Geographic Information Systems

Speed up your processes with the easily accessible online Geographic Information System (GIS)

We are all familiar with TomTom and many of the other websites such as 'Buienradar' which use GIS to make our life easier. Until recently it was very costly for organisations to use GIS for their business processes. There was the need to purchase a costly GIS package and pay sky-high licence fees per computer or per user. The package could only be run on a local computer and if anything needed to be modified it involved a lot of effort. Luckily those days are over.

Revolution in GIS
With the arrival of open source GIS software (such as GeoServer) and different map providers on the web, GIS has become easily available and very accessible for the public at large. For a very modest investment you can now effectively integrate a user friendly GIS web application with your business process(es). This goes a lot further than displaying a simple Google Map on a website. A GIS Web application will not only display data from one or more (external) sources, it can also modify the information and then reprocess it back into the (various) sources, all in real time. Until recently through a lack of performance it was impossible to apply GIS in a web environment, but with the latest techniques this has been successfully managed by Finalist (demo). It would be fair to speak here of a revolution in GIS.







For years Finalist has been investing in GIS knowledge. By combining many years of application experience with knowledge of open source, Finalist has managed to develop user-friendly online GIS applications using open source. For a relatively small investment you can now experience the advantages of GIS for yourself.

A GIS adds power. Finalist delivers online Geographic Information Systems based on customised open source software.

Advantages of a GIS from Finalist:

Online
The GIS can be integrated online with your website or intranet, with or without a hidden page. Then there is also the option to integrate your back office systems with your website or intranet in 'real-time'. Both staff and customers have 24 x 7, real time and location independent access to crucial information that allows them to make the right decisions using a web browser or mobile phone (e.g. through a self-service portal). You can also manage your GIS online which means it is easy and quick to make changes remotely.

Short time to market
Finalist uses the Scrum project methodology to turn around GIS projects within a very short time span. The new possibilities that web-based GIS offers in combination with a short Time to Market will help you to stay ahead of your competitors and successfully conquer new markets.

Integration with existing business processes
Finalist has a lot of experience in integrating applications with your business processes. Linking a GIS to your business processes can present you with a huge number of benefits. Finalist will advise you on how to achieve significant advantages from a GIS and how to deploy a GIS within your existing application environment so you can reap all the benefits.

Open source and open standards
Finalist has a great deal of experience in developing customised applications using open source components and open standards. There are no licence fees attached to the open source components and the use of open standards increases the possibilities for integration with other applications. The advantage of a customised solution based on both open source and open standards is that this type of solution can meet your requirements completely, without the added licence fees.

(Open) geographic maps
A GIS requires a geographic map. There are a number of geographic maps available that either you will have to pay for or that are free of charge if they are based on open source. Finalist has extensive knowledge of open source maps such as OpenStreetMaps, and also of licensed maps such as Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, Bing Maps, Google Earth. Depending on your requirements we can advise what would be the best map for you.


For the Belgische Distributiedienst (Belgian Distribution Services), whose core business is aimed at distributing folders, Finalist prepared the quotation and order request forms based on Google Maps. This allows customers to submit a request for a quote without any intervention from an account manager. The system offers users an extensive number of filter options and gives direct insight into the location and volume to be distributed.


Contact us for more GIS information or if you would like to see the extensive GIS demo.