MapInfo
Encyclopedia
MapInfo Corporation, initially incorporated as Navigational Technologies Incorporated, was a leading Location Intelligence and GIS
company, headquartered in North Greenbush, New York
. It was acquired on April 19, 2007 by Pitney Bowes
, and on January 28, 2009, the name of division of Pitney Bowes it had become was changed to Pitney Bowes Business Insight. MapInfo grew quickly, appearing at number 23 in Inc. Magazine's
annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. in 1992, and holding an initial public offering
(IPO) in 1994. Its products included a desk-top mapping application, various map and demographic data products, and some web-based applications. It acquired several other companies in order to market their software, data, or services directly.
. They got a contract to develop bus routes for a local school district, and used the money to develop their first product. They contacted Mike Marvin early in the company's history for advice on how to form the company. Marvin helped to set up the business and used his community contacts to raise seed capital. The company originated as a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(RPI) incubator project. The first intended product was for in-car navigation, but this was abandoned when inertial navigation proved impractical.
Early competition for MapInfo software came from Strategic Mapping, which had been founded by Steve Poizner
around the same time. Later, Strategic Mapping was sold to Claritas Worldwide
in May 1996. Its other competitor was ESRI
, which primarily sold expensive GIS software for engineering workstations for more than 10x the price.
MapInfo appeared at number 23 in Inc. Magazine's
Inc. 500 in 1992.
MapInfo held an initial public offering
(IPO) on February 1, 1994. In the years prior to the IPO, Marvin served as Chairman of the Board, hiring the CEO and making sure he was comfortable with how the company was being managed. Marvin insisted that the company be run on a cash flow break-even basis, but did raise a rainy-day fund of $2m from Greylock Partners in 1989.
MapInfo hired Brian D. Owen to be the CEO in 1991, who brought in Matthew Szulik as VP of Sales and Doug Finlay as CFO. Robertson Stephens was the lead investment bank that managed the IPO.
On April 19, 2007 Pitney Bowes
entered into a merger agreement to acquire MapInfo Corporation for approximately $408 million in cash. Following the acquisition, MapInfo has changed its name to Pitney Bowes MapInfo Corporation.
On December 18, 2007 Pitney Bowes
also acquired Encom Technology whose products include Encom Discover and Encom Engage which are the major plugins for MapInfo Professional
.
As of January 28, 2009, MapInfo and Group 1 Software were operating as one division called Pitney Bowes Business Insight.
MapInfo provided the first tools to Microsoft
that allowed them to include mapping functionality in their products, specifically the mapping add-on branded as Microsoft Map for Microsoft Excel
as part of MS Office 95
. The add-on was subsequently included in Microsoft Office 97
, and Microsoft Office 2000
. This provided the inspiration for the Microsoft MapPoint
program, which became a separate product from Microsoft, and since then Microsoft Map was dropped.
MapInfo developed a spatial datablade for Informix and collaborated with Oracle Corporation
to develop the original spatial cartridge for the Oracle
8i database.
In 2000, MapInfo partnered with Lucent to "develop location-based services for mobile communications devices."
Geographic Information System
A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
company, headquartered in North Greenbush, New York
North Greenbush, New York
North Greenbush is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. North Greenbush is located in the western part of the county. The population was 10,805 at the 2000 census....
. It was acquired on April 19, 2007 by Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes Inc. is a Stamford, Connecticut-based manufacturer of software and hardware and a provider of services related to documents, packaging, mailing, and shipping, collectively referred to as mailstream. The company has approximately 36,000 employees worldwide. It is one of 87 existing...
, and on January 28, 2009, the name of division of Pitney Bowes it had become was changed to Pitney Bowes Business Insight. MapInfo grew quickly, appearing at number 23 in Inc. Magazine's
Inc. (magazine)
Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...
annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. in 1992, and holding an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
(IPO) in 1994. Its products included a desk-top mapping application, various map and demographic data products, and some web-based applications. It acquired several other companies in order to market their software, data, or services directly.
Company history
MapInfo was founded in 1986 by Laszlo Bardos, Andrew Dressel, John Haller, and Sean O’Sullivan. The four were students at nearby Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who wanted to develop an inexpensive mapping tool for the PCIBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
. They got a contract to develop bus routes for a local school district, and used the money to develop their first product. They contacted Mike Marvin early in the company's history for advice on how to form the company. Marvin helped to set up the business and used his community contacts to raise seed capital. The company originated as a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
(RPI) incubator project. The first intended product was for in-car navigation, but this was abandoned when inertial navigation proved impractical.
Early competition for MapInfo software came from Strategic Mapping, which had been founded by Steve Poizner
Steve Poizner
Stephen Leo "Steve" Poizner is an American businessman/entrepreneur and conservative Republican politician, who was elected State Insurance Commissioner of California in November 2006, and concluded the 4 year term in January 2011...
around the same time. Later, Strategic Mapping was sold to Claritas Worldwide
Claritas Prizm
Nielsen PRIZM is a set of geo-demographic segments for the United States, developed by Claritas Inc., which was then acquired by The Nielsen Company. It was a widely used customer segmentation system for marketing in the United States in the 1990s and continues to be used today.The segments were...
in May 1996. Its other competitor was ESRI
ESRI
Esri is a software development and services company providing Geographic Information System software and geodatabase management applications. The headquarters of Esri is in Redlands, California....
