That’s an interesting question.
I do a lot of GIS Reviews, Strategies, Health Checks, etc for Councils in Australian eastern states.
Overall, I have found that while a few Councils are doing really well with GIS, most are just doing OK and some are in real difficulty.
So, what are the problems?
Predominately, it is what could be described as “the other issues”. It’s not about the software. Just buying ESRI is not the answer (though the vendor would like you to think that).
Other issues like staffing, training, governance, internal deployment strategies for different business processes, business process integration (not system integration) with CRM, Assets, Finance, etc. And data issues across all of these systems.
How do these issues relate to the Council doing its business more efficiently and effectively?
For example, our industry surveys show that 7% of budget is spent on training. If you’re spending less, you’re likely heading for a skill crisis. If you’re spending more, you may be wasting your money.
So, what do you do?
First step is to get a Health Check done, much like you would get a check-up done with a Doctor.
That will tell you what the issues are and what you need to do.
