Employing a Cost-Benefit Approach in Implementing GIS in an Organization - Assignment Example

Q1. Examine the purpose of employing a cost-benefit approach in implementing GIS in an organization. The main objective of implementing GIS in an organization is to construct a business case for the proposal of GIS acquisition. Network dictionary defined a geographical information system as “a computer system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information, that is, data identified according to location. Practitioners also define a GIS as including the procedures, operating personnel, and spatial data that go into the system”. For acquiring GIS, cost, risks, benefits, and impacts associated with the GIS are calculated, in order to continue with the current data and information products. If fundamental different approaches are included in the preliminary design models, for instance, centralized systems versus distributed systems, analyzing cost benefit analysis are essential. The activities that are involved in cost benefit analysis are: Estimating all the cost Identification of all benefits Evaluation of economic value for irrefutable profit Evaluating impact on the staff and organization Evaluating Risk Examining results The implementation cost for the GIS includes acquisition and maintenance for software, hardware, maintenance, data capture, and training. The highly qualified staff is required for management of systems, programming, support, operation of applications, and preparation for the site with all related expenses along with an acquisition cost. Discounted on the present value, recurrent cost needs to be analyzed for five years over an insignificant system life. As identified in the preliminary stages, the cost associated with software, hardware, maintenance and training cost needs to be obtained from more than two vendors. If it is achievable, than the validation of these cost will be achieved by discussions by existing agencies. Moreover, the data capture cost will be significant and vary from 10 to 1000 times from the software and hardware cost. The benefits related to efficiency are associated with time and cost via robust data processing and eliminating the duplication processes. On the other hand, effectiveness benefits are linked with improvements in the decision-making processes via new data in a timely manner. Moreover, the intangible benefits consist of an advanced image of the public for the organization. The ambiguous data reduce the confusion enables superior communication between users via enhanced staff professionalism and morale, superior co-operation between the users by data sharing, capability to handle unexpected events. In addition, unanticipated applications and enhanced data analysis will provide new knowledge. The definition of economic value is available at ‘www.investorwords.com’ that states as “The value of an asset deriving from its ability to generate income” (, what is economic value? Definition and Meaning). Economic value enthusiastically can be allocated to efficiency benefits. The usefulness, value and benefits are not easy to calculate. There may be key impacts of the proposed GIS on the staff and organization, and may have a considerable comportment on the cost benefit analysis. From the user requirement analysis, the impacts for the data processing, decision making and data collection can be accessed. The management and organizational structure linked with the new technology, new procedures, new roles and new necessities for co-operation and consultation will contribute to make an impact on the organization. These issues may contribution towards the successful GIS as compared to technical issues. Discussions and consultations of impacts with the staff in the early states facilitate to eliminate disputes during the deployment. Moreover, eyeing on authority, responsibility and undertaking related to propagation of information products and data maintenance, there are legal and political connotation for the organizations. The inclusion of risk assessment defining that the project will not be able to achieve successful results in terms of benefits, cost, specifications and time. Moreover, the economic risk assessment is conducted by sensitivity analysis, by evaluating positive values for calculated cost and benefits. There are a number of ways to conduct cost benefit analysis. Griffin and Hickman in the 1998 demonstrated results from the present value, investment ratio, savings, discounted payback and the cost of an implemented GIS (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ). The minimum specification requirement is to demonstrate the common economics for the proposal along with the factor included in the statement, and not in the economic analysis. Below is an example of a basic economic equation (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.): + - Sensitivity + Calculated benefits for the proposed GIS Capital and Operating Cost for the Proposed GIS = Net Benefits related to economics for the proposed GIS Q2. Outline the steps involved in adopting an acquisition model for GIS implementation and examine in detail one stage in the acquisition process. The GIS acquisition model consists of 4 stages, but there are sub-stages that are involved for the successful completion of a GIS acquisition model. The GIS acquisition model stages with sub0statges are illustrated below (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.): GIS Acquisition Model 1 First Stage: Requirement Analysis Definition of Objectives User Requirement Analysts Preliminary Design Cost benefit Analysis Pilot Study 2 Second Stage: Specification of Requirements Finalized Design RFP (Request for Proposals) 3 Third Stage: Evaluation for Alternatives Short listing Benchmark testing Evaluation for Cost effectiveness 4 Stage Four: System Implementation Implementation Plan Contract Acceptance Testing Implementation Specification of Requirements This is the second stage of GIS acquisition model. In this stage, the conclusions from the user requirement analysis are transformed in to a specification. The proposals are then evaluated