, which primarily sold expensive GIS software for engineering workstations for more than 10x the price.
MapInfo appeared at number 23 in Inc. Magazine's
Inc. (magazine)
Inc. magazine, founded in 1979 and based in New York City, is a monthly publication focused on growing companies. The magazine publishes an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., the "Inc...
Inc. 500 in 1992.
MapInfo held an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
(IPO) on February 1, 1994. In the years prior to the IPO, Marvin served as Chairman of the Board, hiring the CEO and making sure he was comfortable with how the company was being managed. Marvin insisted that the company be run on a cash flow break-even basis, but did raise a rainy-day fund of $2m from Greylock Partners in 1989.
MapInfo hired Brian D. Owen to be the CEO in 1991, who brought in Matthew Szulik as VP of Sales and Doug Finlay as CFO. Robertson Stephens was the lead investment bank that managed the IPO.
On April 19, 2007 Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes Inc. is a Stamford, Connecticut-based manufacturer of software and hardware and a provider of services related to documents, packaging, mailing, and shipping, collectively referred to as mailstream. The company has approximately 36,000 employees worldwide. It is one of 87 existing...
entered into a merger agreement to acquire MapInfo Corporation for approximately $408 million in cash. Following the acquisition, MapInfo has changed its name to Pitney Bowes MapInfo Corporation.
On December 18, 2007 Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes Inc. is a Stamford, Connecticut-based manufacturer of software and hardware and a provider of services related to documents, packaging, mailing, and shipping, collectively referred to as mailstream. The company has approximately 36,000 employees worldwide. It is one of 87 existing...
also acquired Encom Technology whose products include Encom Discover and Encom Engage which are the major plugins for MapInfo Professional
MapInfo Professional
MapInfo Professional is a mapping software product produced by MapInfo Corporation.MapInfo Professional has the ability to combine and display, on a single map, data from a variety of sources that are in different formats and projections...
.
As of January 28, 2009, MapInfo and Group 1 Software were operating as one division called Pitney Bowes Business Insight.
Product history
MapInfo developed the first desktop GIS in 1986 . Originally, the intention was to create an easy-to-use software package that did not require exceedingly large amounts of computing power.MapInfo provided the first tools to Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
that allowed them to include mapping functionality in their products, specifically the mapping add-on branded as Microsoft Map for Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
as part of MS Office 95
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
. The add-on was subsequently included in Microsoft Office 97
Microsoft Office 97
Microsoft Office 97 was a major milestone release of Microsoft Office, which included hundreds of new features and improvements, introduced "Command Bars", a paradigm in which menus and toolbars were made more similar in capability and visual design featured natural language systems and...
, and Microsoft Office 2000
Microsoft Office 2000
Microsoft Office 2000 is a release of Microsoft Office that succeeded Microsoft Office 97 and was designed as a fully 32-bit and Y2K compliant version to match Windows 2000 features. All the Office 2000 applications have OLE 2 capacity, which allows moving data automatically between various...
. This provided the inspiration for the Microsoft MapPoint
Microsoft MapPoint
Microsoft MapPoint is both a technology and a specific software program created by Microsoft that allows users to view, edit and integrate maps. The software and technology are designed to facilitate the geographical visualization and analysis of either included data or custom data...
program, which became a separate product from Microsoft, and since then Microsoft Map was dropped.
MapInfo developed a spatial datablade for Informix and collaborated with Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
to develop the original spatial cartridge for the Oracle
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
8i database.
In 2000, MapInfo partnered with Lucent to "develop location-based services for mobile communications devices."
Acquisition history
- 2007: Encom Technology, a supplier of specialist software, data and services to the global mineral exploration and petroleum industries.
- 2007: Graphical Data Capture, a developer of applications and offerer of consulting services primarily to local and regional UK govt authorities, in addition to utilities, financial services and insurance cos.
- 2005: MarkeTech Systems, Inc., a Raleigh, North Carolina-based provider of software, data and services for use by retail banks to enhance branch network sales and profitability.
- 2005: GeoBusiness Solutions Limited (location-based analytical and modeling services and software in the UK)
- 2004: Southbank Systems, a supplier of Asset Management systems and services to local government, civil engineering companies and utilities, primarily within the UK but also within New Zealand, Australia and the Asia pacific markets
- 2003: Thompson Associates, one of the top providers of retail site selection consulting.
- 2000: Compusearch Inc., the leading provider of micro-marketing segmentation and market analysis solutions in Canada.
- 1998: On Target Mapping, telecommunications mapping provider in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 1997: The Data Consultancy (formerly The Unit for Retail Planning Information (URPI)), a MapInfo partner with products and expertise in market analysis solutions and data products in the UK.