Basingstoke, UK, 14 June 2021 -- Geoxphere has launched a new subscription tier to its web mapping service for Local Government that makes the service completely free for up to 5 users. This allows anyone with a gov.uk email address to automatically register and start using the service.
The XMAP cloud mapping service has been used by many Local Authorities since 2010 and has proved a critical component in sharing digital mapping across an organisation without the hassle of local IT infrastructure, maintenance or updates. It’s also become an essential tool for Planning, Land Charges, Transport and Building Control teams to quickly and accurately assess sites based on legal and environmental constraints.
The new Free Tier of XMAP includes many of the features found in the full subscription, including integration with QGIS, online database storage for vector data, full Ordnance Survey PSGA stack, PDF printing and the Constraints Checker spatial analyst tool.
“We’re extremely proud of how XMAP has evolved over the years and the ways it’s helped GIS and IT professionals in Local Government to use, share and analyse geospatial information” commented Chris Mewse, Managing Director of Geoxphere. “We’ve seen how powerful and easy-to-use cloud GIS can be and we want to open that up as a possibility for more people who may be bound by procurement or IT infrastructure limitations but need the tools we have.”
In the last few years many Local Authorities have been switching their corporate GIS from more traditional locally installed software over to fully cloud-based systems, including Rugby, Surrey Heath and South Somerset. This aligns to many Cloud First strategies and opens up accessibility to data by using secure cloud-based databases.
“It’s great to be offering XMAP for free to help with project work or to explore the idea of migrating to our services. The switch to cloud was once seen as a risky move due to thoughts around Internet reliability and having 3rd parties managing infrastructure. However, these perceptions have largely melted away now as the technology is well-proven.” added Tom Huntley, Technical Director at Geoxphere. “Instead, our customers are enjoying the benefits of automatically-updated base mapping and a service that stays ‘evergreen’, meaning all users are always using the latest version of the software and have the latest tools. Upgrade anxiety is a thing of the past. We also don’t believe that customers should be asked what performance or storage they require. It’s our job to make sure they can store what they want, and it’s lightning fast to access.”
Geoxphere look forward to supporting the work of Local Government through this new initiative. The sign in form can be found on the XMAP website or by contacting support@geoxphere.com.
