Huge quantities of information are available today, far more than ever before. Data abounds in spreadsheets, sales records, and marketing files. Paper and disk store masses of information on customers, stores, personnel, equipment, and resources. Thematic maps show distribution of customers for a marketing campaign.
Nearly all data has a geographic component. An estimated 85 percent of all databases contain some sort of geographic information such as street addresses, cities, states, postal codes, or even telephone numbers with area codes and exchange numbers.
Computer mapping can help you sort through all of this information, and using the geographic components in your data, display your results on a map. This lets you see patterns and relationships in the mass of information quickly and easily without having to pore over your database.