A. Some applications, such as emergency vehicle dispatch (911 systems), require high performance speed. Lives are at stake and the system must be able to match telephone numbers to addresses and dispatch vehicles instantly. At the same time, an emergency dispatch system will only be used to serve this single function and the database will contain only a street grid, address ranges, and links to telephone numbers.
B. Some applications, such as those undertaken by water, gas, and power utilities, involve storing vast quantities of information about huge service territories. Some utilities serve hundreds or thousands of square miles of territory. Detailed information must be maintained about all facilities within these territories. Managing these quantities of information is a key to selecting the right GIS system. At the same time, speed of response may be less of a concern since a given piece of information may only have to accessed once a month or even once a year. Furthermore, functional richness may be useful, but many tasks (such as maintenance and planning) will require a limited range of analytical capabilities.
C. Some applications, such as those related to urban planning and environmental management, may benefit most from great functional richness. Planning and management tasks may be many and varied, meaning that users must have access to a wide range of spatial and statistical functions. These may not be used often but, when used, may be essential to the success of a project.
D. Some GIS may be used frequently by 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 systems. Upper-level managers who can benefit greatly from the information provided by a GIS may have limited time (or inclination) for training. It is important in these situations to consider the time it takes to bring new users up to speed with a new system.
Of course, these are only a few of the factors and scenarios that arise in GIS system selection. Compromises may have to be achieved with other system features.
Too often, users imagine that they can find the "perfect" or "best" GIS. The best GIS is always the one that gets a job done at the right price and on schedule.
B. Some applications, such as those undertaken by water, gas, and power utilities, involve storing vast quantities of information about huge service territories. Some utilities serve hundreds or thousands of square miles of territory. Detailed information must be maintained about all facilities within these territories. Managing these quantities of information is a key to selecting the right GIS system. At the same time, speed of response may be less of a concern since a given piece of information may only have to accessed once a month or even once a year. Furthermore, functional richness may be useful, but many tasks (such as maintenance and planning) will require a limited range of analytical capabilities.
C. Some applications, such as those related to urban planning and environmental management, may benefit most from great functional richness. Planning and management tasks may be many and varied, meaning that users must have access to a wide range of spatial and statistical functions. These may not be used often but, when used, may be essential to the success of a project.
D. Some GIS may be used frequently by 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 systems. Upper-level managers who can benefit greatly from the information provided by a GIS may have limited time (or inclination) for training. It is important in these situations to consider the time it takes to bring new users up to speed with a new system.
Of course, these are only a few of the factors and scenarios that arise in GIS system selection. Compromises may have to be achieved with other system features.
Too often, users imagine that they can find the "perfect" or "best" GIS. The best GIS is always the one that gets a job done at the right price and on schedule.
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