In The Business World, Location Intelligence Is More Than A Map! Guest Series, Part Two

By Wayne Eckerson, director of research and founder of the BI Leadership Forum

For most business intelligence (BI) professionals, maps are becoming an increasingly common way to view data in a dashboard or report. However, most BI professionals have yet to be exposed to the full power of location analytics, and that’s a shame. But I’m hoping to change that.

Location analytics is the newest moniker for something that used to be called spatial analytics, geographic information systems (GIS), or mapping software. Without requiring GIS expertise, location analytics creates maps that enable users to view the relationship of objects in space and perform a variety of spatial calculations, such as, “What percentage of high income customers are located within a 15 minute drive of this store?”, or “How will my supply chain be affected by the hurricane slated to hit the Florida and the gulf coast, and where will that impact store inventory levels?” The understanding achieved through this analysis is location intelligence.

You can catch up with Part One of this series here.