IBM taps ESRI for demographic analysis and mapping

Address, ZIP Code, census block or latitude and longitude coordinates are all part of geographic information systems companies use to gain an edge in marketing and business planning. To that end, IBM has turned to Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) to add mapping and spatial-data-analysis capabilities, most notably through ESRI's ArcView Business Analyst, into IBM's business intelligence offerings. ArcView allows companies to create and analyze market areas, scrutinize demographics and locations and generate maps to show potential business or advertising locations.

One client already using ArcView on an IBM BI platform is the Dallas Teachers Credit Union, which used that strength to help upgrade its membership charter from occupation- to community-based. The former limited the organization’s membership to around 250,000. By enlarging its scope to include the residents in a five-county area around Dallas, the credit union could attract 2.2 million potential members. In order to prepare for the presentation to the Texas Credit Union Department, it used IBM DB2 Universal Database, IBM DB2 Intelligent Miner, IBM Visual Warehouse and Business Objects OLAP to compile information on its current members and where potential members would be after the charter change. With the mapping ability of ArcView Business Analyst, the credit union drove home the powerful information brought forth from BI.

"The board likes to see visuals," says Jerry Thompson, VP and chief information officer for the credit union. " 'Where do the people live?' 'Where are we spending that money on direct marketing?' It is much faster for people to understand when they see it on a map than when it is in a table," Thompson says. "Our solution gives us the ability to recognize spatial patterns on branch placement more effectively and quickly demonstrate those patterns when presenting a planned expansion to the credit union board."

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