Pitney Bowes is expanding its long-standing collaboration with GfK: GfK’s geodata consisting of worldwide digital maps of administrative and postal boundaries is directly integrated into Pitney Bowes’ solution “Spectrum Spatial for BI”.
Thanks to the integration of GfK geodata into Pitney Bowes’ solution “Spectrum Spatial for BI”, users have access to a wide range of location-intelligence applications within the context of their own BI systems. The integration of GfK’s digital maps into “Spectrum Spatial for BI” makes it possible to carry out comprehensive evaluations and data enrichment as well as visualizations of geographic relationships in company, market and risk-related data. “Spectrum Spatial for BI” offers an interactive geographic zoom feature for all integrated data. GfK’s map experts configured high-performance, scale-dependent versions of GfK’s vector-based map data for Pitney Bowes’ “Spectrum Spatial for BI”.
Spatial analytics are ever more important in today’s BI systems. In this era of Big Data, users from various branches are able to uncover trends and relationships in data by visualizing and analyzing this information geographically. For example, “Spectrum Spatial for BI” is used by companies in the reinsurance industry to carry out regional risk analyses. Also, retailers increasingly rely on spatial analytics to make more informed expansion decisions and boost the return on investment of marketing endeavors.
“GfK’s global coverage of postal and administrative levels is very valuable to us and our customers,” explains Andy Bell, Director of Global Data Product Management at Pitney Bowes Software. “This level of worldwide coverage allows our customers to seamlessly expand their analyses and planning endeavors via ‘Spectrum Spatial for BI’. GfK geodata is consistently structured and offers gapless information on geographic and administrative boundaries as well as regional market characteristics. GfK has been a reliable partner of Pitney Bowes for many years, and GfK’s digital maps and regional market data meet our demanding requirements for quality and international coverage.”
Friedlind Dürr, Head of Partner Development at GfK GeoMarketing, is equally enthusiastic about the collaboration: “We’re delighted that thanks to this expanded cooperation, users of ‘Spectrum Spatial for BI’ can benefit from worldwide, precise geoanalyses. What makes our digital maps unique is the highly detailed and gapless coverage they offer of postal and administrative levels. Up-to-date and detailed information on postal boundaries comprises the foundation for all regional analyses of company data, because every address contains a postcode. This makes it possible to precisely locate and visualize data such as turnover and market potential directly in BI systems.”
Users of “Spectrum Spatial for BI” can employ search criteria to filter data associated with the integrated postcode regions, leading to insights into regional trends and developments. For example, users can identify all customers within a certain radius who generate a specified turnover volume. Users can also analyze the turnover share contributed by a specific branch office and its catchment area. It’s also possible to determine the total number of customers within all sales territories and then compare this number to the untapped potential within a given territory.
Quality features
GfK offers geodata such as digital maps in a consistently high quality for countries across the globe. GfK is also the official supplier of the CRESTA zone maps for the reinsurance industry. The maps feature highly detailed coastal regions and city center areas in order to meet this industry’s need for precise risk analyses and modeling.
The maps also provide gapless, comprehensive coverage as well as a seamless fit between all regional levels. In addition to maps of postal and administrative levels, GfK’s country editions also include topographic de-tails such as streets, bodies of water and city points categorized by number of inhabitants. All maps are vector-based and consequently feature infinite zoom and flexible viewing options.
Additional information on GfK’s digital maps can be found at www.gfk.com/maps.