Identifying and evaluating critical success factors in the implementation of a geographic information system (GIS) : a local authority case study

Also available online.Bibliography: leaves 107-110.This single case study examines the analysis of the Critical Success Factors (CSF) involved in the implementation of a GIS. The study is in reaction to the problems users were having in implementing a Geographic Information System (GIS) in a sma1llocal authority, where the author was employed. Although the organisation had been using a GIS for some years, progress was below standard. From the initial investigations, it was evident that relevant literature was scant. The majority of information on successful GIS implementation was documented by vendors who supplied the software. These documents were of sites where GIS had been implemented and can be referred to as anecdotal case histories. The format of these reports was unscientific and lacked the rigours associated with academic research found in case studies. This study aims to test if existing methodology for identifYing CSF in IS can be applied to implementing a GIS in a local authority, and this methodology is based on management information science (MIS) theory. The author shows that there are parallels between IS and GIS and that it is possible to use IS theory on CSF, specifically in GIS implementation. He has used the case study method in order to collect data from various sources. The nature of this data is qualitative rather than quantitative. The research was carried out in four phases. The first phase, which was the longest, documented the different stadia and described the experiences of the author as the GIS manager with regard to the implementation. This is the control data set in the study which is compared with the data collected to test the two IS methodologies. The CSF which the author determined in this part of the research were: active top management support, qualified staff and a consolidated budget to ensure that all resources were pooled. These were established from observations and deductions from the experiences recorded in the study. The second phase was twofold and firstly involved a review of literature on methods to determine CSF in MIS planning; secondly it determined the similarity between GIS and IS theory. The author argues that, because of these similarities, IS theory on CSF can be extended to GIS implementation. The third phase required the author to test the two methodologies discussed in the literature review, both of which have limitations regarding their small sample size