Project Planning and Lifecycle

These materials were developed by Kenneth E. Foote and Shannon L. Crum, Department of Geo raphy, !niversity of Te"as at #ustin, $%%&. These materials may be used for study, resear'h, and edu'ation in not(for(profit appli'ations. )f you lin* to or 'ite these materials, please 'redit the authors, Kenneth E. Foote and Shannon L. Crum, The Geo rapher+s Craft ,ro-e't, Department of Geo raphy, The !niversity of Colorado at .oulder. These materials may not be 'opied to or issued from another /eb server without the authors+ e"press permission. Copyri ht 0 1222 #ll 'ommer'ial ri hts are reserved. )f you have 'omments or su estions, please 'onta't the author or Kenneth E. Foote at *.foote3'olorado.edu. This page is also available in a framed version. For convenience, we have provided a full Table of Contents.

1. The Importance of Project Planning

GIS projects are expensive in terms of both time and mone . !unicipal GIS and facilities management projects developed b utilities ma ta"e a decade or more to bring on#line at a cost of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. Careful planning at the outset, as well as during the project, can help to avoid costl mista"es. It also provides assurance that a GIS will accomplish it goals on schedule and within budget. There is a temptation, when a new technolog li"e GIS becomes available, to improvise a solution to its use, that is to get started without considering where the project will lead. The greatest danger is that decisions made in haste or on the spur of the moment will have to be reversed later or will prove too costl to implement, meaning a GIS project ma have to be abandoned. To avoid disappointing experiences li"e these, GIS professionals have developed a well#defined planning methodolog often referred to as project lifecycle. $ifec cle planning involves setting goals, defining targets, establishing schedules, and estimating budgets for an entire GIS project. The original impetus for developing effective lifec cle planning was cost containment. For man decades, the rationale for implementing new information technologies was that, in the long run, such projects would reduce the cost of business operations.

This optimistic appraisal of the benefits of information technologies has not borne out in the %merican econom during the past two decades. In almost all cases, adopting new information technologies has added to the cost of business operations without producing a corresponding increase in traditional measures of labor productivit , as in the following graph.

This does not mean that information technologies have been a failure. &ather, these s stems allow users to accomplish a greater range of varied and complex tas"s, but at a higher cost. 'sers are not so much doing their previous wor" at faster speeds, but assuming new tas"s offered b the new technologies. Support staff once satisfied with producing in#house documents ma now be tempted to issue them using des"top publishing software or on#line in the (orldwide (eb. Cartographers once satisfied with producing discrete utilit maps for individual construction projects ma be tempted to create an encompassing map and GIS database containing maintenance records for an entire cit . It is generall recogni)ed that, for the foreseeable future, most information technologies projects will have to be justified on the basis of a *do more, pay more* philosoph . This means that effective lifec cle planning is all the more important. In the past, projected existing costs could be used as a baseline against which improvements could be measured. If the cost curve for new information technologies is alwa s above the baseline, then greater care must be exerted in setting goals, establishing targets, and estimating budgets. There is far too great a danger that, in the absence of such chec"s and balances, a project ma grow out of control.

2. The Value of a Problem-sol ing !pproach

$ifec cle planning is reall a process of practical problem solving applied to all aspects of a GIS development project.

+articular care is exerted in defining the nature of a problem or new re,uirement, estimating the costs and feasibilit of proceeding, and developing a solution. This process should not be abridged- each step is important to the overall process. If this problem solving approach is applied to the design and creation of an entire GIS project a few additional subtas"s must be addressed, as in the diagram below.

". Project Lifecyle# !n $ er ie%

For definitions, clic" on the boxes.

!lso put in lin&s to e'amples of project planning materials, ()*, )(P, etc.

+. ,ey !spects of Project Lifecycle

Three aspects of this planning process merit special attention. 1. *etting goals and estimating costs. .ach stage of the project lifec cle process involves setting clear goals for the next step and estimating the cost of reaching those goals. If the necessar funds or time are unavailable, it is better to stop the process than to continue and see the project fail. The process can begin again when funds are available. 2. The functional re-uirements study. The functional re,uirements stud is arguabl the most important single step in the planning process. /ere, careful stud is devoted to what information is re,uired for a project, how it is to be used, and what final products will be produced b the project. For a large organi)ation, this amounts to a *map* of how information flows into, around, and out of each office and agenc . The F&S also specifies how often particular t pes of information are needed and b whom. Furthermore, the F&S can loo" into the future to anticipate t pes of data processing tas"s that expand upon or enhance the organi)ation0s wor". 1 assessing information flows so carefull , the F&S allows an organi)ation to set goals for all of the subse,uent steps in the lifec cle planning process. The F&S also allows an organi)ation to

