Latest Contributions by Suzanne-Boden

Happy Geography Awareness Week! This is a fun time for the GIS community. It's also time for our third and final giveaway of 2017. Between now and November 24 at 5pm Pacific, you can enter to win an Esri technical certification exam voucher valued at US$225. On November 28 we will randomly select four individuals to receive a free voucher. Vouchers must be redeemed within six months, but you can schedule your exam appointment at a later date.   Esri offers certifications in three domains: desktop, developer, and enterprise. Earning a certification validates your expertise and is a great way to advance your career goals. Whether you've been thinking about achieving your first Esri certification or your fifteenth, now is a great time to put those thoughts into action.    Only one entry per individual will be accepted. Good luck!   Enter the Giveaway ... View more

ModelBuilder (included with ArcGIS Pro) provides a visual canvas to create geoprocessing models that automate GIS workflows. Invaluable for conducting sophisticated spatial analyses, models are everyday workhorses too. If built with reuse in mind, models can be your go-to shortcuts to get a lot of work done quickly. In fact, you can think of ModelBuilder as a visual programming language and a model as a workflow map. Like a map: A model can be navigated (it has direction built in). A model uses shape, color, text, and symbols to represent and communicate about its features. A model reveals data relationships that can spark ideas and collaboration.   If you've never created a model in ArcGIS, there's just one thing you need to know to get started: take a five-step approach: 1. Plan the Workflow Obvious, but...before creating a model, know what you want it to do. List the data input, identify the required geoprocessing tools, and describe the desired output. If the workflow is simple, just think it through in your head. For more complicated workflows, you may want to sketch everything out on paper or a whiteboard. If you're not sure which tool to use or what a tool's required inputs are, check the geoprocessing tool reference. 2. Create the Model Shell In ArcGIS, a model is stored inside a toolbox. In ArcGIS Pro, when you create a new project, a toolbox with the same name as the project is automatically created. On the Analysis menu, click ModelBuilder to open a model window. Tip: You can also open a new model by right-clicking the toolbox folder in the Catalog pane and choosing New > Model.    Now set the model properties. On the ModelBuilder tab, click Properties.   In the General tab, the option to “Store tool with relative path” should be selected. This is what you want, because using relative paths prevents headaches down the road if your data gets moved around. Set the properties below, then click OK. Name — the filename; no spaces allowed. Label — the plain-English name; spaces are fine.     3. Add Tools and Set Parameters With the basic setup done, now comes the fun part. You can't beat ModelBuilder for easy drag-and-drop building and tinkering. But hang on a sec, you need to understand some ModelBuilder vocabulary. A model consists of one or more processes. A process consists of three elements: input data, a tool, and the tool's output. Each output becomes input to the next  process. Just like when you run a geoprocessing tool outside a model, if your input data has selected features or records, the tool processes only the selection.   When you add a tool to a model (by dragging/dropping from the Catalog or Geoprocessing pane), its output element is also added and both elements are colored light gray. In model parlance, gray means "not ready to run." You need to double-click the tool and set its parameters. Tip: In a tool dialog box, a red asterisk means the parameter is required.   Once you click OK to set the tool parameters, the input element displays and the process colorizes, Oz-like. As you add processes, the model window may fill up. Use the Fit to Window and Auto Layout buttons to see the big-picture view and zoom in and out as needed. Be sure to save periodically as you build the model (ModelBuilder tab > Save). To add the final model process output as a layer to a map, right-click it and choose Add To Display. Otherwise, you'll have to manually add it to the map. 4. Validate the Model After you've added all the tools and set their parameters, it's time to ensure the model will run properly. Validation is easy—just click the Validate button on the ModelBuilder tab. During validation, if there's an error, processing will stop at the first process that requires a fix. Figure out what's wrong and make the fix, then validate again. Repeat if necessary, then save your work. 5. Run the Model You have two basic options to run a model: On the ModelBuilder tab, click the Run button. Outside of ModelBuilder, run the model as a tool or service.   Running a model as a tool or service has distinct advantages for collaboration and sharing. We'll cover model tools in an upcoming post.  It's fun to run a model inside ModelBuilder. As the model progresses, each process turns red and then gets a drop shadow. The drop shadow indicates the process has completed correctly. If a process turns gray, that means an error needs to be fixed and the model stops running. If you've validated, this shouldn't happen. (Optional) 6. Maybe Run It Again A model's final output may raise a question. For example, suppose a model process created a 50-meter buffer around a feature. After examining the model output, you wonder what would result if you used a 100-meter buffer instead. To find out, simply open the buffer tool, enter the new distance value, and run the model again starting at the buffer process (right-click the buffer tool and choose Run). Because you're not altering preceding processes, you don't need to rerun the entire model.  This is the beauty of a model. It's a perfect medium to explore and test what-if scenarios. Like scripts, models are encapsulated workflows. Once built, they can be reused as a fast alternative to manually performing a set of individual processes. You can build a model to automate any geoprocessing task or series of tasks, from the complex to the straightforward. Now that you've learned the steps to create a simple model, why not try it for yourself?  Want to learn more on this topic? Check out these training options: Building Geoprocessing Models Using ArcGIS Pro ArcGIS Pro: Essential Workflows ... View more

