On the Map: Location Technology Goes Mainstream
Business information analysis is at a crossroads. Saddled with an overabundance of data, corporations struggle to distill terabytes of information so that C-level executives and business process managers can make credible and effective decisions. Much of these data are associated with a location. Customer information files often contain a name and address; packages need to be delivered to a distribution center; and with the onslaught of RFID tags, pallets and products will be tracked from warehouse to doorstep. Yet, how will this information be retrieved, who will retrieve it and how will it be factored into decisions affecting distribution, logistics, site selection, marketing, human resources and even finance?
Over the past decade, geographic information system (GIS) technology has been successfully used in government applications and in private industry for certain business processes such as target marketing and real estate site selection by retailers, banks and insurance companies. Now, these businesses have begun to understand that within their corporate databases exist vast resources of location intelligence that can be leveraged throughout the enterprise. The data captured as customer addresses or ZIP codes at the point of sale, for example, conveys information not only about the type of purchase but triggers events necessary to inventory managers for logistics and transportation, as well as significant data to marketing and sales executives. In nearly every one of these business processes, there is a ripple effect that is inherently affected by location-based information and serves to enforce the fact that location can be an effective strategic weapon. From supply chain to customer relationship management systems, managers are asking not only how and why, but also where.
This is not lost on the big three database technology providers. Microsoft, IBM and Oracle all offer software solutions for processing location-based information. Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, speaking at an Oracle Apps World conference a few years ago, noted that, Databases will become larger and more inclusive. This rather self-serving remark underscores a reality about data throughout both the supply and the demand chain: everything, whether a completed good, a fixed asset, a customer or a mobile workforce, has a location somewhere, at some time. As more data pours into data warehouses, the technology infrastructure needs to be able to process both a static location, such as a customer address, and real-time dynamic information such as weather, traffic and the position of a distribution fleet.
As such, strategic partnerships between companies that know how to digest geospatial data and those that know how to analyze other enterprise information are being formed. Software solution providers of geographic information systems and business intelligence (BI) companies are now delivering integrated solutions. BI solutions have typically focused on analyzing sales trends, the supply chain and other business processes management needs. However, the geographic component of data that feeds BI solutions can no longer be ignored. This is why companies like Information Builders, Business Objects and SAP are fully engaged with integrating GIS applications from ESRI, MapInfo and others. Microstrategy and MapInfo for example, are teaming to provide Cox Communications with a solution to assist field operations.
Geographic Information Systems
The analysis and processing of digital location-based information has typically been the province of GIS. GIS is now the backbone of applications from telecommunication infrastructure management and retail network optimization to forestry inventory analysis. Although the information from these software solutions has been used by senior executives to gain substantial competitive advantages, they now find that other areas of the organization not only benefit from the same information, but that it should be integrated with existing enterprise systems.
In the late 1990s, the Internet became an efficient delivery mechanism for allowing a glimpse into corporate repositories of locationbased data. Maps became ubiquitous visualization tools. Mapping portals like MapQuest and Microsofts MapPoint have educated the broader community of online users to the potential of using maps, and more business users have begun to think about the potential of using maps in business analysis. Now with Web services that link data to desktop and Web-mapping products, the availability of online geospatial data is reaching a broader audience. For an example of this, see the U.S. Geological Surveys Geospatial One-Stop at www.geodata.gov. In addition, GIS vendors are supporting industry- standard Web services protocols like XML and architectural platforms such as SOAP, Java and .Net.
Spatial Databases
Up until the mid-90s, relational databases had not been able to store points, lines and areas, otherwise known as spatial primitives. Binary long object storage was an acceptable method. Oracle was one of the first companies to heavily promote its ability to store these data types natively. After repeated name changes, Oracle Spatial is now the dominant and preferred database tool for storing and analyzing geospatial data.
Oracles strategy is to facilitate a location-enabled information technology infrastructure for every kind of spatial data type and enterprise application. Oracle realizes there are many potential business applications that can be location-enabled, such as CRM, field service management and salesforce automation. Oracle is also increasingly aware of a growing sensor network that creates data that has a spatial component. Land remote sensing satellites, global positioning satellite (GPS)-equipped cell phones and RFID tags are just a few of the possible sensor platforms that will capture and broadcast a geospatial coordinate.
IBM's DB2 Universal Database has three modules that support spatial data: DB2 Spatial Extender, Spatial DataBlade Module (based on IBM Informix Dynamic Server) and Geodetic DataBlade Module. These products work in Linux, Solaris or HP-UK operating environments as well as IBMs AIX and Microsoft Windows. Spatial Extender conforms to the Open Geospatial Consortiums (see www.opengeospatial. org) simple feature specifications for SQL and the ISO SQL/MM spatial standard.
