It’s Capability Stupid! (A note to Self)

Having recently had the opportunity to reflect on the GIS (Geographic Information System) industry in Ireland over the last 24 months, and in particular the work we are now doing with our customers, it is clear to me that ‘GIS’ as we know it has turned a corner. 

There is now an abundance of evidence that suggests to me that ‘GIS’ is finally shedding its old, well-worn, rust-laden shackles, known to most of us as ‘features’ and ‘functions’. No longer is there a need to convince people whose ‘buttons’ and ‘widgets’ are better. Long gone is the mind-numbing rhetoric around ‘open’ and ‘closed’ systems. And those who have been sitting around procrastinating, using all of the above as an excuse to do nothing, can no longer hide behind such old, outdated and irrelevant ideology.

Capability; The New Narrative

The value of ‘GIS’ has finally moved away from the bland, yawn-inducing, me-too, arguments that has, for many years, suffocated the business benefits of location, place and geography in the Tech and IT debates of the day. We are now seeing truly exciting, stimulating and motivating value contributions that are directly related to ‘capability’ and ‘application’, and which are now absolutely, and quantifiably, making a difference to our customers businesses here in Ireland (see our latest customer spotlight videos at Irish Water, Dublin Airport and P&O Ferries as an example).

We (GIS practitioners) have always been aware, given the depth, breadth and ubiquitous nature of location, place and geography, that there simply isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the value of what we do. Yet, over the years we continuously engaged our customers, prospects, industries, sectors and markets with a ‘one size fits all’ message. On reflection, this is somewhat understandable because we and our customers have always considered the ‘value’ of GIS in the context of the features, functions, buttons and widgets that we know. 

However, if we consider the value of what we do in terms of the ‘capability’ we provide, capability that helps our customers and stakeholders make better more informed business decisions, then that’s a very different story.

Capability; The New Differentiator

There was a time when we concerned ourselves with having to critically know and understand an industry in order to work with any customer within that industry. While at the same time, we casually dismissed the fact that the customer already had the required industry knowledge and expertise. 

This is no longer the case.

In a recent business planning meeting I was asked “what industries and sectors are we focusing on over the next few years”. “None”, I replied, “We don’t focus on industries”. “But we are actively working with approximately 180 customers across 17 different industries”, was the challenge back.

At Esri Ireland, we never claim to be, nor do we aspire to be, domain experts in any industry or sector. So why then are there 180 customers, spanning 17 different industries happy to work with us? Because we, like many other GIS professionals, are domain experts in the application of geospatial capability, capability that, on the face of it, has nothing specifically to do with an industry or sector, but capability that is nonetheless unique to the GIS professional and which is increasingly needed to support many business processes and workflows for customers operating within those industries. For example we work with many customers, all from within the same industry or sector, but where we are providing very different geospatial capabilities to each customer. Does this suddenly make us domain experts in that particular industry? Not in my mind.

So, unlike traditional customer segmentation models where one might group their customers/prospects into sectors, industries or communities of interest, and subsequently engage those customers/prospects with a ‘one size fits all’ proposition, in our business, we use geospatial ‘capability’, as the basis for segmenting and engaging our customers, prospects and the market in general. 

This enables us to focus on our strengths, and position the value of our knowledge and expertise, not as domain experts in the customers industry or business, but as subject matter experts in a unique (geospatial) capability that the customer needs, but doesn’t have.

Capability; Greater Value for Your Investment

ArcGIS is a single all-encompassing geospatial platform. But more than that, it is in fact many ‘capability’ platforms in one ‘technology’ platform.

Customers who consider their GIS investment in the context of the ‘capability’ they have, and not simply the ‘technology’ they bought, quickly realise that the ArcGIS platform enables them up to nine (currently) separate opportunities to leverage additional value across many different parts of their business.

Examples of these capabilities are Mapping & Visualisation, Data Management, Field Mobility, Tracking & Monitoring, Analytics & Data Science, Design & Planning, Decision Support, Stakeholder Engagement and Sharing & Collaboration. You will notice that none of these capabilities are specific to any one industry or sector, but all of them are highly applicable to all industries and sectors, as customers within those industries and sectors embrace new innovations in digital transformation.

Capability; Lighting Up the Enterprise

Each of these capability platforms delivers a specific geospatial capability which, on their own, or combined together, enable individuals and organisations to better understand the influence and impact of location, place and geography on all parts of their business, the result of which is better business decisions across their enterprise.

Over the last two years many of our customers have only just begun to consider the investments they have made in the ArcGIS Platform in the context of the extensive capabilities the platform provides for them. As a result we see more and more customers leveraging the platform by exposing more and more capability into other parts of the organisation that need it. This is now forcing ‘GIS’ out of the dark IT cocoon where it has sat doing the one or two things it was originally bought for, and out into the heart of business decision making where its true value lies. This is what we call ‘Lighting up the Enterprise’.

Capability; A New Normal

If we, as GIS Professionals or Geomentors, are to truly optimise the power of location, place & geography for our employers, customers or stakeholder communities, then we need to shift this new narrative into being the new normal.

So the next time you are preparing to engage in discussion or debate around the value GIS provides, I encourage you to think less about the ‘features & functions’ (technology) you know, and think more about the ‘capability’ (knowledge & expertise) you can provide. 

You just might be surprised where that conversation will take you.