against these specifications. Finalized Design The design documentations are created in the stages that are linked with a request for proposals. In order to analyze further, the finalized design stage consists of processes that will contribute to produce a specification for the Request for Proposal (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.). The processes are: Finalizing the database terms and specifications Finalizing the functional terms and specifications Finalizing the performance terms and specifications Identification of constraints Identification of generic requirements for the system The database terms and performance specifications are concluded by the pilot study. The pilot study results will be included in the preliminary design documents. Vendors need database specifications that will contribute to their proposed systems. One option should be selected from these three ‘classified’, ‘desirable’ or ‘optional’ attributes for the functional terms and analysis. The classified option contains only those requirements that are mandatory for the operation of the system. Performance terms and specifications will only be considered, for essential workloads and most advantageous requirements. Moreover, the identification of constraints will consist of documentation, development tools, maintenance and support, user training and upgrades. RFP (Request for Proposals) The definition of Request of proposal is stated as a “document sent by a potential buyer to potential vendors soliciting price quotes; also called Request for Quotation. Commonly referred to as an RFP, it includes all of the buyer's product or service requirements as well as a description of the required format, timing and content of the price quotes to be submitted. RFP's enable the buyer to ensure that all vendors have an equal understanding of the requirements and that the bids can easily be compared. This is especially important for highly complex products and services that require customization to meet the unique needs of the buyer” (, Request for Proposal Definition). The request or proposal integrates with the finalized design along with the contractual requirement of the organization. After these steps, the RFP is then handed over to the vendors. Before handing over the RFP to the vendors, it encompasses through these stages (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.): Specification of contracts requirements Specification of Evaluation Methodology Handover or release the RFP to the vendors In order to review the contract requirements, they are: The acceptance of a multi vendor based solution. The maturity level that us required for the proposed solution Special software development provision Addressing the constraints (how to handle them) The generalized conditions for the proposal Drafts of the contracts (draft conditions) In order to develop a high performance GIS solution, various hardware and software vendor contributions are required. It is the responsibility of the organization to recommend a primary contractor, who may accept responsibility for the overall project, or each vendor will be responsible for system implementation with the assistance and co ordination of the organization employees. Consequently, the request for proposal document must highlight the requirements for a single vendor responsibility or multi vendor responsibility. This is specified by the organization of whether the proposed GIS solution will be operational or under development methodology will be considered. There are risk factors associated with each methodology. The under development methodology may have many advantages as compared to operational system methodology; it is possible that they cannot cope up with the time and performance specifications. The provision of the special software development consists of user interface customization, software that will translate the existing data, special processing functions, and interfaces linked to other systems (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.). Moreover, the processes associated with software specification development along with examining the implementation process needs to be specified. The constraints should be identified in the RFP document as essential requirements that are handled by the vendors. The concluding approach facilitates vendors to provide an alternative that may be considered more cost effective than a solution including constraints. The generalized conditions for the RFP document consists of The closing data For a formal tender, minimum information Circumstances for proposal deviation, during the evaluation stage Price The RFP document highlight issues to the vendors related to various contractual and technical requirements. In response, vendors should adhere and justify their solution with the contractual and technical requirements. Moreover, vendors have to respond to each identified constraint along with generic system requirements. Furthermore, they must also comply with the drafted contractual situations. The RFP document should illustrate that straightforward responses to the difficult and complex requirements will exclude the proposal to be considered as a formal tender. One effective method is to incorporate questionnaire in the RFP document that will demonstrate most crucial issues related to the organization. RFP also demonstrates the evaluation methodology, it consists of a summary, which states benchmark testing, cost effectiveness and evaluation methodology, general description for the evaluation methods that are implemented at each step and short listings. Lastly, the RFP document is produced and handed over to the vendors by advertisement or letters. Vendors should only be allowed a minimum of two months, to prepare for proposals of the complex systems. The interested vendors may be provided by a briefing highlight the RFP document (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.). Q3. Discuss the procedures involved in system evaluation and benchmark testing as they apply to GIS implementation Benchmark testing is defined as “Benchmark Tests are standardized routines for