This concept encloses a set of activities and workflows to ensure that the implementation of a GIS system in an organization or project is correctly planned and designed according to the particularites, user requirements and current conditions of the project ahead. In general system design is the process to promote successful GIS in an enterprise environment. As a GIS system has a direct influence on the information technology department (IT), the system design tells the organizacion how the current infrastructure can or must support the planned GIS. This process builds a set of specific recommendations on hardware and network needs based on the number of projects that depend on the GIS solucion, as well as the projected business needs and user requirements.
GIS architects through the system design process need to take into account and identify several conditions: a) infrastructure requirements, b) the network communication capacity, c) hardware and software procurement requirements and, d) software development and data acquisition needs.
Having a well-defined and successful GIS deployment is not only a matter of what data or software the organization should acquire. The process of system design aligns identified business requirements (user needs/requirements) derived from business strategies or project aims, goals, and stakeholders (business processes) with identified business information systems infrastructure technology (network and platform) recommendations.
The process starts with identifying business needs, including the identification of users locations, required information, data, resources or products. The business needs are generally considered as project workflows that help the GIS architects to identify the expected data traffic and computing demand associated with each transaction, being a transaction the work unit used to translate business requirements into associated server and network loads.
Without carrying out a proper system design, a GIS system can lead to an implementation and deployment failure, deriving in unfulfilled expectations and high costs in terms of human resources and financial matters.