best practices for financial management of gis operations

Best Practices for Financial Management of GIS

Operations

GIS-Pro 2013 Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Providence, Rhode Island

Greg Babinski, MA, GISP URISA Past-President URISA GMI Committee Chair COGO Secretary Finance & Marketing Manager King County GIS Center Seattle, WA USA

Why develop GIS best practices?

What is financial management?

What are key aspects of GIS financial management?

Recommended best practices

The role of the GIS Management Institute in the formal development of best practices

Best Practices for Financial Management of GIS Operations

Agenda



We all have ‘practices’ for the work we have to accomplish as GIS Managers.

We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing if it did not work, right?



We all have ‘practices’ for the work we have to accomplish as GIS Managers.

We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing if it did not work, right?

But ‘I’m a manager, and I can change, if I have to.’

We come to conferences to improve our practices, correct?



Developing best practices is the mark of a maturing profession

Babinski’s Theory of GIS Management: As GIS Operational Maturity Improves, ROI Increases



Because ‘best’ is better!

Best Practices for Financial Management of GIS Operations What is financial management?

Financial management is the efficient and effective application of funds (money) and resources to accomplish the goals of an organization.

It includes finding funding sources, acquiring the funds, and allocating them to achieve the goals.

It includes controlling costs and maximizing revenue.

Professional management includes carefull fincial stewardship.



One of 18 competency clusters in the URISA GMI Geospatial

Management Competency Model adopted by USDOLETA



Seven individual competencies in the URISA GMI Geospatial Management Competency Model adopted by USDOLETA:

64. Prepare and document budgets

66. Manage expenditures and income

66. Identify Funding sources and obtain funding, including collaborative opportunities

67. Develop and maintain a long term financial plan

68. Conduct regular financial analysis

69. Implement standard financial accounting procedures and controls

70. Assure accountability by periodic independent audits



Three designated components of the URISA GMI GIS Capability

Maturity Model:

Best Practices for Financial Management of GIS Operations Recommended best practices

Prepare and document budgets:

Know your organization’s budgeting process

Understand your organization’s financial drivers


Manage expenditures and income:

Know and negotiate the fair market price for services and products required to develop, operate, and maintain your enterprise GIS

Ensure fair compensation for enterprise GIS services and products:

Ensure that your rates cover your costs

If required develop rates that generate profit and/or financial reserves


Identify funding sources and obtain funding, including collaborative opportunities (part 1):

Promote enterprise GIS that is a valuable business tool that should funded by those who use the tool

Understand regional collaboration as a means to share costs for non-value added functions:

Aerial imagery acquisition

Certain framework data development and maintenance

Back-office data storage and system administration

Within enterprise GIS, allocate costs to users:

Desktop GIS users

GIS software as a service

Web application users


Identify funding sources and obtain funding, including collaborative opportunities (part 2):

Understand and pursue commercial opportunities:

Commercialize applications or other products

Commercialize internal services of value to outside customers

Understand alternate funding sources:

Grants

Consortiums

Understand and be conversant in the ROI from GIS:

Internal ROI from implementing GIS to reduce costs

Internal ROI from implementing GIS to increase productivity or effectiveness

External ROI from regional economic benefits derived from GIS data, products, and services


Develop and maintain a long term financial plan:

Understand cyclical funding needs:

Equipment replacement

Imagery replacement

Other periodic data replacement

Labor payouts (retirement, long-term leave, other labor settlements)

Develop emergency financial reserves or contingencies


Conduct regular financial analysis:

Compare budgeted revenue against actual revenue received

Compare budgeted expenditures against actual expenses incurred

Compare your costs against peer agencies

Conduct activity based cost analysis

Conduct periodic supplier cost analysis


Implement standard financial accounting procedures and controls:

Know and implement your organization’s financial accounting procedures

Know and implement your organization’s financial control procedures


Assure accountability by periodic independent audits:

Understand your organization’s audit environment

Develop transparent financial systems

Discuss financial accountability and transparency with GIS staff:

Financial accountability as a part of GIS ethics

Transparent processes that are open to everyone promote clean audits


The GIS Management Institute & the development of best practices



GMI

GIS CMM

GMI Local

Agency

Accreditation

Program

GMI

GMBOK

PPD:URISA Labs

AcD: Gov Agency

Accreditation

AcD: Educational

Accreditation

GMI

Educational

Accreditation

Program

PPD: Educational

Requirements

UI ED: Educational

Content

URISA

Workshops

ULA

University

Diagram A: URISA GMI Conceptual Diagram3/25/2013

GMI

GMCM

CD: GISP-M

Requirements

GISCI

GISP-M

Certification

Program

GMI: GIS Management Institute

GIS CMM: GIS Capability Maturity Model

GMCM: Geospatial Management Competency Model

GMBOK: GIS Management Body of Knowledge

GISCI: GIS Certification Institute

AcD: GMI Accreditation Division

CD: GMI Certification Division

PPD: GMI Professional Practices Division

UI ED: URISA International Education Division


Bibliography

Abrahams, M., Fletcher, M., and Simpson, W. GFOA Workshop: Costing and Outsourcing Government Services. Government Finance Officers Association, Tampa, March 31 – April 1, 2004.

