4 November 2011
In his recent article for TDWI – “GIS Enriches Data, Enhances Decision Making” – Stephen Swoyer noted that: “GIS information can enrich internal data, improve business processes or enhance decision making. So why aren’t you using it?”
He makes a great point – mapping business data and conducting location-based analyses have the power to yield valuable business insights that can really push a business forward.
However, we disagree with the idea that GIS didn’t take off because the enterprise software line-up was already too crowded.
Sure, the enterprise software lineup is crowded, but it’s not the reason why GIS software has failed to become a mainstream business intelligence tool.
The key to wider adoption of GIS is SaaS
GIS software isn’t more widely used because the technology was – and still largely is – too prohibitively expensive to purchase and complex to maintain.
Only when these obstacles are removed will GIS software have the opportunity to become mainstream. And the only way to remove these obstacles is by embracing a new delivery model: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
SaaS delivery has already proven itself to be a game-changer when it comes to software.
Until SaaS (and, to be fair, Salesforce.com) came along, Customer Relationship Managment (CRM) software was an option for only the large, well-heeled enterprise that had plenty of cash to spend, and plenty of staff to manage the system.
SaaS (and Salesforce.com) made CRM accessible by removing the need to host the software in-house, and making it available on a per-user subscription basis. This dramatically reduced the cost of CRM, as well as the complexity – and paved the way to its ubiquity in the wider business world.
As we’ve found from our own experience, GIS software has the same opportunity. Full, enterprise-grade GIS capabilities – without the technology overheads, and at a low, subscription-based price – is very attractive to both GIS experts, and the wider business world.
Our experience tells us that it’s only a matter of time before SaaS-based GIS software becomes as ubiquitous as SaaS-based CRM. GIS vendors who rail against the technology are simply postponing the inevitable.
Server and cloud options are not enough
While server and cloud-based GIS software are certainly a step up from the desktop, they’re not sufficient to drive the acceptance of the technology in the wider business world.
They’re for for large enterprises who already uses GIS – but they’re still too expensive, and too complex to manage for other organisations.
To make GIS software truly accessible and available to any organisation, costs must be very low, and technological or hosting involvement must be minimal.
GIS software is a powerful analytical tool that can provide valuable insights into an organisation. But without SaaS delivery, it will continue to remain inaccessible to the wider business community.
SaaS-based GIS software can benefit any organisation. Why aren’t vendors embracing it?