consider information flows across all the domains of its wor", forcing it to consider how different s stems will be integrated. (ithout ta"ing an encompassing view of information flows, a project implemented in one unit ma be of no use to another. It is important to ta"e this broad view of information flows to avoid stranding projects between incompatible s stems. ". The creation of a prototype. 1 the time a project has moved into the development stage, the greatest temptation is to jump forward to full implementation. This is a ver ris" path, for it leaves out the protot ping stage. +rotot pes are a critical step because the allow the s stem to be tested and calibrated to see whether it meets expectations and goals. !a"ing adjustments at the protot pe stage is far easier than later, after full implementation. The protot pe also allows users to gain a feel for a new s stem and to estimate how much time 2in training and conversion3 will be re,uired to move to the pilot and full implementation stages. Finall , a successful protot pe can help enlist support and funding for the remaining steps in the lifec cle planning process. %s is noted in the module on !anaging .rror , the protot pe provides a good opportunit for underta"ing sensitivit anal sis##testing to see how variations in the ,ualit of inputs affects outputs of the s stem. These tests are essential for specif ing the accurac , precision, and overall ,ualit of the data that will be created during the conversion process. If these anal ses are not performed, there is a chance that much time and effort will be wasted later.

.. *ystem *election as a /ompromise

In selecting a software and hardware combination, users are often faced with a number of compromises. For a given price, a s stem cannot be expected to do ever thing. % thoughtful choice is re,uired in order to select the s stem that will best meet the prinicipal aims of a given project. The diagram below helps to show how users might attempt to balance four of the man characteristics of a given s stem. In these cases, the compromises involve4 Speed4 The speed with which a s stem can respond to ,ueries and achieve solutions. Fun'tional ri'hness4 The anal tical capabilities of the s stem and its flexibilit in addressing a wide range of spatial and statistical problems. Database Si5e4 The abilit to handle large ,uantities of spatial and statistical data. Trainin 4 The amount of time re,uired to bring users up to speed on a s stem and to use the database on a regular basis.

%. Some applications, such as emergenc vehicle dispatch 2566 s stems3, re,uire high performance speed. $ives are at sta"e and the s stem must be able to match telephone numbers to addresses and dispatch vehicles instantl . %t the same time, an emergenc dispatch s stem will

onl be used to serve this single function and the database will contain onl a street grid, address ranges, and lin"s to telephone numbers. 1. Some applications, such as those underta"en b water, gas, and power utilities, involve storing vast ,uantities of information about huge service territories. Some utilities serve hundreds or thousands of s,uare miles of territor . 7etailed information must be maintained about all facilities within these territories. !anaging these ,uantities of information is a "e to selecting the right GIS s stem. %t the same time, speed of response ma be less of a concern since a given piece of information ma onl have to accessed once a month or even once a ear. Furthermore, functional richness ma be useful, but man tas"s 2such as maintenance and planning3 will re,uire a limited range of anal tical capabilities. C. Some applications, such as those related to urban planning and environmental management, ma benefit most from great functional richness. +lanning and management tas"s ma be man and varied, meaning that users must have access to a wide range of spatial and statistical functions. These ma not be used often but, when used, ma be essential to the success of a project. 7. Some GIS ma be used fre,uentl b users with little training or in situations where there will be high staff turnover. This is a critical consideration for GIS that are used as part of management or executive information s stems. 'pper#level managers who can benefit greatl from the information provided b a GIS ma have limited time 2or inclination3 for training. It is important in these situations to consider the time it ta"es to bring new users up to speed with a new s stem. 8f course, these are onl a few of the factors and scenarios that arise in GIS s stem selection. Compromises ma have to be achieved with other s stem features. Too often, users imagine that the can find the *perfect* or *best* GIS. The best GIS is alwa s the one that gets a job done at the right price and on schedule.

0. Planning *chedules and the *cope of Prototype and Pilot Projects

There is nothing wrong with being cautious during the process of project planning. &ushing through the procedure exposes an organi)ation to potentiall costl mista"es. $arge %!9F! projects t picall ta"e man ears to reach the protot pe or pilot stages.

