RFGIS Software Platform Providers and Vendors Overview
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GIS software platforms are revolutionizing industries with their powerful mapping and spatial analysis capabilities. Leading providers offer robust solutions for urban planning, logistics, and environmental management. These tools help businesses visualize data, optimize operations, and make informed decisions. Learn about the top GIS software vendors and their offerings.
What is GIS?
GIS softwares are categorized into commercial or proprietary, open source software and other GIS softwares.
GIS stands for Geographical Information System.
- It is a business information management system that helps to capture, analyze, and represent spatial information on a map.
- GIS software runs on computers ranging from powerful servers to software on mobile phones.
- GIS tools help to visualize geographic data as maps, graphs, or charts. Hence, patterns and trends can easily be identified, unlike spreadsheets.
- There are three common representations of spatial data used in GIS viz. vector, raster, and triangulated. Each of these are used for particular kinds of information and their analysis.
GIS is used for the following applications:
- Land use planning
- Landscape assessment and planning
- Transportation and infrastructure planning
- Market analysis
- Facilities management
- Real estate analysis
- Used by police to discover patterns in crimes
- Used by retailers to find appropriate places for their proposed stores
- Used by utility companies for power outages
- Used by conservation organizations for prediction of global warming effects
GIS Software Companies & Solution Providers
The following tables 1 to 3 mention a list of software companies with their different types of GIS products or solutions.
Commercial or Proprietary GIS Software
The following table-1 mentions a list of GIS solution providers who have developed commercial or proprietary GIS software.
| Company | Commercial GIS Software | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ESRI | ArcMap, ArcView 3.x, ArcGIS, ArcSDE, ArcIMS, ArcWeb etc. | GIS software products. |
| Autodesk | Mapguide | Product which interfaces with AutoCAD software package. |
| Cadcorp | The company is a developer of GIS software and OpenGIS standard. | |
| Intergraph | GeoMedia, GeoMedia Professional, GeoMedia WebMap. | GIS software products. |
| Leica Geosystems | ERDAS Imagine | A proprietary GIS software. It is also used for remote sensing and photogrammetry. |
| SuperGeo | superGIS desktop and extensions, SuperPad Suite, SuperWebGIS and extensions, SuperGIS Engine and extensions, SuperGIS network server and GIS services. | Products. |
| Clark Labs | IDRISI | A proprietary GIS product. |
| Microsoft | MapPoint | A proprietary GIS product. |
| MapInfo | MapInfo Professional and MapXtreme. | Products include GIS software, data, and services. Integrates GIS software, data, and services |
| Caliper | Maptitude, TransCAD, TransModeler. | Develops GIS and only GIS for transportation. |
| STAR-APIC | European GIS developer, offers GIS products, spatial data servers, GIS based business solutions, etc. | |
| CARIS | GIS systems for hydrography and cadastral systems. | |
| GMS | 3D environment for building geologic and groundwater models. | |
| Oracle | Oracle Spatial | Allows users to perform basic geographic operations and store common spatial data types in a native Oracle environment. |
| Safe Software | FME, spatialDirect, ArcGIS etc. | SPatial ETL products. |
| TatukGIS | GIS development toolkit, internet Map server, GIS editor, Free GIS viewer, Aerial Imagery Corrector. | Products. |
| Axes Systems | Axpand | A proprietary GIS cartography product. It consists of modules for data import/export, automatic generalization, visualization, on-screen editing, pre-print configuration, etc. |
Open Source GIS Software
The following table-2 mentions a list of GIS software companies who have developed open source GIS software.
| Company/Product | Open Source GIS Software | Description |
|---|---|---|
| US Army corps of engineers | GRASS | |
| University of Minnesota | Mapserver | Developed “Mapserver” which is web based mapping server |
| GeoTools | It is an open source GIS toolkit developed using Java which uses open geospatial consortium specifications. | |
| gvSIG | It is also open source GIS developed in Java. | |
| ILWIS | This product integrates image, vector, and thematic data. | |
| MapWindow GIS | It is a free, open source GIS desktop application and programming component. | |
| MetaCarta | OpenLayers | Developed “OpenLayers” which is an open source AJAX library for accessing geographical data layers of all kinds. |
| Quantum GIS (QGIS) | It is a user-friendly open source GIS which runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and windows. | |
| TerraView | This GIS desktop handles vector and raster data stored in a relational and geo-relational database. |
Other GIS Software Companies
The following table-3 mentions a list of other GIS softwares.
| Company/Tool | GIS Softwares |
|---|---|
| DDTI | AccuGlobe |
| A-prime Software | Crossview |
| Telogis | GeoBase |
| INPE | SPRING |
| SavGIS | |
| OpenStreetMap | Online map viewer with map editing capability. |
Conclusion
The table mentions a few examples of GIS software companies. The GIS industry is continually evolving and there are many other regional and specialized players in the market as well. It’s recommended to analyze and evaluate the specific needs before selecting a GIS solution provider.
GIS software platform providers empower businesses with innovative tools for spatial data analysis. By partnering with trusted vendors, organizations can unlock the full potential of GIS technology to drive efficiency and accuracy in decision-making. Choose the right platform for your specific needs.
