Project management in the AM/FM/GIS world
It is important that an effort is made to get with each department in your community and get them on board. One person
will have to take the responsibility to go to each department. This is Project Management. Because tax dollars are usually
the only funding for AM/FM/GIS projects, all departments must work together and get the most AM/FM/GIS data for the
lease dollars. All vendors are use to working with multiply community department AM/FM/GIS projects. An example is if
you are a county and you have five cities in your county, all the cities need to be brought together so that you can do data
sharing with the cities. You can split your aerial flying cost, survey cost and conversion cost. This is also Project
Management. Where does Project Management go after you have everyone on board for this project. It is important to
hold meeting each month even if you have received all you data. There will be times that it will be made known in the
meeting that someone needs new data or a different kind of data. Make sure that you have your hardware and software in
place before you are scheduled to get you prototype data. The vendors can help you in knowing how much disk space you
will need to have for your data.
One of the hardest decisions that a AM/FM/GIS Coordinator has to make is which vendor to use. Most RFP mailing lists
have all the vendors listed. Most vendors will respond even though they are booked up for a year or so. It is important that
you as the AM/FM/GIS Coordinator understand that all AM/FM/GIS vendors have a very full plate because of the market
demand. It would be great if an RFP could be sent out but the work is not needed for four years, but most of the time you
want your data in about a year, unless you have a two year budget plan. All vendors will work with you on a multi year
budget plan. If you plan ahead you could have your budget work for you over a two budget cycle. When picking a vendor
you must call references and even though one reference might not be a big supporter of that vendor, give the vendor a
chance to explain. Sometimes it might be out of the vendors control. Always have a shortlist and request a presentation by
the shortlisted vendors. A shortlist can be created by first qualifying vendor as to the needs of your project. A shortlist
should be around 5 to 8 qualified vendors. In the presentation you will find which company you are most comfortable with
and see representative data that the vendor is producing. Never go with the lowest bid, because you usually get what you
pay for. You do not want a throw away job. Look for the vendor that would like to give you some new ideas but still wants
to meet you goals. Remember the teamwork part of this process. If you pick the right vendor or supplier, you will have a
better chance at a successful project. The Project Manager or AM/FM/GIS Coordinator should work with the GIS
Committee and it should be unanimous decision on who to choose. The time to talk final price is after you have selected
the vendor to do your project. Something to remember when you are scheduling your project is if you wait until the fall to
send out you RFP you will be putting a vendor in a rush to get the aerial flights laid out, the ground control paneled and the
flying done. If you can send out you RFP in the Spring or Summer you will give the vendor the time to do a better job.
Because of all the requests for flying and the different weather, vendors and pilots are looking for a few good days. It is
very hard to get 3 to 5 good flying days in a row. Planning always helps control cost and frustrations. One of the best ideas
for picking a vendor is the user needs to understand what is being requested.
When looking for ways to make you project run smoother, make sure that the vendor that you are using has procedures in
place for Bi-Weekly Reports, Delivery Reports and charts. You need to be able to go back to you GIS Committee and
report on the project and status of the project.. Also request that a Procedures Manual will be delivered after the prototype
is completed. Communication should be once a week and letters should follow each phone call. When calling references
ask if the vendor has been sending Bi-Weekl y Report and tracking forms. It is not enough to just say that you have them
but do they get sent out. Communications means teamwork. Request the vendor Project Manager visits you site once
every two month and you visit the vendor twice a year if possible.
The Prototype Phases has become a major part of the AM/FM/GIS environment, both for the AM/FM/GIS users and the
AM/FM/GIS vendors. What is a Prototype Phase? With all new projects that cover a City, State, or large area there is
some unknowns. The vendor’s bid in a competitive bid in a competitive market and the new AM/FM/GIS project or user is
still not working with AM/FM/GIS data. If the project was for a 100 square mile area with
planimetric/contour/parcel/utility mapping and conversion, the pilot should bean area that represents a good cross section
of the project. Some rural and urban data in the same area. The vendor would then work with the user to come up with a
few tiles that join in the same area and this would be the prototype area for this project. If this project has planimetric
mapping, digital orthophotography and parcel conversion, the prototype would start after the targeting, aerial photography,
GPS ground control and FAAT is complete. There should always be a short time frame used for the prototype area. Most
of the total project development by the vendor and client happens in these prototype tiles. For most prototype areas should
last no longer than two months. It is the vendors responsibility to create the prototype data to the understanding of the
signed contract. It is the AM/FM/GIS users responsibility to not request more in the prototype data, than what is stated in
the signed contract. Understanding that the vendor will come back and request additional funds from the AM/FM/GIS
client for additional scope of work.. We need to make sure that everything is spelled out clearly in the signed contract and
follow it until both parties agree on a change. For the new AM/FM/GIS user or client, the prototype has two important
functions. First, it is to show that the vendor has a complete understanding of what the user has contracted. Second, to
give the user digital data to take to the people who have to approve funding. If the prototype takes six months to develop
and complete, the people who approved the funding are going to get very impatient and will put a lot of undo pressure on
the AM/FM/GIS Coordinator. This industry has lost more good people because of the pressure from the prototype phase
than from any other source. Vendors must help by attacking a prototype area sooner in the contract. Vendors and users
must understand that 909. of all problems within the industry come in the prototype phase. The Vendors and AM/FM/GIS
users must work together in the prototype phases and speed up the time on compilation of the prototype data. Project
Management from both sides must make this happen, Once the prototype data is in hand, there is something to build on.
To keep good Project Managers in the AM/FM/GIS field they must be continually working on the next phase goals for GIS
in their community.
