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Define how your organization will support its mission with a geospatial strategy

two gis professionals look at a tablet at a heat map

Aligning GIS with business objectives

GIS is a powerful tool that can enhance and streamline processes, improve decision-making, and ultimately drive the success of the business. A successful GIS program places priority and focus on the business and its mission. Aligning GIS resources, such as people, processes, and technology, to support the organization’s goals, vision, and priorities is crucial to growing and maintaining a GIS program.

a gis map and dashboard that enhances business decisions

Key considerations

  • GIS strategy and executive sponsorship

    Geospatial excellence can be achieved when you apply ArcGIS as an organizational capability and an enterprise solution. This is achieved with two key efforts: developing a geospatial strategy and gaining buy-in from leadership to ensure its implementation.

  • Business alignment and prioritization

    Align geospatial resources with the organization's mission, goals, and priorities. Match geospatial capabilities to workflows, brainstorm on solutions to challenges, and measure and communicate success.

  • Investment/Funding and initiative prioritization

    Guide investment in GIS initiatives by considering corporate oversight, control metrics, and ROI, by communicating value to fund and prioritize resources and initiatives.

  • Solution portfolio

    Design and develop a comprehensive set of solutions that not only meets current requirements and workflows, but also enables the development of innovative solutions moving forward.

  • Measuring and tracking desired outcomes

    Define desired outcomes; identify, collect, and analyze relevant data to support outcomes; and establish KPIs to monitor outcomes, evaluate effectiveness, and adjust and improve as required.  

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A geospatial strategy supports business goals

Start by building a team that includes a GIS champion who evangelizes GIS, an executive sponsor with the authority to make it happen, and technical leaders to support future-state capabilities. Then define and enact your geospatial strategy through four phases of development.

  • Understand

    Define a shared understanding of your organization’s goals, success criteria, and current challenges. This allows you to justify and develop a plan to overcome these challenges.

  • Plan

    Create a road map that clearly defines short-term and long-term goals with specific and measurable objectives aligned with the organizational mission.

  • Act

    Launch a series of implementation cycles based on your road map. This involves actively engaging with stakeholders and conducting research and analysis, and allows for flexibility and adaptability.

  • Revisit

    Review and update your strategy, if necessary, to account for changes in leadership priorities, business goals, and technology.

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