor sector. There will be a few exceptions where a
local City has all the departments in the City participating in the AM/FM/GIS program so you would have one Project
Manager or GIS Coordinator for all the city’s effort. Most GIS Coordinators work and develop alone with all the different
departments wanting data as soon as it is known that AM/FM/GIS data is available. In some cases the demand for data is
so large that the AM/FM/GIS development is slowed so that the AM/FM/GIS Coordinator can work on other projects.
There are many of you that make up a one person office for the AM/FM/GIS effort in your Federal, State, City or Private
environment. It takes a lot of time answering to the many demands of unparticating users. You will see on Exhibit A what
is the most common structure in cities that have AM/FM/GIS. The Project Manager handles all requests from each
department. This person carries the load of their city’s GIS effort. This develops stress. In a lot of cases these departments
do not communicate with each other and the requests of the GIS person were not laid out at the start of the project. We
must create Committees to help carry the load and give the GIS Coordinator a forum to request assistance.
The AM/FM/GIS community must help setup guidelines to help the new users. There has to be understanding that if a
person is appointed to be the AM/FM/GIS Manager or Coordinator, they have the full support of the entire entity for where
this work is being done. Some of the guidelines that the new AM/FM/GIS Coordinator must have, is be given the authority
to create a AMfFM/GIS Committee made up of all the departments in their community. Why should there be a Committee
you ask? Even if the project is relatively small, there is a need to make sure that everyone knows what is going on in the
area. This is called Communication. If the project is large with mapping, digital orthos and parcel or utility conversion the
Committee should help and advise the AM/FM/GIS Coordinator. Remember in most cases the AM/FM/GIS person is new
to the AM/FM/GIS world and the experience of others can help this person grow. By having a Committee that works
together there is a clear picture created for the future use and needs of the community. Listed below is an idea that might
help coordinate a Committee and whom you might wanton the Committee. Exhibit B will give you an idea of how the
committee might look.
-
AM/FM/GIS Coordinators
- AM/FM/GIS Coordinators Supervisor
- The Person who wanted AMIFMIGIS
- Someone from the Planning Department
- Someone from Traffic Department
- Someone from Highway Department
- Someone from the Assessors Office
- Someone from the Local Counsel Committee
- Someone from the Public Utilities
- Someone from the Emergence Services
- Someone from the Engineering Department
- Someone from the Police Department
- Someone from the Vendor that was Selected to do the Work.
- Ask the Mayor or High Official in the area.
- The person that wrote the RFP.
The group will grow larger as the data is delivered, the vendor is selected and there will be people that will fall off the list
as the project moves along. This committee must start meeting six to twelve months before the RFP is sent out to the
vendor community, so that all ideas have been reviewed and the review committee understands what will be presented by
the vendor. This will also help in making sure there is a backup to the Project Manager or GIS Coordinator. Many times
the Project Manager or GIS Coordinator leaves and no one knows what was going on but the vendor is still working under
a contract. A new person steps in an there are changes that this person wants but there is already data being produced. The
committee can help by holding the project on course until the new Coordinator gets up to speed. By having an idea of what
you want from the time you send out the RFP, it will save time in getting you project going once you have picked a vendor.
It is important that the committee be the base of the AM/FM/GIS effort and the goals are to supply data to the users. A
little insight can be obtained by calling or requesting ideas from vendors. All vendors have ideas and some will help you
in setting up your RFP. Also you can request from a vendor a copy of RFPs that the vendors liked and were written well.
You are the ones who know your needs and wants. Work together and set a common goals.
