Pitney Bowes Location Intelligence

Back in the enterprise we used the Mapinfo GIS system for location and mapping.    They were acquired by Pitney Bowes.  Now that location intelligence system is used by GE in its Predix platform.  The Mapinfo Pro systems still exist.  This is a useful integration of GIS and location analytics.  They write:

" ... What is Location Intelligence?
Location Intelligence is the capability to understand complex relationships between location and data in order to drive better business decisions. It enables organizations to derive meaningful insight by harnessing the power of location to solve business problems, deliver location-based services or manage assets. ... "

Microsoft's Power BI for Office

It has been some time since I looked at any of Microsoft's Business Intelligence offerings.  As MS partners in the enterprise we did see some of their BI acquisitions that work with Access.   New writeup in Nextweb which overviews some of their updates.  One aspect, 3D visualization, in my opinion is only useful for very specialized applications that overlay data atop 3D objects.  As I said previously, I much like their improvements made to BI embedded in Excel.  Their early GIS was developed from a package we also used: Mapinfo.   Did MS lose the war on location intelligence?
Meanwhile other BI player Tibco Spotfire have acquired Maporama to bolster their geo capabilities.

" ... Microsoft today announced an update to Power BI.  For those who don’t know, Power BI is a set of tools that provide data query, mapping, modeling, and interactive charting usually built on top of Excel. Power Query and Power Map were previously known as Data Explorer and Geoflow, if those names ring a bell. ... "  

Netezza and Mapinfo

Used the package Mapinfo several times in the enterprise. Including the construction of front ends for optimization packages for the supply chain. The world of geographical information systems has changed considerably in the last few years. APIs for popular mapping programs have changed this domain. Most BI packages include a method to visualize geographic data.

Still, more fully featured GIS systems give better capabilities for mapping and analyzing location data. They also allow quick interaction with massive databases allowing an element of interactive analytics.

Mapinfo eventually ended up being acquired by Pitney-Bowes Business Insight, also a company we had interacted with a few times. Now they have announced a partnership with fast data warehouse innovator Netezza, which I have recently started talking to. This makes a lot sense, the article linked to above covers some of their telecom analysis directions:

" ... Using solutions from Pitney Bowes Business Insight along with Netezza data platforms, telecommunications providers can leverage vast data sets on customer behavior information, such as service usage patterns, detailed call records and website use, to analyze and segment customers. This comprehensive data analysis allows providers to target services or new opportunities to the most appropriate customers and prospects. Telecommunications organizations can also use customer data to better manage costs and revenue by mapping network assets and identifying optimal sites for network expansion ... "