Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Written at a practical level, suited to the business audience, this exceptional book explores the business environment of making GIS successful. It applies academic rigor to practical and commercial implementation issues and offers viewpoints from all parties involved in GIS implementation. Achieving Business Success with GIS provides tangible advice ranging from technical and financial to organizational and commercial. It is unique in that it does not stop short of providing, without hype or embellishment, practical advice and real examples regarding the total cost of ownership of a project or finance and return investment of GIS products. Achieving Business Success with GIS highlights that the use of GIS technology needs to be focused on the business issues, not the technology.

The book begins by describing the use of GIS in a global context within a business environment as the background to outlining the need for organizations to have a strategy for their GIS. The book then goes on to explore the elements of a GIS strategy and explains issues which are relevant for such approaches and how to go about developing it.

In the closing chapters of this book, the process of specifying and tendering for a GIS are discussed to ensure that the focus of the reader remains on the business issues of the organization. This is followed by examples of the best and worst Geographic Information Systems including a discussion on Google Earth and Web 2.0.

The combination of the statistics from the GIS / Spatial surveys and the author's consulting experiences make this book an invaluable resource for GIS managers in government (federal, state and local) and utilities, organisations using GIS, and students and lecturers in this field.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. vii)
• Acknowledgements (p. ix)
• 1 Introduction (p. 1)
• 2 The Spatial Information Industry (p. 7)
• 2.1 Background to the Survey (p. 8)
• 2.2 Value of the SI Industry (p. 9)
• 2.3 GIS Product Usage (p. 13)
• 2.4 Spatial Applications (p. 17)
• 2.5 Training (p. 19)
• 2.6 Spatial Data (p. 21)
• 2.7 Imagery (p. 26)
• 2.8 Mobile Computing (p. 28)
• 2.9 Regional SI Initiatives (p. 29)
• 2.10 Summary (p. 30)
• 3 Introducing the Elements of a GIS Strategy (p. 33)
• 3.1 The Traditional IT Strategy Approach (p. 34)
• 3.2 The SI Strategy Approach (p. 36)
• 3.3 Influences of Disruptive and Distractive Technology (p. 37)
• 4 Developing the Business Focus (p. 41)
• 5 Developing the Data/Information Focus (p. 47)
• 5.1 Introduction (p. 48)
• 5.2 Metadata (p. 48)
• 5.3 Data/System Architectures (p. 49)
• 5.4 Defining the 'Data Gap' (p. 53)
• 5.5 GIS Data Standards and Related Issues (p. 59)
• 5.6 GIS Data Interoperability (p. 61)
• 5.7 Summary - Data Interoperability (p. 64)
• 5.8 Summary - the Data/Information Focus (p. 64)
• 6 Developing the Organisational Focus (p. 65)
• 6.1 Introduction (p. 65)
• 6.2 Impact of Organisational Structure on GIS (p. 66)
• 6.3 Achieving an Organisational Focus for GIS (p. 67)
• 6.4 Business Process Mapping and Re-engineering (p. 69)
• 6.5 Training and Support Issues (p. 71)
• 6.6 SWOT Analysis (p. 72)
• 6.7 Summary - Organisational Focus (p. 73)
• 7 Developing the Application and Technology Focus (p. 75)
• 7.1 GIS Issues (p. 75)
• 7.2 IT Issues (p. 83)
• 7.3 System/Data Integration Issues (p. 85)
• 7.4 Developing the Functional Requirements Specification (p. 87)
• 8 Developing a GIS Strategy (p. 91)
• 8.1 Functional Requirements Specification (FRS) (p. 91)
• 8.2 Correlating against the CSFs (p. 92)
• 8.3 Developing the GIS Strategy (p. 93)
• 8.4 Summary (p. 93)
• 9 Cost/Benefit Analysis/Return on Investment (p. 95)
• 9.1 Broad Costs (p. 97)
• 9.2 Broad Benefits (p. 107)
• 9.3 Broad Cost/Benefit Summary (p. 113)
• 9.4 Business Case (p. 117)
• 9.5 Conclusion (p. 117)
• 10 Selecting a GIS (p. 119)
• 10.1 Introduction (p. 119)
• 10.2 Selecting a GIS using a Tendering Process (p. 121)
• 10.3 The Final Stage of the Selection Process (p. 136)
• 11 Implementing GIS (p. 139)
• 11.1 Staff Training (p. 139)
• 11.2 Data Capture and/or Conversion (p. 141)
• 11.3 Defining the KPIs (Goalposts) for Successful Implementation (p. 143)
• 11.4 Implementing and 'Setting to Work' of the GIS (p. 143)
• 11.5 Undertaking a Post Implementation Review (p. 144)
• 11.6 Benchmarking (p. 144)
• 11.7 Summary (p. 145)
• 12 The Best and the Worst (p. 147)
• 12.1 And the Best is...Google Earth (p. 147)
• 12.2 And the Best is (also)...Web 2.0 (p. 148)
• 12.3 And the Worst is... (p. 149)
• 13 Closing Remarks (p. 151)
• Glossary (p. 153)
• Index (p. 155)

Author notes provided by Syndetics