8nce a protot pe or pilot has been approved, even more time will elapse before full implementation is achieved. Some municipal GIS projects have been underwa for over a decade and still have far to go before complete implementation and compilation of a full dataset . +rotot pe and pilot projects are "ept small, as is indicated in the following table. &emember, protot pes and pilots are intended to demonstrate functions and interfaces. (hat wor"s best is a carefull selected test area that presents examples of common wor"flows. Its areal si)e of is little conse,uence in most applications.

1 !pplying the Insights of Project Lifecycle to )esearch Projects

The concepts of lifec cle planning can be applied to projects of lesser scale and scope, particularl to those pursued in undergraduate and graduate research. This does not mean that ever project will move through ever step outlined above. Some steps such as benchmar"ing and s stem selection ma be irrelevant in a setting where the researcher must ma"e do with whatever e,uipment and software is on hand. 1ut lifec cle planning should not be viewed as a series of boxes on a chec"list, it is a process of careful planning and problem sol ing. It is this process of careful planning that should be emulated regardless of the scope or scale of a project. This point is not alwa s understood. Some researchers reject the methodolog of project planning because it seems overl formal and stringent given their modest research goals. Instead, the improvise a GIS solution. 1ut improvised solutions are alwa s a ris". %ttention to the process of careful planning can wa la such ris"s. +erhaps the essence of this process can be summari)ed in three points. 1. Thin& ahead to ho% the 2I* %ill be used, but &eep in mind %hat sources are a ailable. 7esigning an effective GIS involves setting clear goals. The temptation is to rush ahead and begin digiti)ing and converting data without establishing how the s stem will be used. .ven for small GIS projects, it is wise to engage in a modest functional re,uirements stud . This allows the user to gain an idea of exactl what data sources are re,uired, how the will be processed, and what final products are expected. (ithout clear#cut goals, there is too great a danger that a project will omit "e features or include some that are irrelevant to the final use. 2. 3'ert special care in designing and creating the database. %gain, it is eas to rush ahead with the creation of a database, and then find later that it has to be reorgani)ed or altered extensivel . It is far more economical to get things right the first time. This means that the researcher should chart out exactl how the database is to be organi)ed and to what levels of accurac and precision. %ttention to 2and testing3 of s mboli)ation and generali)ation will also pa off handsomel .

". !l%ays de elop a prototype or sample database to test the &ey features of the system. :o matter the si)e of a project, the researcher should aim to create a protot pe first before moving toward full implementation of a GIS. This allows the researcher move through all of the steps of creating and using the s stem to see that all procedures and algorithms wor" as expected. The protot pe can be a small area or ma be confined to one or two of the most critical la ers. In either case, testing a protot pe is one step that should not be overloo"ed.

4. $ther Planning and 5atabase Issues

The project planning c cle outlines a process, but the issues that must be addessed at each stage of this process will var considerabl from organi)ation to organi)ation. Some topics are of critical importance to large municipal, state, and private %!9F! applications, but less so for research applications of limited scope. %mong the issues that must be addressed in large GIS projects are4 !. *ecurity The securit of data is alwa s a concern in large GIS projects. 1ut there is more to securit than protecting data from malicious tampering or theft. Securit also means that data is protected from s stem crashes, major catastrophes, and inappropriate uses. %s a result, securit must be considered at man levels and must anticipate man potential problems. GIS data maintained b government agencies often presents difficult challenges for securit . (hile some sorts of data must be made publicl accessible under open records laws, other t pes are protected from scrutin . If both t pes are maintained within a single s stem, managing appropriate access can be difficult. 7istribution of data across open networ"s is alwa s a matter of concern. 6. 5ocumentation !ost major GIS datasets will outlive the people who create them. 'nless all the steps involved in coding and creating a dataset are documented, this information will be lost as staff retire or move to new positions. 7ocumentation must begin at the ver start of GIS project and continue through its life. It is best, perhaps, to actuall assign a permanent staff to documentation to ma"e sure that the necessar information is saved and revised in a timel fashion. /. 5ata Integrity and !ccuracy (hen mista"es are discovered in a GIS database, there must be a well#defined procedure for their correction 2and for documenting these corrections3. Furthermore, although man users ma have to use the information stored in a GIS database, not all of these users should be permitted to ma"e changes. !aintaining the integrit of the different la ers of data in a comprehensive GIS database can be a challenging tas". % cit 0s water utilit ma need to loo" at GIS data about right#of#wa s for power and cable utilities, but it should not be allowed to change this data. &esponsibilit for changing and correcting data in the different la ers must be clearl demarcated among different agencies and offices. 5. *ynchroni7ation of 8sage GIS datasets emplo ed in government or b utilities will have man users. 8ne portion of the dataset ma be in demand simultaneousl b several users as well as b staff charged with updating and adding new information. !a"ing sure that all users have access to current data whenever the need it can be a difficult challenge for GIS design. 'ncontrolled usage ma be confusing to all users, but the greatest danger is that users ma actuall find themselves interfering with the project wor"flow or even undoing one another0s wor". 3. 8pdate )esponsibility Some GIS datasets will never be *complete.* Cities and utilit territories "eep growing and changing and the database must be constantl updated to reflect these changes. 1ut these changes occur on var ing schedules and at var ing speeds. +rocedures must be developed to record, chec", and enter these changes in the GIS database. Furthermore, it ma be important to maintain

