Microsoft Bings Enterprise Maps
June 15, 2009
Google Earth, the destroyer of traditional enterprise geographic methods, may get binged. If you have not taken a close look at Bing Maps, today’s the day. Navigate to http://www.microsoft.com/maps, and enjoy. The branding is wacky, but the service looks quite interesting. Microsoft said:
Bing Maps for Enterprise is an integrated set of services that provides quality geospatial data, rich imagery, cutting-edge technology, and dependable performance that helps organizations visualize data and provide immersive end-user experiences. Bing Maps for Enterprise, now supported by both the Bing Map Control and the new Bing Maps Web Services, offers new map detail, feature enhancements, and robust platform capabilities.
My thought is that Bing has to do some hurry up. The Google’s stealth enterprise Terminator has been maps. I visited a government agency and learned several years ago that “maps” meant Google. I expect that Bing maps will be available for a very reasonable price, maybe zero in certain accounts. I also think that those nervous about the scope of Google’s ambitions will find Microsoft the lesser of two members of the tech elite.
Microsoft is pushing its notion of immersive imagery. The renaming of basic services may be a brilliant marketing technique or it is more of the obfuscation of what’ a service does. Say immersive imagery and I think about games, not maps.
This is a dust up to watch for three reasons:
- Google and Microsoft may be forced to engage in a price war with “free” being the end game
- Google has a lead, so the marketing baloney will come faster and more enthusiastic
- Customers will find that making a map choice leads to lock in. Instead of openness, both companies’ vision is of a walled garden with a hefty entrance fee.
Excitement ahead. Which map will you choose to check the on ramp? What’s clear to me, the addled goose, is that search now means in part maps, map applications, and rich applications for a range of enterprise applications.
Stephen Arnold, June 15, 2009
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
