The current business model, as I have experienced it, is basically
charging clients for the number of hours worked. A bid is created based on what
costs the company expects to take in term of time, equipment and personnel
required. This bid can be a single number or based on an hourly rate sheet. As
data collection and processing become more automated and simpler to produce, the
value of hourly work diminishes quickly. This is already well-known; who hasn't
been told not to work themselves out of a job?
The current business model, as I have experienced it, is basically
charging clients for the number of hours worked. A bid is created based on what
costs the company expects to take in term of time, equipment and personnel
required. This bid can be a single number or based on an hourly rate sheet. As
data collection and processing become more automated and simpler to produce, the
value of hourly work diminishes quickly. This is already well-known; who hasn't
been told not to work themselves out of a job? On jobsites everywhere, many
surveyors are either allowing inefficiency to make a profit or are losing most
of their office and field personnel due to lack of competitive
income.
The better business model, I believe, is one that more directly involves
the surveyor and their companies. The data becomes easier to produce, but
interpreting and acting on it becomes much, much harder. Subdivision plats are
complicated enough, but when they are related in a GIS to other plats across a
region, which are further related to environmental, economic and social
information, the results are impossible to determine without knowing what it
means and how to interpret it. The new way to do business in our industry is not
as organic data collectors and processors, but rather as interpreters for how
all the new sources of data work together. The survey company, then, collects a
profit not as a subcontractor but rather a partner involved in every step of a
project. I am not saying that the data collection is not important; on the
contrary, the more detailed the surveyor can capture the environment, the more
relevant and valuable the associated data and results become. The five-year
window is not some technological development, as the technology and procedures
for automating much of our work already exists. What the five-year window is,
then, is the time for accepting this dramatic change in how we work and what our
work is.
We can see similar changes in other information industries. Look at the
development of the Internet or computers, where information and technology have
changed the way so many professionals work. I believe we can greatly profit by
learning how these industries adapted and follow
suit.
--Andrew Gaiennie, Geomatics Engineering Sr,
Nicholls State University
What
do you think? Please share your comments below.
