Glossary

Agile Methodology

Agility, at its core, is about being able to adapt quickly and alter how you work based on external stimuli. In real terms, various practices are adopted to achieve this. For Geo.me Solutions we ensure our agile capability through:

• incremental development
• continual client collaboration
• modular code frameworks based on best practice
• appropriate technology selections that support this goal

Further to this, our everyday work life and operational structures ensure agility is at the very heart of our business.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing refers to a type of infrastructure used to deliver computing resources. Cloud computing has no definitive definition but it is generally agreed that it is not a single-server hosted solution. Characteristics typically include: a virtualised infrastructure, utility type billing (metered) and no centralised mainframe. Cloud computing is agile and scalable due to its inherently efficient allocation of resource and the economies of scale passed on by large cloud infrastructure providers.

GeoMapper

The GeoMapper Framework is our core mapping solution for businesses and organisations looking to harness the power of Google Maps and data visualisation techniques, and to integrate that functionality with internal systems and data.

Utility Computing

Utility computing is one of the main aspects of the typical cloud model, although once again, not a mandatory defining quality. Utility computing simply refers to the financial model of drawing down on computing resources as required and only paying for those resources consumed. Utility computing takes its name from the billing model associated with household utilities, such as water and electricity.

Rich Internet Applications

Rich Internet Applications are web-based software applications that mirror many of the characteristics of traditional desktop applications. They are a cornerstone of the Software as a Service (SaaS) software delivery model, where a single centralised software application is operated and accessed across the internet by individual users (clients). Software delivered in this manner enjoys many efficiencies over desktop applications in terms of distribution costs, time-to-market and update cycles.

Web Services

A web service is a distributed software service linking two or more machines across the internet. Geo.me Solutions develop software, accessible over the web to produce dynamic real-time data visualisations. Typically we embed your business data and return a graphical visualisation such as a map, graph or chart. These web services can be configured to integrate with your back-office systems.

Web 2.0

'Web 2.0' is a perceived 'next generation' of web functionality and services. Web 2.0 focuses on interaction with the user and in particular encourages a user base to collaborate and exchange information. Networking, collaboration, syndication and information exchange are all embedded in this paradigm. Functional features such as video sharing, blogs, social networking sites, photo tagging and RSS/XML/JSON data interchange formats are commonly regarded as constituents of Web 2.0.

Virtualisation

The practice of partitioning a physical server's resources into multiple virtual machines. Coupled with cloud computing, the benefits to Geo.me Solutions include rapid deployment of new servers, unparallelled backup and failover capabilities and the ability to drive down client costs by using resources efficiently. Clients can share resources or have dedicated servers for high use or business critical services.

Visualisation

A visualisation is a graphical representation of data. Geo.me Solutions provides a number of services which interact with your data and ours to generate imagery that can offer fresh perspective on your business. The representation can take many forms, most typically maps, charts and graphs.