GIS Health Check Know what to fix before you invest in another GIS tool.
A senior, independent review of your existing GIS environment, priority datasets and publishing workflows. You get a clear record of what is working, what is holding you back and which fixes deserve attention first.
BEST FOR
Businesses unsure where to start or wanting to optimise an existing GIS setup.
A clear diagnosis, not a licence pitch
GIS problems rarely have a single cause. A slow public map might be a data issue, a publishing workflow issue, a permissions issue—or all three. Buying another platform before understanding those dependencies can make the system harder to maintain.
This health check gives you a concise, evidence-led baseline. I inspect the setup you already have, test the quality of the data that matters most and turn the findings into practical recommendations your own team or a supplier can implement.
See the whole system
A plain-English inventory connects the data, software, services and people involved in keeping your GIS running.
Separate causes from symptoms
Findings identify the underlying data, configuration or workflow problem rather than merely listing what appears broken.
Act in the right order
Recommendations are prioritised by impact and effort, with quick wins distinguished from structural improvements.
What's included
A focused review of one existing GIS environment, from source data through to the maps and services people use.
GIS environment inventory
Document the relevant ArcGIS or QGIS components, spatial databases, web services, integrations and hosting arrangements.
Data quality review
Check nominated priority datasets for projection issues, invalid geometry, duplicates, missing attributes, inconsistent values and metadata or currency gaps.
Workflow and publishing review
Trace how data is updated and published, looking for manual hand-offs, fragile dependencies, repeated work and avoidable performance problems.
Access and continuity check
Review visible ownership, permissions, backup arrangements and handover documentation to identify operational single points of failure.
Prioritised recommendations
Translate findings into actions marked by priority, expected benefit and relative implementation effort, including changes that need no new software.
Findings walkthrough
A 60-minute handover call to explain the report, answer technical questions and agree a sensible implementation sequence with your team.
The complete handover
You know what arrives at the end, what is needed at the start and which requests sit outside the published scope.
DELIVERABLES
A1 · 3 days- 01
10-page recommendations report
A concise PDF covering the current state, material risks, opportunities and a prioritised roadmap.
- 02
Findings and action register
A spreadsheet recording each issue, its evidence, priority and recommended next action so it can be assigned and tracked.
- 03
System and data inventory
A compact reference for the environment and datasets reviewed, including ownership and dependency gaps discovered during the audit.
- 04
Handover discussion
A walkthrough of the findings for your technical and business stakeholders, with the key decisions and questions captured.
What I need from you
- One primary contact who can coordinate access and answer questions about how the system is used.
- Read-only access to the relevant environment, or a guided screen-share where direct access is not possible.
- The priority datasets and recurring problems you want the review to focus on.
- Any existing architecture diagrams, data dictionaries, publishing notes or previous audit findings.
- A 60-minute handover session with the people who will own the next steps.
FIXED PRICE · CLEAR LIMITS
Scope boundaries
- The review is diagnostic: data repairs, migrations, reconfiguration and new development are not implementation work included in this package.
- It is not a penetration test, statutory compliance certification or formal security audit.
- Additional environments, large-scale data validation and implementation support can be quoted separately after the findings are known.
Three days from access to action
The delivery window starts once the agreed access, documents and priority datasets are available.
Establish the baseline
Confirm the review questions, inventory the environment and trace the path from source data to published map or service.
Test and investigate
Run the data quality checks, inspect configuration and workflows, and validate apparent issues with your technical contact.
Prioritise and hand over
Deliver the report and action register, then walk your team through the findings and the recommended order of work.
Questions before you book
Practical answers about this package. Anything else can be covered in the free call.
Q1 Will you make changes to our system during the audit?
No. The health check is read-only and diagnostic. I may reproduce a problem or run non-destructive checks, but repairs and configuration changes are only made under a separately agreed scope.
Q2 Can you review both ArcGIS and open-source GIS?
Yes. The review can cover ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Online, QGIS, PostGIS, FME, cloud-hosted services and mixed environments. The written inventory identifies the exact components included.
Q3 What if we have little or no documentation?
That is a common reason to start here. A guided walkthrough and read-only inspection can establish the baseline. Missing ownership, architecture or operating documentation will be recorded as a finding rather than blocking the review.
Q4 Do we have to use you to implement the recommendations?
No. The report and action register are designed to be usable by your internal team or another supplier. If you would like After Realism to implement part of the roadmap, that work receives its own fixed quote.
Continue through the schedule
Two related options, or compare all six packages.
Want a clear answer on your GIS setup?
Bring the recurring problem, the system you have and the data that matters. The free call will confirm whether a three-day health check is the right first step.