Web GIS allows us to take our systems of record - our traditional server and desktop technologies - and integrate them, bringing them together into a system of systems.

GIS started on mainframe computers; we could get one map every five to 10 hours, and if we made a mistake, it could take longer. In the early '90s, when people started buying PCs, we migrated to desktop software.

The difference between a shared web server and a dedicated one is that your provider controls the websites on their server, avoiding having the same IP Address as a spam website.

In this era of the web and web services, and new technologies, there's many more opportunities to integrate and connect with systems from our partners, our competitors, and many, many others.

Web GIS provides us with a whole new window into our information through applications that are easy, 3D, and analytic. These applications are not just casual things, but reach deep into geographic knowledge and apply it.

Customers more and more need a partner who can integrate all these technologies together, and this is one of the foundational elements we want our program to have going forward. But they sometimes need from partners a level of depth, so we wanted to identify the ones that have that level of depth or breadth.