Conventional approaches fail to provide answers in space and time resulting in a poor ability to contextualise geographically and predict scenarios. Location intelligence helps enterprises to make more informed decisions by providing accurate business insights in real-time. As the cornerstone of enterprise success, location intelligence enables organisations to unlock the true value of their data.

Location intelligence is made possible by Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, which allows users to manage, visualise, and analyse location data. Cloud-based platforms, smart maps, apps, and dashboards unify all relevant information by location and enable enterprises to approach challenges holistically and find impactful solutions. Powering enterprises with critical insights in real-time, GIS facilitates a transformative change by harnessing location intelligence for hyper-localised decision-support in various sectors including retail, BFSI, logistics, and manufacturing.

Be it demand forecasting, business planning, operational support, and risk management at the strategic level or understanding markets, consumer behaviors, supply chain, risk assessment, and optimising routes and networks at the operational level, Location-based analytics enables enterprise leaders with instant access to hyper-localised actionable insights. Social media integrations with geographic insights in real-time help enterprises to connect better with their customers and foster value-based engagement.

Demand-supply matching is at the heart and soul of every business, and GIS can help organisations to gauge the consumption patterns, factors that influence demand-supply, and the existing gaps in it. Furthermore, from keeping enterprises situationally aware of the adequacy of their assets and resources, optimising supply-chain routes and warehouse utilisation to enhancing the efficiency of their operational and utility infrastructure, GIS aids in the optimisation of every process with lesser input of time and effort. GIS acts as a force multiplier in making informed business decisions that are tailored to specifics.

GIS helps enterprises to understand why things happen where and when they happen, and gain business advantage through better understanding. GIS-powered solutions aid organisations in making data-driven smart decisions in almost every area of business, be it identification of new markets and new sites for stores or outlets, understanding customers’ preferences, gaining visibility about competitors, managing deliveries, or assessing risks of sudden disruptions.

Today, every business is also challenged by the climate crisis. Natural disasters and erratic climatic conditions can not only interrupt business operations but also leave a long-lasting impact on sustainability. The need for operational resilience is higher than ever. Businesses are increasingly relying on GIS to understand the effects of the climate crisis or extreme weather events on their operations, predict likely scenarios, and assess and strengthen their operational effectiveness and preparedness.

In a nutshell, the context of location provides several advantages to enterprises. The choice of location not only impacts the visibility, accessibility, and potential customer base of a business, but also plays a significant role in supply chain, product/service pricing, operating costs, and overall competitiveness. Thus, it will not be an exaggeration to state that in today's hyperconnected world, location intelligence is a necessity for enterprises to stay relevant and thrive. To stay ahead, enterprises need to be spatially prepared at all times to - uncover, unlock, and unravel the value of enterprise data.

This article is authored by Agendra Kumar, managing director, Esri India.