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Maximizing your investment with the Advantage Program

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The evolution of an organization can be found on three levels - human, technical or material. The Advantage Program allows organizations the use of strategic services including advice, training and consultation regarding their projects. This is a tool that makes it easier to resolve operational problems and allows a faster evolution.

Whatever the field you work in, the innovations associated with our era of technology constantly pushes you to go beyond. Unfortunately, sometimes it is difficult to follow your rhythm and lack of resources can be felt. This is why a continuity plan is very useful, as the Québec government stipulates in the document Comment préparer son entreprise. (How to prepare your organization) (in French only). It lets you proceed to a review of your organization and to do an analysis of the situation to guarantee continued evolution, thus ensuring sustainability of your services. The Advantage Program goes like this: it allows access to professional resources that will help you to continuously go forward in your projects.

The major steps in a project are:

  • Identify the problem
  • Define the goals of the project
  • Define the logical order of the tasks to be completed
  • Assess the length, difficulties, constraints and external needs of the tasks
  • Define and allocate resources
  • Plan the project and ensure its continuation

At one of these steps, the GIS manager and his/her team often find themselves lacking the knowledge to establish action. This is where the Advantage program comes into the picture. The Advantage Program pairs the team with a strategic advisor who can guide them through their multiple projects to help them achieve their goals. Your organization’s investments are therefore better managed! In entrepreneurial language, this is called « Return on Investment » (« ROI »). A story map has been created to present some examples of ROI: GIS Return on Investment - Examples

The strategic advisor’s mission is to help you to integrate the steps of your project more easily so that you can attain your goals. The client relation that you will have with the advisor will allow you better use of your human, technical and material resources. The advisor will be at your side throughout the evolution process of your projects and will ensure you have the best resources needed for your projects to be carried out successfully.

Adherence to the Advantage Program will ensure that you have an effective ally that will take the pulse of your organization’s situation to identify and understand your needs as well as possible. Throughout the program, the advisor will help you target, plan and assess to meet your needs. Esri Canada’s professional team will stand behind the team to ensure you have the best infrastructure and integrated GIS solutions resources available.  With the Advantage Program, you will control and grow your investments with easy access to professional and technical services, training and support.

Here are hypothetical examples of organizations that have joined the Advantage Program:

  • An organization wants to keep up with ArcGIS innovations by migrating to ArcGIS Pro. It also wants to integrate the ArcGIS Online platform to leverage its advantages. However, it does not want to disrupt its workflow. The manager meets his/her strategic advisor and sets up a training plan for the organization’s professionals assigned to the project. Somewhere along the way, the project is altered. During a new meeting, a follow up is completed and the planning is re-adjusted as needed.
  • GIS is thriving within an organization. It is therefore required to opt for an Enterprise type of license. This requires several changes at the server level and the overall structure of its system architecture. Its professionals do not have the knowledge to complete the job. Since the organization has joined the Advantage Program, the project manager contacts the strategic advisor. They meet to identify the needs and to establish an action plan to implement ArcGIS Enterprise. Throughout the process, the advisor will guide the manager towards human resources that can help, to webinars that can explain the steps to follow and to training that will allow his/her staff to develop the necessary skills to reach their goals.

The services provided by the Advantage Program are customized according to the client’s needs. They are also adapted based on the project’s progress. The strategic advisor is there to help you get the most out of your investments.

To learn more about the positive impactf the Advantage Program could have on your organization’s resources, register now for the free webinar that will be presented on January 28, 2021 at 1 p.m. (in French).  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your account manager.

This post was originally written in French by Chantale Carrier and can be viewed here.