10 Things to Know About Managing a GIS Project

Gerry Clancy, Esri DCGlenn Berger, Esri Atlanta

To Plan and Manage a GIS Project, You Must

1. Define clear vision and success criteria2. Involve the users and key stakeholders early & often3. Requirements, requirements, requirements4. Manage change 5. Identify and monitor risks6. Use a phased approach 7. Promote communication among teams8. Don’t get enamored with technology9. Involve IT team early & keep them involved10. Keep it simple

Define Clear Vision & Success Criteria

• What exactly are you trying to build?• Who is the customer?• Who is the champion?• What is important to your customer?

- How do they define success?

• What are the real priorities?• Are you creating a new process? Replacing one?• Stay focused

Know what you are building

Identify and Involve Your Stakeholders

• Who is providing project funding?

• Who will be impacted by this project?

• Who will provide resources?

• Who will determine success?

• Who can make decisions?

• Who does not support the project?

Engage Early and Often

Requirements, requirements, requirements

• Requirements need to be placed in context• Conduct interviews and workshops• Model the existing “as is” business process• Model the future “to be” business process

- How can the business process be streamlined

- Validate data as early in the process as possible

- Interactions with other systems

• Do not be judgmental- Need to prioritize- Break things into manageable units

5

THE most important part of a project

Requirements, requirements, requirements

• Requirements should- Describe WHAT not HOW- Only contain one requirement- Be unambiguous, measurable, and achievable- Be “testable”- Map back to the scope of work

• Requirements form the basis for- Software design and application development activities- Testing and acceptance activities

• Requirements must model business process- Document the to-be business processes and rules- Document the user interaction with the (new) system- Help traceability throughout the different project phases

6

Bringing these together

ID Requirement

32 User must be able to search for images using a point buffer

… …

ID Type Functional Area Requirement Original Requirement

101 F DesktopClient \ Discovery \Search Filter

User must be able to specify an area of interest by selecting a point feature on the map and inputting a radius (square buffer)

User must be able to search forimages using a point buffer

102 F DesktopClient \ Discovery \Search Filter

User must be able to specify an area of interest by drawing a point on the map and inputting a radius (square buffer)

User must be able to search forimages using a point buffer

104 F DesktopClient \ Discovery \Search Filter

All coordinate entry should support both decimal degree (DD) and degrees/minutes/seconds (DMS) input

User must be able to search forimages using a point buffer

… … … … …

Business Processes Use Cases Domain Model

Customer Requirements

Revised Requirements

Manage Change

• Changes happen in every project- Schedule, Requirements, Priorities,

Budget, Resources, etc.

• Be clear about the consequences• Earlier they are identified the better• Key elements of change communication

- Simple, Direct, Constant & Consistent

It will happen….get over it

Identify and monitor risks

• Internal- Staff, Budget, Schedule, etc.

• External- Hardware failures- Software release schedules- Contractors and subcontractors- Integration issues- Natural disasters

• Review and reevaluated throughout the project life cycle

Assess what is critical and focus on it

Use a Phased Implementation Approach

• Break overall project into manageable phases/spirals• Use 4,8,12 week increments

- Clearly define requirements and workflows that will be in each

- Try and complete a workflow in each spiral

• Communicate overall plan- MS Project

Take small steps

Promote Communication

• Create a communication plan

- Artifacts- Timely- Purposeful- Concise

• Who needs information?

• What information is required?

• Don’t forget informal communication!

Upward, Downward and Across Teams

Do Not Get Enamored with Technology

• Remember what you are trying to deliver

- Be careful of the “shiny” object- Does it address the mission need- Will this technology meet the goals of the business case- Don’t build/deliver a sports car if you need a truck

Focus on Key Business Functions

Engage IT Department

• Key stakeholder• Understand policy and

standards• Identify hardware and network

impacts• Consider security model and

impacts• Identify who will support system• Plan to educate and train staff

(including IT staff)

And Keep Them Involved

Keep It Simple

• Identify the “right” project rhythms and processes

• Design and build for the 90% use case not the 10%

• Do you need to customize or configure?• Don’t reinvent the wheel – leverage when you can

Avoid complexity and eliminate confusion

To Recap

1. Define clear vision and success criteria2. Involve the users and key stakeholders early & often3. Requirements, requirements, requirements4. Manage change 5. Identify and monitor risks6. Use a phased approach 7. Promote communication among teams8. Don’t get enamored with technology9. Involve IT team early & keep them involved10. Keep it simple

Discussion

Additional Resources

• ESRI project methodology- http://www.esri.com/services/professional-

services/methodology.html

• Business case resources- The Business Benefits of GIS: an ROI Approach—Outlines a

number of case studies and general methodology for doing cost- benefit analysis

- Thinking About GIS—Roger Tomlinson- http://www.esri.com/getting_started/executives/success.html

• Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)- www.pmi.org

Additional Resources - Books

• Software Requirements (2nd Edition) by Karl Wiegers, Microsoft Press, 2003

• Applying UML and Patterns (2nd Edition) by Craig Larman, Prentice-Hall, 2001

• Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML by Doug Rosenberg and Matt Stephens, Apress, 2008

• Agile Development with ICONIX Process by Doug Rosenberg, Matt Stephens, and Mark Collins, Apress, 2005

- http://www.iconixsw.com/

• Software Project Survival Guide by Steve McConnell, Microsoft Press, 1997