By Aaron Zureick, Esri global training program manager   The Esri Technical Certification program launched in January 2011 with one primary objective—to establish a means of recognizing and validating ArcGIS expertise. The program now offers nine exams, across three domains and three levels to span the breadth of the ArcGIS platform and associated user roles. More than 6,000 certifications have been awarded to date.   The growth of the Esri Technical Certification program mirrors the trend seen in the IT certification industry as a whole. What is responsible for the continued demand in the IT space for certified individuals?   According to ManpowerGroup’s 2016-2017 Talent Shortage Survey, globally, employers have reported the highest talent shortage since 2007. The hardest talent to find include IT staff (developers, programmers, database administrators, and IT leaders and managers). Since the previous survey, IT roles have jumped seven places to become the second most difficult talent position to fill. Employers were asked why it is increasingly difficult to fill positions.   Lack of available applicants and hard skills were the top two reasons provided.   Esri Technical Certification enables individuals to validate their hard skills with Esri technologies, helps potential candidates position themselves as strong applicants, and provides employers with the ability to more easily find potential employees with the correct and proven skillset.     Not surprisingly, the upward trend in technology-related jobs is expected to continue. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 50 percent of jobs today require some degree of technical skills. Experts estimate that the percentage will jump to 77 percent within the next decade. Additionally, over the next four years, it is expected that 51 percent of all IT jobs will be software-related.   This is good news for individuals who pursue a software-related career, and even better news for individuals who have validated their expertise with a certification.   In a 2016 survey by Pearson VUE (Value of IT Certification), individuals who obtained an IT certification noted several benefits, with “a positive impact on their professional image” and “moving into a career in IT” as the top two benefits cited.   Nearly 40 percent of survey respondents noted that certifications helped them perform complex tasks more confidently. These survey findings show that job candidates with a certification have a competitive advantage and, organizations that employ certified individuals receive key benefits.   The numbers are in! An Esri technical certification can play a valuable role in individuals’ ability to competitively differentiate themselves in the marketplace and in the workplace. Employers can leverage Esri technical certification to select candidates with a proven ability to perform a GIS-related role within their organization.   For information on the Esri Technical Certification program, visit esri.com/certification. ... View more

The two most important components of a successful GIS are good planning and good people. Keep in mind, though, that all the planning in the world is useless if you do not have adequately trained people to operate your system.   So said the late, great Dr. Roger Tomlinson, who coined the term "geographic information system," and authored Thinking About GIS, Geographic Information System Planning for Managers (now in its fifth edition). Tomlinson writes:   If you're a manager, you are responsible for supporting the people who build, manage, and maintain your organization's GIS. How have you supported their development? Like Tomlinson, do you see a relationship between developing your workforce and the success of your GIS program? Do you see a relationship between the success of your GIS program and the success of your organization?   For some, training can be a challenge to justify when budgets are uncertain. The reality is that every program must justify its existence. If your GIS program is instrumental in managing key assets, collecting data and providing business intelligence that increases revenue, or providing valued constituent services, then workforce training is easily justifiable.   In his book, Tomlinson recommends keeping senior management informed of the business benefits and solutions received from the GIS and present all requests for training expenditures in that context. Communication, as in all things, is key.   Get the Answers You Need Today, most managers understand the strategic value of workforce development. They do, however, want to make sure they are sending individuals to appropriate classes, so that the training investment provides measurable results, including increased productivity, higher quality information products, and operational efficiency. We frequently receive questions like these: What training is available from Esri? Which training format will be most cost-effective for my organization in the long term? Are there training programs that can save me money? Of course, the answers to these questions are on our website, but the fastest way to get answers is to contact an Esri Training team member. Training consultants have extensive experience partnering with organizations to develop training and workforce development plans that take into account upcoming projects, staff roles and responsibilities, GIS workflows, and the organization's strategic, ArcGIS-enabled goals.   A well thought-out training plan is a valuable tool for making and measuring progress toward your GIS program goals. Remember:   Related Post: What's Your People Strategy? ... View more