ProMap has updated its CD-based system for accessing Ordnance Survey maps. But its competitors are gearing up. By Adam Tinworth
A common misconception is that the internet was a sudden revolution that hit us 18 months ago. Wrong: it is merely the latest step in a transformation of business that started a decade ago when PCs first started to appear on people’s desks.
One of the early examples of PCs being put to good use was ProMap: a CDROM-based system that allows access to Ordnance Survey maps of the whole country from a single PC.
However, the climate has changed rapidly in the past few years. There has been a proliferation of web-based mapping services (see box below), most of which offer quick and easy access to a variety of maps which can be added to particulars, websites and other promotional materials.
In particular, both eMapsite and the Ordnance Survey’s own website now offer OS maps online. So how can ProMap compete in the new climate?
The system’s owner, Prodat Systems, thinks that it has the answer. It has taken the opportunity presented by the Ordnance Survey’s streamlining of its licensing charges to revamp its system. The changes bring the product into direct competition with OS’s own Superplan agents.
The format remains essentially the same: users receive 15 CDs that contain the whole of the UK large-scale OS mapping, search for a particular section of the UK map through a variety of different methods, then select what they need and print it out. The users buy credits with ProMap in advance, much like pay-as-you-go mobile phones, and the cost of each map is deducted from the total each time data is printed.
Pinpointing contamination
The system also includes Landmark’s Envirosearch data, which uses historical OS maps to identify possible contamination across a particular section of land.
ProMap’s features allow users to
select data that can be exported and reimported into any CAD system;
buy small areas of data. The minimum is now one hectare, rather than five;
have unlimited usage of each data purchase for a year;
utilise the new Business Use License, which includes unlimited copies of map plots, and usage of the maps in word processing documents, web pages and e-mail;
To see if these changes actually made a difference, Estates Gazette invited two users to take a hard look at the new system before its launch. Daksha Chikhai, an associate at FPDSavills, is a regular user of the existing system. She took over the laptop and quickly proved herself a faster user of the system than Prodat’s own MD, Anthony Wrigley.
Chikhai liked the way that the map data could be dumped into an image-editing package, or sent in an e-mail. “That’s great. We’ve been relying on scanning in printouts up until now, and the quality isn’t great. This will be really useful for brochures,” she said.
Tony Burdett, head of research and information systems at Chesterton, cast a rather more critical eye over the new-look product. Although Chesterton uses ProMap already, Burdett himself doesn’t operate the software – that is up to his staff.
He approved of the new features, but seemed to see them as a necessity rather than a great boon. “At last it has caught up with the 21st century,” he commented.
Generally, the ability to select and pay for much smaller areas of data was welcomed, as you would expect. The ability to export maps both to specialist mapping packages and into standard computer programs like Microsoft Office was appreciated, too.
Functions not available
But the reviewers did spot two functions missing from the new version. Chikhai was disappointed that there was no easy way of previewing maps you were about to open.
“Is there a way of batch-processing a whole load at once?” asked Burdett. Wrigley explained that there was, but that it required writing special scripts.
Neither of the testers uses websites to any extent to source map data at the moment. Wrigley argues that the system is still well ahead of the maps available online. “None of them offers the same range that we do, nor the same detail of mapping,” he said.
However, he did let slip that a web-based version of the service is in development.
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Map websites to watch www.multimap.com A straightforward site offering a range of maps, mainly for travel and street map purposes. It does offer services to businesses looking to put maps on their websites, though. www.getmapping.com This site specialises in a huge aerial map of the UK, the Millennium Mapping project. High-detail, full-colour digital maps can be bought through the site. www.geoplace.com A central resource for news and information on mapping and geographic information systems. You’ll find everything from product reviews to conference details here. www.emapsite.com A partner of the Ordnance Survey, eMapsite offers a whole range of different styles of map from different suppliers. Different maps of the same location can even be compared side by side on the site. www.mapblast.com Mapblast offers a range of street and other maps, not just in the UK but right across the globe. The detail isn’t great, but it shows streets adequately. |
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The new-look OS The Ordnance Survey isn’t standing still. Three months after it announced the radical overhaul of its pricing structure that facilitated the ProMap relaunch, it has announced a multi-million pound investment in e-business initiatives. The organisation’s director general and chief executive, Vanessa Lawrence, announced the new ventures last month. This autumn, full online access to the Ordnance Survey’s map date will be available using the Digital National Framework, a new way of organising the UK’s map information. Other plans include: ” Free online previews of Ordnance Survey mapping products ” 24/7 online ordering and supply of data ” Online product demonstrations ” Password-protected tailor-made customer websites ” The formation of a strategic industry alliance, linked via an extranet, to pool expertise. “There’s been much speculation that the dot.com bubble has burst, but what we’re talking about here is a fundamental change to the way we do business, particularly with business customers, our commercial partners and other public bodies,” says Lawrence. “E-business will change the way that we work and anyone doubting its impact on our everyday lives, or the opportunities it creates, need only think back five years. How many of us then had mobile telephones or access to the internet? However, the OS is not abandoning the paper map. One possibility it is exploring is the expansion of kiosk technology, which will allow maps and additional information to be customised and printed out to individuals’ needs. Some of the OS mapping is already available online, through the OS’s Get-a-map service. This includes the Landranger series of maps, which has a free facility to select a particular area of mapping to print or copy and paste into another application. |
