What IT Professionals Should Know About

Getting Started With & Supporting GIS

www.bcs-gis.comwww.twitter.com/bcsgis

www.twitter.com/marvlis

Jim Tochterman, VP, Research & Development

Who is BCS?

• Formed in 1998 in Aiken, SC

• Privately held and woman-owned

• Primary focus is GIS for Public Safety

• Esri Gold Tier Partner

What does BCS do?

• Company Business Units

MARVLIS Public Safety Mobile Technologies Esri Software Sales, Services, Training & Consulting Defense/Intel

What does BCS do?

• Strong Public Safety Focus

MARVLIS MARVLIS Forecast LE TheAddresser Crime Analysis Tools Crime iMap Fire Analysis Tools

Where have we been?

Not long ago, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were once relegated to only back office support operations.

Minicomputers, terminals, digitizers, and pen plotters were the cutting edge technology.

Used for data creation & producing paper maps to support City/County/Regional Planning, Economic Development, Tax Assessment, and other local government efforts & operations.

Where are we now?

Today, gone are the token-ring networks and 9-Track tapes of the past, replaced with Fiber Ethernet & Storage Area Networks (SAN).

GIS has grown from a decision support tool to being fully integrated into Information Technology (IT) within organizations across many industry verticals, both in the office & in the field. Even… at home.

You may or may not see a map, but spatial data is driving tasks like Business Intelligence (BI), Disease Surveillance, and Disaster Response just to name a few.

Where are we going?

Just like IT, GIS is evolving. It too is moving to a web services model which in turn is making it more of an integrative technology.

Organizations/Departments are sharing data easier and mobility is connecting users in the field enabling data exchange in real time.

Augmented Reality (AR) & Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), & 3D GIS are quickly making their way to common use.

What do I need to get there?

GIS is not like supporting Microsoft Office users. In supporting or developing a GIS, there are several things that should done be first & reevaluated often:

Who are my key players & what are their critical needs? What is the staffing situation? What kind & quantity of computing resources am I going to need? Can my network support GIS? Develop a plan and a budget.

Key Players, Critical Needs

Who are my key players & what are their critical needs? What departments/users will benefit the greatest immediately?

Easy wins first (low cost successes, faster ROI) What departments/users will utilize in the long term? What kinds of data & equipment will I need to support goals? Will I need specialized applications & systems integrations?

Staffing

What is the staffing situation? Do you have/need a GIS Manager? Do you have/need GIS Technicians? Do you have/need Software Developers? Do you have/need the necessary IT Support Staff? Training for existing (or new) staff?

Computing Resources

What kind & quantity of computing resources am I going to need? Workstations

CPU & GPU Intensive RAM Intensive Large & Small Scale Printing Devices

Servers (Physical or VM) File & Web Servers RDBMS Servers Public Access

Mobile Devices Field Data Collection Billing Systems (Water/Gas)

Cloud Computing Storage / Backup Additional Computing Cycles Business Continuity

Network Resources

Can my network support GIS? GIS is bandwidth intensive Large datasets and long running processes Do I have Ethernet where I need it (1GB >)? Do I have Wi-Fi where I need it (802.11g >)? Do I need cellular for field workers (LTE)? Do I need VPN for remote site access? Will I need Internet access for sharing data with public (NT1 >)?

Plan & Budget

Develop a DEFENSIBLE plan and a budget. GIS is a complex technology program Substantial year-to-year budgets are required

Capital & Operational Work with your finance departments (they are creative) Breakdown your plans & make them easy to understand

Infrastructure Data Applications Sustainability Staff

Define costs Hardware vs. Software Data (3rd Party) Inside Labor vs. Outside Labor

Share costs (ALL players)

GIS is IT

Questions?

Are you ready?

www.bcs-gis.comwww.twitter.com/bcsgis

www.twitter.com/marvlis