PBBI Launches MapInfo Spatial Server #insightscon

At the PBBI Insights Conference, the company launched a new product for enterprise location and business intelligence applications. A combination of technology from both MapInfo and Group 1, MapInfo Spatial Server is an platform with a broad set of capabilities including mapping, routing, and address cleansing that utilizes a standards-based, web services approach.

The objective of this product according to Tom Myers, the product manager, is to solidify PBBI's position in the enterprise LI/GIS space.

In addition, the product will support the larger Pitney Bowes (PB) client relationships in Customer Communications Management (CCM).  From a technological perspective, the product is an upgrade path for Envinsa, Routing J Server and MapXtreme Java.

The core components of Spatial Server originate from PB's Spectrum solution, a data quality platform for enterprise data management. The functionality of Spatial Server will include modules such as:

• Spatial analysis and interactive
• Geocoding
• Geometry
• Routing/drive time
• Spatial query
• Scheduler
• Flow logic
• Supporting Web services specifications as:
  • WSDL
  • WFS/WMS
  • CSW
• Support for REST API

One of the key features will be a visual flow designer, similar to other model builders, that capture a sequence of commands, business processes or workflows and place them as a single, callable routine that are concatenated with other routines to solve a particular spatial query, for example.

Purchasing the product will be somewhat flexible. Users may choose a module, such as geocoding or spatial query, that helps them in a particular business process. It's up to the customer to pick and choose even a single module if that's what they are looking for.

The product roadmap and delivery schedule is as follows:

• Version 1.1 (today) - Delivery of MapInfo Developer (former) to market via PBBI Professional Services
• Version 1.2 (July '11) - delivery via Spectrum technology framework
• Version 1.3 (end of 2011): Convergence with MapInfo Manager, Data publish utility, OGC services, WFS and Feature editing.

[Disclosure: Travel for this trip was supported by PBBI]