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AwwaRF/GITA ROI Workbook
Building a Business Case for Geospatial Information Technology: A Practitioner’s Guide to Financial Strategic Analysis |
Order your copy of this valuable resource today (Member Price: $495.00 - Nonmember Price: $635.00)!
Purchase the workbook from the GITA Bookstore
Read a portion of the Executive Summary
Presenting the Most
Comprehensive Resource
for Justifying Geospatial
Spending:
Building a Business Case for
Geospatial Information Technology:
A Practitioner’s Guide to
Financial Strategic Analysis
GITA, the Awwa Research Foundation, and
several other organizations worked together to
compile this in-depth, 212-page ROI Workbook and CD set, which
include customizable templates that make
financial forecasting simple! By combining real-world
case studies, an extensive literature review,
and much more, this useful tool will take you
from start to finish as you implement GIS at your
enterprise.
Geospatial Information Technology (GIT) is a complicated investment. The initial costs can be high, and the tangible benefits can take several years to materialize. The technical intricacies can be overwhelming. Often, elected and appointed officials do not have time to delve into the finer points of the technology before being asked to make an investment decision. Armed with only a basic understanding of GIT, they must weigh the project against countless other opportunities and choose where and how their organizations will spend their money. Their best tools for making these decisions are the net present value (financial "bottom line") and strategic business case.
For GIT project managers, this poses a tricky problem. The costs of a proposed system are not terribly difficult to research, but the potential benefits are much harder to document. Somehow, an organization must identify these benefits and then predict their financial impact. This task is usually left to the GIT project manager or other staff members who are promoting the investment. Because the early costs of the system are typically high, officials are understandably sensitive to the benefit estimates. They want to be sure the financial analysis is sound.
This workbook is the culmination of several years of ongoing research by the Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA). It presents a straightforward methodology for developing GIT benefit estimates, conducting financial analysis, and preparing a credible business case for a GIT investment.
The AWWA Research Foundation (AwwaRF), GeoConnections Canada, the Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA) and the Federal Geospatial Data Committee (FGDC) funded this study to develop and document a formal methodology for the preparation of business cases for GIT within a water utility, as well as compatible other utility sectors, such as telecommunications, transportation agencies and municipal-wide geospatial projects. The research includes a literature search, a survey with numerous water utility participants and the development of a workbook and digital templates to assist other utilities in building their business cases for GIT projects. The workbook includes case studies from participating utilities. These case studies provide real-life examples that apply the workbook's methodology and templates.
The workbook builds on seminars held at the GITA annual conference beginning in 2003. Two of the principal investigators (Mr. Dave DiSera and Ms. Nancy Lerner) for this project were the seminar leaders for these sessions.
The primary sponsoring Utility is EPCOR Water Services Inc., located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. EPCOR has been using GIT since the late 1970s and is currently in the midst of a major enhancement to their existing GIT.
This project ties in to the GeoSkills program goal to foster the growth of the geomatics industry by promoting geomatics (geospatial information technology). GeoSkills is part of the GeoConnections initiative to develop the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), making Canada’s geographic information available on the Internet. It also ties in with GeoConnections’ communities of practice.
The key objectives of the study include the following:
- Evaluate current related literature information.
- Develop a questionnaire and perform a web-distributed survey of a significant number of North American and international water utilities, other utilities and government agencies regarding benefits received from geospatial applications in their organizations.
- Further develop return on investment methodology as presented in the GITA seminars, enhancing and refining the techniques and documentation.
- Develop a set of spreadsheet templates, examples and directions that a utility can use for financial analysis of their own projects.
- Visit water and other utility sites to perform individual case studies of the financial performance and strategic impact of proposed or completed geospatial projects. Perform investment analysis on these projects and thoroughly document each case study as an example for the workbook, including detailed spreadsheet analysis available for study as Excel files.
In support of the ultimate goal of developing a methodology for building business cases for GIT, information was gathered by literature review and comprehensive survey activities. The literature review provides information on the status of research on return on investment analysis and business case preparation in both the geospatial and general information technology fields of practice. The utility information was collected primarily (1) as part of a web-based survey of organizational benefits derived from geospatial projects, and (2) by conducting on-site interviews during case study interviews at each utility.
Information collected in the literature review and utility survey was used to determine the variables to be included in the development of spreadsheet templates and financial analysis methodology. An assessment of the availability of case study sites from the participating utilities was completed prior to development of the spreadsheet templates and financial analysis methodology. Case studies were begun in August 2005 and completed in April 2006.
The full report is now available at the GITA Bookstore—order your copy today! Please e-mail info@gita.org for more information on this project. |
