Woolpert: Geospatial Depth Meets Mapping Heights

Jon Downey, Vice President & Market Director, Google Maps and Cloud

Long before Google Maps and Cloud came into being, Woolpert, a national architecture, engineering and geospatial (AEG) firm, had established a strong foothold in the geographic information system (GIS) space. Initially, GIS was a public sector focus for Woolpert; but through the Google Maps and Cloud partnership, Woolpert was able to apply its knowledge base and expertise to benefit its private sector clients.

“Woolpert is a leader in solving both private and public organizations’ unique mapping issues by leveraging its profound geospatial expertise,” Jon Downey, Woolpert Vice President and Market Director, said. He added that companies leveraging GIS technology must have a clear understanding of how to implement solutions properly before adopting the technology. The combination of the Google Premier Partnership and GIS expertise allows Woolpert to strategically assist companies with a cost-effective implementation that ensures a seamless integration of Google Maps into existing company data. By helping businesses understand licensing and optimize usage, Woolpert enables them to appropriately plan for overall platform costs and empowers them to customize beyond a basic platform to best meet organizational needs.

As a trusted advisor, Woolpert begins each customer implementation by understanding the business problem and then designing a roadmap to the solution. “When it comes to initial engagement, we focus on getting to know the key team members,” Downey said. “Then we peel back the layers of the project to understand exactly what a win looks like.” He added that this is followed by either training developers, if the customer has multiple developers in place, or by creating prototypes or proofs-of-concept, if the customer requires a more hands-on approach—all while ensuring thorough interaction at all levels of the project. Woolpert’s key differentiator, Downey said, is the internal development staff’s long tenure in the geospatial/location space. This experience allows Woolpert to adeptly customize each customer’s journey to align with all requirements.

Woolpert customer onX is one of the leading applications in mobile mapping technology for outdoor adventurers, with over 250,000 users. Prior to implementing the Google Maps Platform, the company had its own mountain to climb when its content provider was not providing cloudless and up-to-date imagery in rural areas.

Woolpert is a leader in solving both private and public organizations’ unique mapping issues by leveraging its profound geospatial expertise

When customer complaints increased due to these issues, onX needed a solution that could easily integrate sources of new aerial imagery into its existing app, while striking a balance between aesthetics and recency of imagery.

With Woolpert’s assistance, onX seamlessly implemented the Google Maps Platform into the current onX platform by leveraging the Tile API. To facilitate accurate location searches and make users more aware of location, Woolpert also leveraged Google’s Geocoding API. This created a solution with better imagery for customers, more reliable data, and integrated tools for the app. onX also relies upon the Google Cloud Platform, which has helped them establish a robust infrastructure. As Downey put it, “With Woolpert’s deep foundation in geospatial application and science, we are in a league of our own as a Premier Partner for Google Maps and Cloud. We pride ourselves on taking our knowledge base and helping customers easily solve business problems, as we did with onX.”

As a geospatial veteran, Woolpert amalgamates its expertise with the Google Maps and Cloud Platform, which has helped the company grow exponentially. The company continues to vigorously invest in Google Maps and Cloud, which has helped transition Woolpert’s geospatial footprint from the public to the private sector. “Woolpert has decades of experience in geospatial and spatial data acquisition,” Downey said. “Our long history of acquiring, hosting, analyzing, and optimizing data storage is truly unique in the Cloud marketplace. Woolpert clients realize the value of this experience. It’s a key differentiator that helps them optimize their data management solutions.”