comparing the performance of competing hardware and software under conditions intended to reflect common patterns of use. Widely used benchmark tests have been developed to compare the speed of computers”. (, * Benchmark - (GIS): Definition ). The primary goal for benchmark testing is to validate the functional requirements along with the determination of estimation of performance for the workloads. Moreover, this stage is also associated with people evaluation, who have contributed, or involved in the creation of the proposal. The benchmark is incorporated with these sub stages: Designing the benchmark Construct the benchmark along with documentation and data Benchmark execution Results of the Analysis The design of the benchmark must reflect the performance and functional requirements that are highlighted in the request for proposal. The design must also adhere to the construction of the tasks that needs to be performed along with outputs. The outputs associated with the benchmarks may include Elapsed times CPU times Operator times These three factors must be integrated with graphics and statistics application. Moreover, there are other factors consisting of the user interface along with system documentation should also be clearly highlighted in the design document. The documentation of benchmark testing highlights the generic description of the processes and task, which needs to be performed along with the replica of data that will be utilized. Record keeping is essential, and vendors must adhere for record keeping options during the execution of the benchmark. The employees, who are associated with evaluation, must assure understandability factors related to the overall system procedures. The functionality scores will be identified by the results of the testing from the workload performance. However, proposal that do not match essential functional requirements and cannot accomplish minimum workload levels are abolished from this stage. On the other hand, the configurations with the best-suited and effective ratios are the best choice. The final report that is extracted from the evaluation stage must include total costing and scheduling, the non-essential functionality scores, generalized and performance requirements, appropriate factors that are not included in the scores and cost, and evaluation of the cost-benefit analysis. The evaluation of the system involves three successful evaluation designs. These designs will identify the most adequate system from the three proposed systems. The approach for selecting the most appropriate system includes short listing which is based on the functionality requirements that are mandatory and criteria for performance along with cost effective evaluation. The effectiveness is achieved by the benchmark-testing phase and is calculated by the weighted sum analysis. Moreover, the short listing approach for the feasible system is evaluated by activities of the vendors including: Preliminary proposal evaluations Scoring of functional requirements Extracting initial short list The preliminary proposal evaluations must adhere to relationships between the RFP documents and describes the rejection of anyone without continuing further evaluation. The rejection of anyone will be made possible due to a failure of not meeting mandatory requirements for functional requirements (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.). The reasons may include: In appropriate details against the response Maturity level not up to the requirements Not able to provide a complete solution Cost budget is not matching to the project overall budget Moreover, the requirements that are not essential along with the generalized system requirements are then calculated from the response of the vendor. Furthermore, all the requirements are then allocated a weight and scoring is calculated from a numeric scale (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.). The weight determination is conducted with the users, earlier to the proposal receipts. The factors and experience, which is gained by conducting the pilot study, lays the foundation for examining the importance of functions. Pilot study “provides the opportunity for a local government to evaluate the feasibility of integrating a GIS into the day-to-day functions of its' operating units. Implementing GIS is a major undertaking. A pilot study provides a limited but useful insight into what it will take to implement GIS within the organization. Proving the concept, measuring performance, and uncovering problems during a pilot study, which runs concurrent with detailed system planning, database planning, and design, is more beneficial than pressing forward with implementation without this knowledge” (, GIS Development Guides - Pilot Studies and Benchmark Tests ).The score that are not adequate, will be given special attention, during the benchmark testing. Lengthy discussions from the quality, support and maintenance staff will assist remarkably in the scoring of different aspects. Hence, the scoring along with the preliminary evaluation will facilitate and produce initiate short lists. In addition, for making the bench marking steps manageable, five system shortlists are recommended (, Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.). References Geographical Information System. 2007. Network Dictionary, , pp. 212-212. , What is economic value? Definition and Meaning . Available: http://www.investorwords.com/1650/economic_value.html [3/28/2011, 2011]. , Geographic Information Systems and Science - John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. . Available: http://www.wiley.com//legacy/wileychi/gis/ [3/28/2011, 2011]. , Request for Proposal Definition | Business Dictionaries from AllBusiness.com . Available: http://www.allbusiness.com/glossaries/request-proposal/4966506-1.html [3/28/2011, 2011]. , * Benchmark - (GIS): Definition . Available: http://en.mimi.hu/gis/benchmark.html [3/28/2011, 2011]. , GIS Development Guides - Pilot Studies and Benchmark Tests . Available: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/records/mr_pubGIS03_4.shtml [3/28/2011, 2011]. Read More