Improved Site Planning with ArcGIS® Enterprise

A large, multi-level organization needed an appealing, user-friendly tool to help enhance site-level planning.

Challenge: Create a Planning Tool for Diverse Needs

A large organization needed to communicate highly detailed and varied site-planning information with a diverse group of stakeholders. The client’s current planning tool was unappealing and difficult to use, reducing the number of stakeholders willing to use it. Too much administrative time was spent satisfying requests from others in the organization needing information, delaying decision-making processes. What was needed? An information tool adept at gathering data from disparate sources and then synthesizing that data into an easy-to-visualize format for a wide variety of users.

Solution: Accessible, Usable Tool for Empowered Decision-Making

The best way to expedite the process was to begin with a completely new application. Knowing the client would be using ArcGIS Enterprise with deployment using a portal federated with their server, Argis Solutions created custom ArcGIS® Web AppBuilder widgets using JavaScript that are deployable on the Amazon Cloud workspace. This offers the flexibility to share information so that the tool is not dependent on the client’s server. The tool itself visualizes the complex information matrix the client tracks in easy-to-understand terms. All levels of the organization with access to the tool are empowered to make their own queries, relieving administrators. It even has a plan tracker which allows users to access their preferred plans. The tool can be scaled, layering state, county, and site-specific data. This helps the client analyze population and industry information alongside worker and site data to determine the best locations for future sites and to accommodate for future growth at existing locations. 

Result: Saving Time with Streamlined Access to Data

The client plans to release the new tool to their stakeholders before the end of the year. After a training period for the new tool, they hope to see time savings. The now-streamlined access to data and increased adoption of the tool throughout the organization will result in better informed decisions.