Building Enterprise-Level Mapping Solutions for Business

Enterprise-level mapping solutions for businesses are often considered slow, difficult to use, and hard to understand. This is exactly the opposite of what a modern enterprise actually needs. A modern enterprise needs a solution that’s fast and flexible, and that provides value for both business and customers.

At the heart of any enterprise, you will find real people who want to be able to work and get things done. These same people need a mapping solution that can empower their customers – both local and worldwide – to ensure that the entire enterprise is successful. Any solution today has to start with a focus on people.

There are a lot of considerations when building an enterprise-level mapping solution. We are going to look at how to provide business users with the things they need to create an enterprise solution that provides the needed functionality.

Understanding Enterprise Needs

Many applications and sites today use some form of mapping software. Retail, financial, food delivery, logistics, and more use mapping software both to improve customer engagement and to visualize data to find new opportunities. Virtually any business sector can benefit from visualizing data using mapping software.

Enterprise software developers have the daunting task of crafting software that both looks and feels like a familiar, user-friendly consumer application. The obvious goal is to increase productivity, but also to reduce training time and costs. Depending on your needs, you may choose to build in-house or use custom software development services. There are several factors to consider including, costs, maintenance, updating, customization, and time.

If your enterprise is generating data that contains geolocation information, you may want to invest in an existing mapping software; mapping software that can transform geolocation data into visual maps that are easy to use and easy to understand. Seeing your data visualized can lead to innovation and reveal hidden opportunities.

Why are mapping solutions complicated?

To be fair, there’s always some level of complexity when building an enterprise-level mapping solution. There are potentially thousands of users across an entire organization with multiple departments in different locations. In addition to considering what you need for any logistics or routing teams, there also have to be security considerations and compliance guidelines.

Start simply by determining the project scope. The goal is to avoid any obstacles and minimize potential risks that could arise. Take the time to consider the project objectives, goals, resources, budget, and timeline.

Once you have an outline of the project, you’ll need to decide whether your mapping solution will be built in-house, by a third-party developer, or some combination of the two. In any case using a commercial map API is essential for doing the heavy lifting of creating visual maps. Using a map API allows standardized development, reduced costs, simpler code routines, faster development cycles, and built-in data features and analytics.

A well-constructed map API (Application Programming Interface) will provide location intelligence for enhancing location-based products and services. Developers will benefit from features including geocoding, geolocation, directions, navigation, and customizable control objects.

Getting started

Now that we have a general overview of the process, it’s time to select an API. Before starting, be sure to read and understand any and all licensing requirements. Many APIs offer a free basic key for small projects and testing purposes. Large enterprise organizations will require a commercial license, often priced according to billable transactions.

Depending on your needs, there are several APIs to choose from. Consider an API that provides all the services that you need today, but will also allow for future growth. Look for mapping APIs that support multiple platforms and programming languages, making it easier to integrate into your tech stack. Another important thing to look for is excellent documentation to help developers create apps quickly and easily. As an example of things to look for, some of the features of the Bing Maps API are listed below:

• Isochrone API – This particular API allows map developers to create apps to optimize travel times by calculating the area traveled over a given amount of time.
• Bing Maps V8 Web Control – Bing Maps V8 Web Control provides features such as Autosuggest using real-time data. This package can be easily integrated into a web app.
• Geocoding – Geocoding is used to create location-aware apps. Developers can turn addresses and locations into geographic data.
• Spatial Data Services – This interface allows developers to combine Bing Maps APIs for scale and data source management. Other features include data visualization and AI training.

Once you determine the services your organization needs, you can start building. To understand how to incorporate these services, visit Github to view code samples.

There are many more APIs to choose from and support for many different programming languages. The best way to get started is to visit Github and start exploring code samples for any API you’re interested in pursuing for your enterprise mapping solution.

Recap

The task of building an enterprise–level mapping solution can seem complicated, but with the right partner and the right tools you can create a mapping solution that meets the needs of your organization – with the ability to visualize data can help us uncover hidden opportunities.

In summary:

• Understanding the project scope before you even start can identify obstacles and risks before development begins.
• Define your project goals and objectives to assist with selecting a capable and developer-friendly API.
• Use a map API that allows for standardized development, reduced costs, and simpler code that is easier to maintain, allowing faster development cycles, and built-in data features with analytics. Consider features such as cross-platform support, geocoding, geolocation, directions, navigation, and customizable control objects.