a record of the original data. In large GIS projects, updating the database ma be the responsibilit of a full#time staff. (. 9inimi7ation of )edundancy In large GIS projects, ever b te counts. If a database is maintained for ;<#=< ears, ever blan" field and ever duplicated b te of information will incur storage costs for the full length of the project. :ot onl will wasted storage space waste mone , it will also slow performance. This is wh in large, long#term GIS projects, great attention to devoted to pac"ing data as economicall as possible and reducing duplication of information. 2. 5ata Independence and 8pgrade Paths % GIS database will almost alwa s outlive the hardware and software that is used to create it. Computer hardware has a useable life of >#= ears, software is sometimes upgraded several times a ear. If a GIS database is totall dependent on a single hardware platform or a single software s stem, it too will have to be upgraded just as often. Therefore, it is best to create a database that is as independent as possible of hardware and software. Through careful planning and design, data can be transferred as %SCII files or in some metadata or exchange format from s stem to s stem. There is nothing worse than having data held in a proprietar vendor#supported format and then finding that the vendor has changed or abandoned that format. In this wa , GIS designers should thin" ahead to possible upgrade paths for their database. It is notoriousl difficult to predict what will happen next in the world of computers and information technolog . To minimi)e possible problems, thought should be given to ma"ing the GIS database as independent as possible of the underl ing software and hardware. These topics are also discussed in the module on 7atabase Concepts . :. Pri acy Safeguards on personal privac have become a great concern over the past decade, particularl with the rise of the internet and web. These concerns arise to two principal situations. The first, is the hac"ing into, accidentall release, or inappropriate disclosure of privileged information which can compromise an individual0s privac with respect to medical conditions, financial situation, sexual, political, religious beliefs ? values and other privileged personal information. The second is the ease with which information and computer technologies permit the creation of information *mosaics* or personal profiles from small pieces of seemingl innocuous, non# confidential data.

;. )eferences and (urther )eading

%ronoff, Stan. 65@5. Geo raphi' )nformation Systems4 # 6ana ement ,erspe'tive. (7$ +ublications4 8ttawa. Chapter @, */ow to +ic" a GIS* in Clar"e, Aeith C. ><<;. Gettin Started with Geo raphi' )nformation Systems, Bth ed. 'pper Saddle &iver, :C4 +rentice /all. 7agermond, Cac", 7on Chambers, and Ceffre &. !e ers. 655;. *+rotot ping %!9F!9GIS %pplications4 Dualit 9Schedule Tradeoffs*, ,ro'eedin s of the Thirteenth #nnual ES7) !ser Conferen'e. +alm Springs, C%. Eol. >, p. F=#@<. 7aniel, $arr . Identif ing GIS for (hat It0s (orth 7aniel, $arr . $oo"ing and Thin"ing 1e ond the 7epartment Chapter 66, *GIS Implementation and +roject !anagement,* in $o, C.+. and %lbert A.(. Geung. ><<>. Con'epts and Te'hni8ues of Geo raphi' )nformation Systems. 'pper Saddle &iver, :C4 +rentice /all.

/uxhold, (illiam. 655=. 6ana in Geo raphi' )nformation System ,ro-e'ts. 8xford 'niversit +ress4 :ew Gor". Chapters 6F 2!anaging GIS3, 6@ 2GIS and !anagement, the Anowledge .conom , and Information3, and 65 2.xploiting GIS %ssets and :avigating Constraints3 in $ongle , +aul %., !ichael F. Goodchild, 7avid C. !aguire, and 7avid (. &hind. ><<=. Geo raphi' )nformaiton Systems and S'ien'e, >nd ed. /obo"en, :C4 (ile . 8berme er, :anc C. and Ceffre A. +into. ><<@. 6ana in Geo raphi' )nformation Systems, >nd ed. :ew Gor" 4 Guilford +ress