Ever wonder about Intergraph and what they are up to? I have to tell you, I wonder the same thing... essentially these guys have dropped of the Geospatial radar screen and have disappeared... here's the most latest tidbit I just received from the OGC... "Preetha Pulusani announced her retirement from the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) Board of Directors. She recently resigned as president of the Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I) division at Intergraph Corporation to pursue career interests outside the geospatial industry. She is now CEO and President of InterThink Solutions, Inc."... As far as GIS and geospatial goes Intergraph is now out of sight and out of mind. Early in the year pretty much all of my contacts at INGR left their positions, the company restructured, geospatial World (the company's geospatial user conference) was trashed and people continue to leave the fold. I've actually attended most of their user conferences over the past 7 years but this was the first year that I was politely told to take a hike when I contacted them with my annual blurbage about attending and covering the show... simply put, I get the feeling that Intergraph no longer cares about GIS. If they do they certainly aren't telling anyone that they do... strange stuff man! Good luck to Preetha - any GeoMedia users left out there???
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Speaking from an OGC perspective, Integraph is engaged in the work of the OGC at many levels and have committed key technical resources to the consensus process on an ongoing basis. This includes working on a number of OpenGIS standards, involvement in the current OGC Web Services 4.0 activity, and particpation in the OGC Planning Committee. I can say the same for many other very active OGC member organizations who hardly - if ever show up in the GIS press. Perhaps this is an indication of the changing nature of our discipline and not a statement of any individual organization's committment to geospatial technology!
Sounds like (someone... that be you) may be a tad upset b/c they "politely told (you) to take a hike"? The Geospatial World did take place as planned , according to my contacts with some awesome apps. Yes, several people have left INGR recently, some of them long-time employees. I'm wondering, do we know how many long-time employees of INGR's competitors have left their respective employers to "pursue career interests outside..."? No we don't, or it's not been published. IMHO it's a sign of the times for a lot of people, in many industries, not just one company. I'm not trying to "come to the aid" of INGR, they are capable of doing that. However, when I see what appears to be someone with a "feeling" about an issue that takes the taint of "facts", the red flags go up. I'd hate to say it, but it almost is Fox News-ish to me.
BTW, there are a number of GeoMedia users "out there", in fact some of them are also ESRI sites.
upset.. no not at all.. surprised yes indeed. Take a hike.. well, that may be a bit rough, however, INGR did make it clear to the GIS press that there was no effort on their part this year to convince them to attend.. you think all the PR folks simply buy tickets, book hotels, and attend shows on their own dime in order to promote the efforts of the host company... think again. My main point is that there been LOADS of HUGE changes at intergraph in the past year and they don't seem to be communicating with the "geo" press much any longer... perhaps that will change once all the new folks get settled in to their positions. As for long time people leaving... if you look at the Geospatial solutions area there's been what many would call a mass exodus. I'm looking forward to seeing where GeoMedia goes from here actually.
As a long time INGR GIS user, I can assure you that there are still a lot of us out there, and we are moving GIS forward. I did attend Intergraph World this year, and the show, while outstanding, did have a bit of a rushed feel. I would imagine it had more to do with moving the show out of New Orleans, and trying to work out the logistics at Disney, that it did with any snubbing of the press.
As a long time fan of your work, Glenn, I hope you don't give up on covering INGR, and that I see you next year at the show!
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