Issue link: https://resources.esri.ca/i/1313392
21 | GEOSPATIAL STRATEGY ESSENTIALS FOR MANAGERS MATTHEW LEWIN The building blocks are intended to be broad and cover the fundamental aspects of a geospatial strategy. That said, the level of detail you go to on each building block largely depends on your current situation. In some cases, an organization might choose to focus more closely on the technology and data building blocks. But in general, this framework provides a holistic structure for thinking through and defining a geospatial strategy. So, how do you define each building block? The process I recommend is to work through a set of strategic questions. These questions should focus on the fundamentals and challenge you to make decisions. These are not softball questions. They should require you to make tough calls. Remember, strategy is about making choices! Below I've compiled a list of strategic questions for each building block. Your job is to work through these questions (and others relevant to your situation) and determine which direction you will take. Of course, why you choose to go in one direction or another is as important as the decision itself. That's why I've also included a set of decision criteria to accompany the questions. When considering your options, you need a way to rationalize your decisions. Why is one direction preferable to another? The decision criteria are guidelines or factors to consider when making your decisions. Keep in mind that these building blocks don't exist in isolation. One influences the other. For instance, your business application decisions impact your data decisions and vice versa. Be sure to iteratively refine your choices as you consider the influence of upstream and downstream decisions. By the end, you might have several different building block configurations. That's okay. These represent your strategic options, which you'll evaluate in the next step. Business Applications The business applications building block addresses the question: how do we provide the required business functionality? The strategic decisions determine the scope and configuration of your application landscape. What new applications do we implement? Strategic Questions What existing applications do we replace? Upgrade? Retire? What applications do we buy vs. develop? Decision Criteria What business value do they provide? What is the cost and technical complexity to implement? How are business proccesses and users impacted? Will business users support the change? What are the cost savings? Productivity benefits? Are COTS solutions available? Are they a fit? What is the total cost of ownership? Do we have access to development resources? Support resources? Are there already established IT principles or standards?