  You will also become familiar with several functions in ArcMap, Erdas Imagine, and Definiens. This tutorial uses freely available data from MassGIS, but your project might not be so lucky. Constraints: How much money can you spend? How much time do you have? What can you get done in the time you have? What questions can your data answer? Hardware: Can your hardware handle the memory needs of your processes? Do you have enough storage space for your data? Is your data being backed up? Who can access your data? How many folders are you using for data that is being opened in the same project? Are you using 32 bit or 64 bit? How many machines are you using? Who has the right to use those machines? How much space do other users of the machine need? Can they overwrite or delete your data? Will you compress your data to save storage space? Can you perform a remote desktop connection? Software: Which softwares are you using? What are their constraints? For instance, can you have ArcMap and ArcCatalog open at the same time? What version of the software are you using? Is there a later version, and if so what are the costs and benefits associated with switching to the newer version? Your Team: Who will you be working with? What are they good at? What are they not good at? How flexible are their schedules? What are your deadlines? How will you ensure that the tasks are complete on time? Who will perform which tasks? Will everyone become familiar with all parts of the process, or will team members specialize? Skills: What skills do the members of your team have? Will you need to learn any skills? Which skills will you need to learn? How will you learn the skills you need? Data: Will you have to pay for any of your data? Will the data come from one source or multiple sources? If the data come from multiple sources do they overlay properly? Will the data be in the same projection? What will you do about data that is in the same projection but does not overlay properly? Keep these questions in mind for your own project as you explore ours. Some problems are easier to solve than others, and you should be able to complete your project in a meaningful way even if it can't be everything you hoped for. |
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Points to Ponder |