ARCHIBUS/FM(R) Announces Integration with Google? Earth and Maps
Boston, Mass.—July 11, 2005—ARCHIBUS Inc. announces support for Google Earth and Maps, adding yet another option for integrating GIS (Geographic Information Systems) with its database of infrastructure and facilities management information. This is in addition to its pre-existing support of other leading GIS offerings such as ESRI® ArcInfo/ArcIMS and Autodesk® Map/MapGuide products. Using ARCHIBUS/FM and GIS together extends benefits to many people in an organization, from casual users who want to drill down onto fixed maps to locate a particular asset on a building footprint, to those strategic users who need to perform real estate portfolio management or large-scale campus space planning.
Linking Infrastructure and Facilities Management Information with Maps
Sophisticated activities, such as real estate portfolio analysis and underground cableway maintenance, are easier when ARCHIBUS/FM infrastructure and facilities management data is integrated with Google's newest offering, Earth. ARCHIBUS/FM can store point locations of assets in the database and reference them against a Google Earth map, helping to locate equipment—such as a buried cable or junction box—that does not appear on satellite images.
Similarly, large-scale campus planning must examine the inventory and adjacencies between buildings, which may not be evident from a map alone. In these cases, Google Earth can be used to query ARCHIBUS/FM data using GIS themes. For instance, with latitude and longitude information embedded within the ARCHIBUS/FM asset tables, users are able to pinpoint locations within the GIS application. Google Earth allows users to place asset markers over its results. ARCHIBUS/FM has also been integrated with GIS results to produce charts using XML and XSL technologies.
Rapid Integration and Deployment Yields Impressive Results
"We are pleased to be the world's first CAFM/TIFM solution to be interfaced to Google Earth/Maps," says Bruce K. Forbes, president and chief executive of ARCHIBUS. "The rapid integration between Google Earth/Maps and ARCHIBUS/FM infrastructure and facilities management data enhances users' TIFM (Total Infrastructure and Facilities Management) ownership experience. As a cost-effective, self-service application, the readily integrated and deployed combination of ARCHIBUS/FM and Google Earth/Maps is impressive. Deployments enable efficient management of strategic assets, which yields greater productivity and profitability for the organizations using such technologies. As mapping subscription services like Google Earth/Maps become more accessible to the casual user, the roles of real estate, infrastructure, and facilities management executives will become more strategic in nature, with a focus on aligning the organization's physical asset spending with key business objectives."
ARCHIBUS/FM and GIS Integration at University of Missouri-Columbia
The University of Missouri-Columbia uses the integrated power of ARCHIBUS/FM and GIS to geographically track all owned physical land assets.
"By integrating GIS campus maps with ARCHIBUS/FM, we can integrate space inventory and floor plans into one geographical environment and maintain the campus master plan," says Scott Shader, director of Space Planning and Management at the University of Missouri. "We can also assign attributes to assets in the field, easily determine the depreciation and replacement cost values of our physical assets, and allow both internal and external users to access mapping information using a self-service model."
About Google Earth and Maps
Google Earth is a satellite imagery-based mapping product that combines 3D buildings and terrain with mapping capability and Google search. Based on Keyhole technology, Google Earth enables users to fly from space to street level views to find geographic information and explore places around the world. Google Maps provides dynamic, interactive maps that are draggable to allow easy viewing of adjacent parts of the map without waiting for graphics to reload. In addition, Maps provides a satellite view, which gives one access to satellite and aerial images of locations on which one can zoom in, zoom out, or pan in any direction. For more information, visit www.google.com.
About ARCHIBUS Inc.
ARCHIBUS is the #1 provider of infrastructure and facilities management solutions in the world. In 2005, expenditures related to ARCHIBUS/FM products and services are expected to exceed $1.5 Billion (US). Organizations using ARCHIBUS/FM are able to reduce their infrastructure and facilities related costs by over 17 percent. With ARCHIBUS/FM, organizations can use a single, comprehensive, integrated solution to make informed strategic decisions that optimize return-on-investment, lower asset life-cycle costs, and increase enterprise-wide productivity and profitability. Today, there are more than three million ARCHIBUS/FM users who collectively manage 1.4 million buildings around the globe. Available in over 130 countries and more than seventeen languages, ARCHIBUS/FM is supported through a global network of over 3,000 corporate real estate, information technology, infrastructure, and facilities management professionals. For more information, call (617) 227-2508, email info@archibus.com, or visit www.archibus.com.
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