Development of an Agricultural Management Information System based on Open-source Solutions

Abstract A common problem associated with ready-made software is that businesses are forced to alter some of their processes in order to fully utilize the product. On the other hand, custom-made applications are specifically designed to accommodate the needs of the client's activities, so the final product will be based on their input during the software development process, and will be fine-tuned to fit the way your business operates. With this approach, an information system designed towards the management of agricultural properties, the Agrifootprint system, was developed. The main goal of the Agrifootprint system was to develop and implement a Web-based Geographic Information System, based on Open-Source technology, with a custom-made, comprehensive and user-friendly geospatial system, in order to integrate and manage data from several small agriculture enterprises. The development process was based in Agile methodologies: SCRUM and Evolutionary Prototyping. This option for agile development process brought the establishment of a relationship of complicity between the customer and the development team due to more real understanding of the requirements raised and the system that will be produced from these.