Online map services are a great option if your website is non-commercial and the data products and functionality available suit your needs. They can however be expensive for commercial purposes and a pay per map model can leave you with an unknown bill each month. You may also wish to make use of different data products and/or a higher level of functionality than is offered by the online services.

The most flexible solution to your mapping needs is to purchase map server software and serve your own maps. This gives your the freedom to access the mapping data that is most appropriate for your purposes. There are several mapping servers available from open source products such as MapGuide Open Source through to enterprise level solutions such as those from ESRI.

Running your own map server requires you to host a service permanently on the web by installing a web mapping solution on your web server or perhaps a second web server if required to maintain performance levels. Data is then sourced/licensed to provide reference background mapping plus any other commercial data sets such as government boundaries (wards, local authorities) etc. With a platform and data in place we can then create a custom interface to serve maps to your web visitors and develop the functional requirements of your application.

Having worked with Geographic Data for more than 10 years we are well placed to advise you on the many data sets available.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements.