Why Forest Information Systems are needed?

Thousands of forest operations and forest landscape projects run successfully using Excel files and Word documents. But there is the point when organizations grow, complexity increases exponentially, and the information management gets stuck in chaos.

Complexity usually is caused by accumulating large amounts of data, increasing numbers of data types, decentralized and inaccessible data storages, and a growing number of data users.

The downside of a missing centralized Forest Information System are inconsistencies of the data set (e. g. false, incomplete, redundant data), data silos which cannot be queried or analyzed, and non-existence of a user rights system defining user roles with specific data access and editing permissions.

When friction cost for data management exceeds a reasonable level, decision-makers should start to consider more powerful information management systems. The central questions are:
 

• What is the right system for my organization?
• How to avoid costly missteps during the implementation?