ESRI Press on GIS and Return on Investment

24 July 2008, 2:43pm

Redlands, California—The latest offering from ESRI Press, The Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach, details a return on investment (ROI) methodology that explains how the implementation of a geographic information system (GIS) can create business value for an organization. This book was written by David Maguire and Victoria Kouyoumjian, ESRI’s chief scientist and IT strategy expert, respectively, and Ross Smith, a member of PA Consulting Group, Inc.’s management team and leader of the firm’s GIS initiatives.

“Today’s executives are seeking more sophisticated approaches for prioritizing and targeting investment in GIS technology and for proving how and when that investment will deliver tangible benefits to their organization,” said Maguire. “The Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach provides the steps necessary to quantify the return on investment when implementing a GIS project.”

Maguire believes that a wide variety of GIS practitioners, including managers and business architects, will use the material in the book, in conjunction with the supporting Web site (www.esri.com/roi), to implement an ROI-based GIS project. The site provides access to all the tools and templates necessary to implement the steps in the methodology.

“The 10-step methodology leads people through the whole process, from the initial idea to a complete, compelling report that can be presented to a review committee or funding body,” said Smith. “Although it is written as an end-to-end process, we anticipate that some organizations will use only portions of the methodology. For example, some may use the approach to create a budget or to model benefits they expect to be delivered by their ongoing work.”

Kouyoumjian added that “The approach focuses on six key topics that we believe are critical to creating a defensible position on the value of GIS for any organization: demonstrate the real business value, determine the specific costs, estimate the time frame for delivery of benefits, understand the resource requirements, define the governance and management, and calculate the return on investment.”

The original methodology was developed by PA Consulting Group, Inc., a global management consulting firm. It was customized by the book’s authors, under license from PA, for use by GIS practitioners.

The Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach is available from ESRI Press (ISBN: 9781589482005, 200 pp., $24.95). To order this title, visit www.esri.com/esripress.

The Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach

Geo: International