Geography Matters for Business

GIS is used for business. Businesses manage a world of information about sales, customers, inventory, demographic profiles, mailing lists, and so much more. At the very core of this information is a geographic location, an address, a service boundary, a sales territory, and a delivery route that can be illustrated and interactively managed on a map.

Geographic information system (GIS) software is reshaping the business world. From multinational corporations to entrepreneurial start-ups, from hardware stores to hospitals, companies of every kind are introducing geographic analysis to solve business problems. In the process, they're making better decisions, delivering better service, and finding new market opportunities. Businesses are using GIS technology to find solutions for marketing, site selection, asset management, risk analysis, regulatory compliance, delivery routing, customer service, demographic analysis, and much more.

GIS enables businesses to better understand and evaluate their data by creating graphic displays using information stored in their database. But a GIS does more than just display data; it enables users to interactively and dynamically analyze and manage the information linked to those locations. And by simply updating the information linked to a map, the map automatically reflects those changes. It is this analytical capability that allows a medical practice, for example, to decide where it should open an outlying clinic based on census and demographic data.

GIS allows the creation of map displays simply by pointing and clicking. GIS lets users visualize and analyze information in new ways, revealing previously hidden relationships, patterns, and trends. Business people in marketing, advertising, insurance, and retail are already using GIS to analyze markets, optimize media campaigns, pinpoint the best store locations, and model demographic spending patterns.

GIS technology can be used by just about any business and industry including banking/finance, consumer goods, direct marketing, health care, insurance, real estate, facility management, restaurant/fast food, retail, automotive, business associations, business services, database services, food/beverage, manufacturing, small business, and travel/tourism.

Companies like Sears, Metropolitan Life, Chase Manhattan Bank, Gold's Gym Enterprises, and countless others are using GIS to help them improve operational excellence and profitability.

If you would like to know more, we invite you to explore our many informational and downloadable resources.