Microsoft has been slower to respond to the demand for geospatial database support. The most recent release of Microsoft SQL Server supports geospatial data only through user-defined data types. The company focused its geospatial efforts on mobile location-based services (LBS) and its MapPoint desktop product. MapPoint 2004 has an open application programming interface that many of its development partners have used to successfully craft unique solutions for visualizing data. Just recently, Microsoft responded to user demands to alter their end-user license agreement and release the MapPoint Fleet Edition so that its partners could develop applications for fleet management. The issue was related to the capturing and visualization of real-time data from location determination devices such as GPS receivers.
Wireless Location-Based Services
The hype surrounding wireless location-based services helped to ignite interest in broadcasting information with a geographical component to mobile handsets. LBS had been touted as the killer app that would increase revenue for wireless carriers. More minutes on the phone meant more revenue. But this did not happen as expected. Carriers didnt know how to price it, and phones were not equipped with GPS chipsets to capture and send positional information.
During the years of angst when start-ups and big companies alike invested and burned through millions of dollars of product betas and marketing smoke, the level of acceptance necessary to bring location-based service via cellular carriers to market was simply not there. The telecommunications industry was skidding, the Internet bubble burst and, although the cellular business was booming, the business case for LBS was lacking. Carriers were simply building subscriber minutes through differing and fierce pricing competition. Why confuse the market with something where the true value had yet to be understood?
Like many new technologies, we will also look back and say that there was no magic moment that put LBS on the launching pad. The path to acceptance has been gradual. Many emerging technologies go through at least a 10-year period of adoption and acceptance before the broader mass market helps to create the hockey stick growth curve. At this point, a number of market forces have coalesced to bring about a new wave of acceptance for LBS applications.
One, carriers have squeezed all the minutes they can from consumers on the basic product. LBS is now a hot ticket to drive incremental revenue and offer a competitive advantage.
Two, helped by the FCC mandate to provide enhanced 911 service for cell phones, the basic infrastructure to capture a fixed location is in place or now readily deployable.
Three, familiarity breeds comfort. Maps are ubiquitous on the Net; maps are becoming standard features in cars. The next logical step is personal mobility services that are location-enabled.
Four, much more content is available digitally. From reliable street data to points of interest to real-time, dynamic data like traffic, more and better data is easy to get.
And five, handsets from PDAs to cell phones have form factors that allow these data products to be displayed on small screens that have crisp resolutions where data can be crammed but remain readable.
Enterprise Applications
One of the more promising applications of geospatial data in the supply chain is in the area of mobile workforce and fleet management. These applications show great promise both for bottom- and top-line revenue gains. In fleet and field service management managers can effectively reduce variable costs. The more drivers and vehicles on the road, the higher the expenses. A 2002 report from the Logistics Institute at Georgia Institute of Technology stated that in a transportation logistics survey, about 65 percent of the companies managing truck fleets indicated that with better planning they could save their organization 6 to 30 percent.
If a company can optimize a delivery schedule to increase the number of service stops for a field service technician or remove a delivery truck altogether from the schedule, its possible to realize immediate costs savings. Route optimization is dependent on knowing efficient pathways that account for geographic impedances. Scheduling depends on time factors that must be calculated based on the length of time required for field service technicians to get from appointment to appointment. At the point where finished products now enter the pipeline for delivery as well as post-delivery support, variable costs can eat into profits. Therefore, location technology becomes a necessity for transportation managers in an inherently geographically based industry.
Sensor Networks
There is much speculation in the technology media today about how RFID will affect the efficiencies of the supply chain. From raw materials to finished goods, RFID is touted as a universal remedy appropriate for imbedding into everything as Wal-Mart has thus dictated. But the return on investment is sketchy at best because the infrastructure has yet to be built that will monitor, track and analyze the data from RFID-enabled warehouses, pallets, containers, etc. However, RFID tags and readers will become part of the sensor network that managers will want to monitor, thus adding to the data deluge. Every RFID reader will have a location and every RFID-tagged object will create the need for real-time spatial visualization.
But RFID is just one of many sensors where location-based information is essential. Biosensor networks are springing up around federal offices to monitor for harmful chemical agents. Plume models are being developed to ascertain the geographical coverage in case of a dirty bomb explosion or if biological pathogens are released. Emergency evacuation plans depend on understanding the distribution rate and spatial extent in case of emergency so that first responders have the proper information at hand and evacuation routes can be opened.
Earth observation satellites reveal large areas of coverage with increasingly better spatial resolution. Objects that are only 3 feet in diameter can be detected from space-borne platforms and that resolution will improve. Real estate applications in site selection benefit from the ability to see more detail over a larger area. Telecommunication companies can do a better job of inventorying assets as well as analyzing corridors for growth.
Location technology now affects many business processes. Information technology standards allow specialized location applications to integrate with mainstream enterprise computing. The popularity of mapping portals and in-vehicle navigation systems are teasing the minds of executives about the possibilities of how maps can be used to visualize business phenomena. The competitive advantages rest with CEOs who can see beyond spreadsheets to understand the geography of business.
