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A GIS development strategy is a documented plan for turning an organization’s priorities into useful, governed, and sustainable geographic information system capabilities. It covers more than software: it connects priority workflows and measurable outcomes with governance, system design, implementation, user adoption, and ongoing operations.
What a GIS development strategy means
Esri describes GIS strategy as aligning GIS technology with organizational priorities. It distinguishes the broader idea of geospatial strategy as defining how location insights shape decisions, operations, and outcomes across an enterprise. In practice, a GIS development strategy translates goals into the capabilities, rules, systems, and work needed to deliver and maintain GIS services. The exact plan depends on the organization’s use cases, existing technology, security requirements, budget, staffing, and jurisdiction. Esri’s strategy guidance is a vendor framework, not a universal standard or independent certification.
What a GIS strategic plan should include
A useful plan makes clear what the organization wants GIS to achieve, who is responsible for decisions, how systems and data will work together, and how people will use and sustain the capabilities. Esri’s framework organizes this work into five connected areas:
- Business alignment: Identify mission priorities and workflows where GIS can contribute, then define expected value and measurable objectives.
- Technology governance: Establish decision owners, standards, oversight, quality controls, workflows, and an operating model.
- Systems implementation: Plan architecture, applications, data, and integration with existing systems.
- Stakeholder engagement: Involve internal and external users and account for their needs in design and delivery.
- Capacity building: Develop the skills and support needed to use, administer, and maintain the system.
These areas are connected: a technically sound system can still fail to deliver value if it does not fit priority workflows, has unclear accountability, or lacks user preparation.
How to develop and implement the strategy
A strategy is best treated as a repeatable planning and delivery cycle rather than a one-time software purchase. Esri’s Esri UC 2006 implementation lifecycle document describes five broad phases. Its age makes it a planning model, not a current technical specification.
- Strategy and planning: Set a vision, identify business needs, build the case for action, plan implementation and organizational responsibilities, and assess risks.
- Analysis and design: Examine workflows and requirements, define use cases, and design data and system architecture.
- Development: Build or configure applications and integrations, then perform quality assurance.
- Deployment: Prepare users and support teams, release the system, and conduct acceptance and performance testing.
- Operations and maintenance: Support the deployed capabilities, monitor their performance, and maintain systems and data.
In day-to-day planning, this means understanding constraints before choosing an implementation, validating designs with users, and revisiting priorities as needs and technology change.
Governance and interoperability
Governance turns a strategy into decisions people can follow. Specify who owns data and architecture decisions, who approves standards or exceptions, how quality is checked, and who monitors system operations. Include procedures for resolving conflicts and maintaining accountability.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsInteroperability should be designed in, not left as an assumption. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) describes standards as supporting interoperable ways to organize, access, process, visualize, and discover geospatial information. Its standards are developed through a process that includes working groups, testbeds, requirements, and consensus adoption; check a standard’s status and maturity before treating it as final or widely implemented.
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The UN-GGIM Online Guide to the Role of Standards in Geospatial Information Management, Edition 3, complements Strategic Pathway 6 on Standards in the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework implementation guide. It connects standards with FAIR principles—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable—and is aimed at geospatial information management and national implementation contexts. Organizations should adapt it to their own mandate and jurisdiction.
Communicating the plan
A concise summary helps stakeholders understand direction, but it should sit on top of deeper analysis. Esri’s one-page GIS strategy guidance recommends four elements: vision, value proposition, strategy, and roadmap. Use the summary to make goals and direction visible; retain the requirements, governance, architecture, implementation decisions, and measures that explain how the plan will work.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to assess whether the strategy fits
When reviewing a proposed approach, consider the following dimensions. They are evaluation questions, not a ranked or vendor-neutral scoring rubric:
- Does it support the organization’s priority workflows and mission?
- Can it integrate with existing systems and support relevant interoperability standards?
- Are governance, decision rights, and accountability clear?
- Does the deployment meet security and operational requirements?
- Can the organization scale and maintain it with available resources?
- Are user adoption and staff capability planned alongside implementation?
- Are costs and expected value assessed against measurable objectives?
The available framework guidance does not establish comparative cost data or a universal scoring method. A decision should be grounded in the organization’s requirements rather than a generic ranking.
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