Antenucci, J. C., Brown, K., Croswell, P. L., Kevany, M. J., and Archer, H. Geographic Information Systems: A Guide to the Technology. New York: Van Nordstrand Reinhold, 1991.

Archer, H. “Providing and Selling Access to AM/FM Data” in Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. pp 348-357.

Babinski, G. “A Business Line Approach top Enterprise GIS Finance” in Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Atlanta, GA. 2003. pp 176-183.

Babinski, G. “GIS as an Enterprise Municipal System” in Government Finance Review. Government Finance Review, February 2009.

Babinski, G. “URISA Leadership Academy” Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Most recent, Baltimore: 2011.

Bamberger, W. J. and Sherwood, N., ed. Marketing Government Geographic information: Issues and Guidelines. Park Ridge, IL: URISA, 1993.

Castle, G. “A Conceptual Framework for Setting Prices for Local Government Information-Related Products” in Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Vol. IV: pp 26-32.

Croswell, P. L. The GIS Management Handbook. Frankfort, KY: Kessey Dewitt Publications, 2009.*

Croswell, P. L. and Wernher, A. GIS program Revenue Generation and Legal Issues in Public Sector Organizations. Park Ridge, IL: URISA, 2004.

Croswell, P.L. Metcalf, A., Smith, C., and Anderson, J., King County GIS Conceptual Design. Frankfort, KY: PlanGraphics, Inc. 1992.

Croswell, P.L. and Metcalf, A., King County GIS Implementation and Funding Plan. Frankfort, KY: PlanGraphics, Inc. 1992.

DiBiase, D., DeMers, M., Johnson, A., Kemp, K., Luck, A. T., Plewe, B., and Wentz, E. Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Geographers, 2006.*

Eagan, P., Program Director. Managing the Risks and Recovering the Costs of Geographic and Facilities Management Systems. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1990.*


Bibliography

Furness, L. and Bowie, D. “Organizational Structuring and Charging for Geographic Information System Services” in Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Australian Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Queensland, Australia. 1992. Vol I, pp 173-182.

Horning, G. “How GIS Works in King County.” ArcNews. Spring 2007.

Huxhold, W. E. An Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.*

Huxhold, W. E. and Levinsohn, A. G. Managing Geographic Information System Projects. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.*

Joffe, B. 10 Ways to Support Your GIS Without Selling Data. Oakland: Open Data Consortium, ND.

King County. King County Coordinated Geographic Information System Scoping Project. Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, August 1993.

King County. Production Operations and Maintenance Plan. King County Geographic Information System, Seattle, April 14, 1997.

Korte, G. B. The GIS Book. Albany: OnWord Press, 2001.*

Lawrence, J. “Pricing GIS Participation and Products” in Proceedings of the 1995 Annual Conference of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. San Antonio, TX: pp. 165-172.

Lerner, N., Ancel, S., Stewart, M. A, and DiSera. D. Building a Business Case for Geospatial Technology: A Practitioner’s Guide to Financial and Strategic Analysis. Geospatial Information Technology Association and AWWA Research Foundation, 2007.*

Longley, P. A., Goodchild, M. F., Maguire, D. J., and Rhind, D. W., eds. Geographic Information Systems (2 vols). New York: John Wiley & sons, Inc. 1999.*

Maguire, D., Kouyoumjian, V., and Smith, R. The Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach. Redlands: ESRI Press, 2008.*

Mayer, B., GIS Cost Allocation Model. Internal memo from KC GIS Coordinator dated July 6, 1992.

Obermeyer, N. J. and Pinto, J. K. Managing Geographic Information Systems. New York: The Guilford Press, 1994.*

Seeley, A. “Pierce County GIS Online Budget System.” 2010 URISA Exemplary Systems in Government – Distinguished Single System Award Winner.

Thum, P. “GIS Service Bureau Operations: Implementing a Service Bureau in a Local Government Setting.” in Proceedings of the 2002 Annual Conference of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association. Chicago.

Tomlinson, R. Thinking About GIS: Geographic Information System Planning for Managers. ESRI Press, 2003.*


A Final Thought

The application of GIS usually addresses issues of scarcity that affect society:

Space itself is finite: Space is the essential dimension of geography

Resources are mostly finite: The geographic distribution of resources and the communities that need them are a key dimension of geographic thought

Time is finite: Time considerations impact spatial organization and planning decisions

Money is ultimately finite: Financial considerations are a key element of geographic analysis.

And a budget is the means to allocate society’s scarce resources.


Call for volunteers

Are you interested in joining me to develop the formal URISA GMI Best Practice for Financial

Management of GIS Operations?

Greg Babinski, MA, GISP URISA Past-President URISA GMI Committee Chair COGO Secretary Finance & Marketing Manager

King County GIS Center 201 South Jackson Street MS: KSC-IT-0706 Seattle, WA 98104 USA P: 206-263-3753 F: 206-263-3145 E: [email protected] T: @gbabinski W: www.kingcounty.gov/gis

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.kingcounty.gov/gis

best practices for financial management of gis operations

Leadership & Management