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visualization, with varying levels of detailand sophistication. However, piratetreasure maps, with their crude sophisticationand simple objective, are exactlywhat businesses need to provide contextto an increasingly complicated businessenvironment. Where’s the gold? Howdo we find it? In the days of high seaspiracy, a big “X” on a map meant gold.In today’s modern economy, the questfor new fortunes may take several formsas companies and financiers implementvarious performance scorecards.Nonetheless, if “X marked the spot”for the location of guaranteed revenue,customers, or other ROI, all organizationsand individuals would be in the mappingbusiness—or at least would be loyalmapping customers.Two key trends are changing theperceived value and cost of location data.First, companies like Netflix, Amazon,Ebay, Harrah’s Casino, and Disney recognizethat data are now part of a basicbusiness infrastructure that needs to bethought of as core and centric to doingbusiness. They claim data are the tablestakes of doing business today. If 80% ofdata is location-oriented, then are locationdata also now “table stakes”? Is it justanother part of the tool set that is neededto play the game? If they’re table stakes—no different than, for example, accountingsoftware or a point of sale system—thenthey’re no longer a discretionary expensethat merits the same ROI analysis.Second, the perception of the “cost”of spatial imagery and location data ischanging, but not because it appears“free” on the Internet. (What’s availablefor free on the Internet are map viewers,imagery and geocoding services. TheseIF LOCATION DATA ARE TABLESTAKES—NO DIFFERENT THAN,FOR EXAMPLE, ACCOUNTINGSOFTWARE OR A POINT OF SALESYSTEM—THEN THEY’RE NO LONGERA DISCRETIONARY EXPENSE THATMERITS THE SAME ROI ANALYSIS.consumer tools are not designed tohandle, in a secure fashion, large volumesof enterprise data, and they most certainlydo not address the costly issue of dataacquisition, maintenance and integration.In addition, the timeliness, source, andaccuracy of the data are not always clear.)Instead, the value and cost of locationdata are changing because the data canbe monetized.Data are generally monetized whencompanies derive revenue streams fromsale of the data. The sale of customerlists has been a longstanding practicein profiting from data. However, whena “long tail” of fragmented customersare nested in what seems like a “findFIGURE 1Waldo with $” exercise, location datacan create new value for the company.(See “Monetizing the Spatial Mashup,”Summer 2007.) Imagery and location dataon their own are costs. When combinedwith other business intelligence informationsuch as internal sales activity, marketdynamics, and demographics, companiescan suddenly see new opportunities forrevenue (otherwise called data mining,revenue mining or revenue mapping).The objective of a business is tocreate a customer. Once a customer iscreated, value is created and investmentsare monetized. In the past, direct mail,blanket advertising, nationwide marketingand direct sales provided brand recognition,but not a verifiable customer. Addinga mapping component to the sales andmarketing budget appeared to be simplyadding cost. Where was the treasure?Robert Quist, solar consultant forVibrant Solar, a solar engineering andconsulting company, and Xcel Energy’simplementation contractor for their10IMAGING NOTES // S UMMER 2008 // WWW.IMAGINGNOTES.COM