Using Internet Technologies to Compete Effectively

In the past, database architectures segregated standard business information such as human resources, IT, financials, maintenance management, facility management, fleet management, CAD and geospatial (GIS)1 data such as earth imagery, maps, and object information. This was necessary because standard database technology didn’t effectively manage large spatial data sets and relational information at the same time.

The technology level, at that time, required companies to create islands of information for every department and each independent office. In many instances duplicating information that didn’t stay data synced from the first day it was loaded causing decision making problems the instance it was first used across departmental or office lines.

The Internet once thought of as entertainment or the place to find static information is quickly becoming an essential way of doing business in every facet of the business world today. If you ever thought that businesses resides only as bricks and mortar, look at what Amazon and Barnes and Noble have done to the book e-commerce industry.

Providing Access to Infromation via the Intranet and Inernet
Today in the enterprise environment, the islands of information have to go away. The key is integrating key corporate infrastructure support functions to optimally support corporate strategy and get that information to the personnel and customers who need it. It is a reality that thinking and working geographically gives advantages to the decision makers in every company because it allows organizations to create maps, integrate information, visualize scenarios, present ideas and develop effective solutions over a large region. Serving GIS and mapping information on the Web lets you communicate geographically with your staff and clients via the Internet.

Right now the spatial information management market resides in three areas, all of which could be overlaid with an Internet solution:

AM/FM and land information systems.
Business Support applications
Production level applications