by Christine Easterfield
@Cambashi_Chris
LinkedIn
At their recent Software Technology Analyst Summit, Pitney Bowes outlined an admirably clear strategy for supporting their corporate goal to “power transactions that drive commerce”. A strong message focused on three basic tenets: Identity, Location and Communication – and all of these supported by Data.
For me it was gratifying to see that Location was front and centre of this message. It is ten years since Pitney Bowes acquired the MapInfo product line and in that time it appears to have risen and fallen in favour, but is now firmly positioned to provide location intelligence alongside their customer information management and engagement solutions.
Beyond MapInfo
Of course, Pitney Bowes has extended its location intelligence capabilities beyond MapInfo – while MapInfo is squarely positioned as the desktop mapping solution, it is complemented by the web mapping services of Spectrum Spatial Analyst and the enhanced analytics of Spectrum Spatial for Business Intelligence. And all are supplemented by geo-enriched data sets: both geocoding capabilities that support greater insight into your own data and demographic data that adds broader context.
A recent addition to the Pitney Bowes geospatial offer is the range of APIs made available through development platforms such as IBM’s Bluemix, GE’s Predix and others. Through these APIs – for example tools that return a street address given a lat-long coordinate, or calculate travel directions on input of two street addresses, and a host of others – application developers can benefit from geospatial services without needing to be geospatial specialists.
Positioned for growth
But specialists or not, businesses can focus on their business issues and leave the data and analytics in the hands of experienced developers thanks to the growing network of Pitney Bowes software partners. It is reassuring to see an organisation that embraces their partner network and works with partners to support client success. At the Analyst Summit we heard from RCG Global Services, Korem and Ironside Group about their successes and the support Pitney Bowes provides.
The combination of a strong, clear strategy and a genuine desire to work alongside their partners means the Pitney Bowes software business is well positioned for growth.
Let us know whether you agree in the comments section below.