MapPoint .NET Shows Way to Commercial Web Services

Microsoft’s first for-fee Web service, MapPoint .NET, is now online. Targeted at developers rather than end users, the MapPoint .NET service lets developers “location-enable” Web and client applications—generate maps and provide directions, for example—without having to purchase an expensive Geographic Information System (GIS) and maintain databases of cartographic and demographic data. MapPoint .NET demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to Web services and illustrates one way that the Web service model can provide functionality heretofore infeasible for many types of applications. However, MapPoint .NET also illustrates the provisioning, billing, and security issues that must be addressed before commercial Web services can reach their full potential.

A Mapping Service for Developers

MapPoint .NET offers developers a better way to incorporate mapping services (such as map rendering and route-finding) into their applications than do either Microsoft’s MapPoint 2002 desktop mapping application or existing mapping Web sites.