Going with the Flow: Why You Should Automate Your GIS

Our answer to common automation objections and real-life examples of automation success.

Change has been at the forefront of the past year, and uncertainty and shifting directions continue as we step firmly into 2021. GIS managers face reductions in budgets and staff along with overallocated workloads. How can work get done without enough people, time, or money? A Chinese proverb says, “A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.”

Automation can be key to a business model that flows with change. However, many GIS professionals are hesitant to invest in automation. Common concerns about automation are: Setting it up will be too hard, it will not work once it is implemented, and it will not be worth the effort or cost once completed.  It is prudent to be thoughtful and cautious about big changes to systems of record, but there are also great rewards that might be missed by not considering automating certain processes.

Automation is too hard to implement. Automation is actually extremely easy to implement. Start small. One automated workflow could save an hour a day, which is a huge time savings over the course of a year, freeing staff to focus on more critical work where their knowledge and expertise is truly needed. Being Agile specialists, we are advocates for small, incremental improvements that give long-term benefits.

Automation will not work. Processes that are ripe for automation are those that have rigid rules for the process. Automation works best with an unchanging set of rules. Do you have to run a report every Monday, create a PDF for parcel requests, or convert data from the field into a new format so that it can be input into your system? Those are all processes that could easily be automated.

If some processes have both areas of rigidity and areas of speculation, there’s still a place for automation. The areas of uncertainty in the process will help you identify where to add an approval process.

Automation will not be worth it. You do not have to make a big investment if you are unsure of automation’s workability for your process. Start with small automation tasks and then your return-on-investment can easily be measured within the same year it is implemented.

Explore the following use cases demonstrating the creative and unique ways automation can be applied, and see what benefits GIS professionals gain from investing in automating certain processes.

Automating the lease review process for the energy industry

Managing oil, gas, and mineral leases is an integral part of energy companies’ business. Which lease should be renewed, sold, or bought? Which lease is expiring? An oil and gas client’s lease management review process took three weeks to complete, and the data for the process was held in several different systems. This three-week process was streamlined into one day by automating the data processing and displaying it in an easy-to-understand format. The data from the different systems was integrated into one database, and Argis Solutions created a viewport for the data. Now the client can view a map of their leases with built-in analytics that show lease information in red and green. Green denotes leases that do not require current review, and red denotes leases that need evaluation. 

Automating the approval process for new oil and gas lines 

A client managing an oil and gas system had an approval process for pipeline changes. The process required the approval of both engineers and the finance department. This process was done by email, and it was difficult to keep track of the status of these requests. The approval process has now been automated using the SharePoint approval workflow. Argis integrated the approval process with the client's custom website so change requests in their site are automatically pushed up to SharePoint. When SharePoint receives that notification, it sends an email requesting review to all parties involved in the approval process. The new automation process keeps track of who has approved the request, who hasn’t, and where in the approval process the request is. This information is kept in a central location, introducing transparency and accessibility to the process. 

Automating data conversion

A city had a data collector who physically gathered data for hydrants, water mains, and other points. These data points were then translated into lines manually, a time-consuming process. Knowing there was a much faster way to convert this data, Argis created a tool in ArcGIS Pro, using Python and the ArcPy Library, that looks at the points and estimates the best line network. In this situation, automation harnesses the computer program’s efficient ability to run a workflow with well-documented decision points. Our argument is that humans shouldn’t be doing things the computer is better at. There is a layer in the process for approval to make sure the computer’s estimations are accurate, because human review should be introduced to the automation process for points where speculation is involved. 

Look for automation opportunities and get started

There will never be a better time than now. While GIS professionals can’t turn back the clock and return the world to the normalcy of 2019, there are steps they can take to improve their response to the many demands being made on their time, attention, and expertise within their organization. 

Investigate where you can add automation to your routine tasks and consider implementation. Not sure how to get started? Request a discovery call with Argis Solutions’ technical team to have a no-cost conversation about your current setup, and discover ways we can make automation work for you.  

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