Comparing Idox Geospatial to other geospatial data providers

There are plenty of ways to obtain geospatial data in the UK. Ordnance Survey and other publishers provide data directly, specialist resellers offer access to commercial datasets, and GIS vendors provide platforms through which organisations can consume and analyse them.

So what should a utility compare when choosing a geospatial data provider?

Price and dataset availability matter, though for organisations managing networks, assets and customers at scale, the more revealing differences are often found in how the data is supplied, maintained and integrated.

Data range

Start with coverage. For example, utility projects can require Ordnance Survey mapping alongside address, property, terrain, environmental, planning, aerial imagery and risk data. A provider with access to several data publishers can make it easier to assemble those sources without managing numerous separate suppliers and licensing arrangements.

Idox Geospatial offers a broad portfolio of authoritative and specialist location data, including OS mapping and OS NGD, addresses, terrain and 3D information, property and land intelligence, planning data and environmental datasets.

The important question when comparing providers isn’t simply how many datasets appear in a catalogue. It’s whether the provider can supply the combination your workflows actually require.

Delivery and integration

This is where differences between providers can become more significant. Downloading GIS files may be perfectly adequate for a one-off project. Enterprise utilities, however, frequently need information supplied repeatedly or integrated into operational systems.

Look at whether a provider can offer:

• Standard GIS and CAD formats

• APIs and web services

• Data suitable for existing enterprise GIS environments

• Managed databases or services

• Automated updates

• Support for combining different datasets.

Idox Geospatial supports conventional data supply alongside hosted and managed delivery, including APIs and web services. Its services can therefore sit between the original data publisher and the utility’s own systems, reducing some of the processing and maintenance that would otherwise fall to an internal GIS team.

Utility-sector experience

A technically capable data provider still needs to understand what its customers are trying to achieve.

For utilities, that might mean using location intelligence to plan network expansion, identify assets exposed to risk, monitor new development, understand land ownership or connect properties and customers reliably to network information.

Our customer base includes organisations such as Severn Trent, and we’ve also worked with CityFibre, Scottish Power Renewables and Wales & West Utilities. That experience matters when a requirement moves beyond ordering a standard mapping product and starts involving data architecture, licensing, integration or workflow design.

Support for changing data requirements

The UK geospatial landscape is changing too. Ordnance Survey’s National Geographic Database gives organisations more flexible access to individual features and attributes, although taking advantage of it can require changes to established GIS processes. So another useful comparison between providers is how much help they offer after access to the data has been secured.

We provides OS NGD alongside migration support and managed services. Our NGD proposition specifically addresses utility applications including network planning, asset management, disruption and risk, climate adaptation and management of land estates.

Which type of provider is right for UK utilities?

For a straightforward requirement, the simplest or lowest-cost route to a particular dataset may be all that’s needed – we believe that being direct about this is helpful. But the calculation changes when several datasets, users and systems are involved. At that point, compare providers on their ability to help you select, integrate, update and distribute location data as well as supply it.

This is where the Idox Geospatial proposition is strongest. We offer software AND specialist geospatial expertise.

Idox Geospatial can help identify the data, delivery method and level of management needed to fit an existing GIS and operational environment - and demonstrate whether that combination offers greater value than sourcing and maintaining each element separately.

How we can help

If you can't find exactly what you need, we can help you choose the right mapping data solution for your project via email, chat or over the phone.

For more information, reach out to our Customer Support team.

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