1. Could you elaborate on the MapInfo range of products and what is your core area of focus?

MapInfo is organized into three customer-focused, strategic business units:

• Location-based Intelligence (LBI)

• Analytical CRM (aCRM) 

• Location-based Services (LBS)

The location based intelligence (LBI) unit provides high quality technology components that enable users to visualize, manage, enhance, report and publish information with a location aspect. The LBI unit is MapInfo's foundation business largely directed at the communications, public sector and commercial industries. Today, the LBI unit represents the majority of MapInfo's revenue stream.

The aCRM unit focuses on the delivery of tailored solutions to analyze the interaction between supply, assets, resources and demand, customers and prospects. MapInfo's solution set helps organizations acquire, retain and manage customers profitably by using location to better understand their customers and predict behavior. With this powerful location perspective, MapInfo's customers maximize ROI by targeting markets representing the greatest opportunity for sales and growth.

MapInfo's LBS unit is designed to deliver location as a valuable and relevant service for an increasingly mobile world. MapInfo's location-based services platform enables wireless carriers and third-party developers to create innovative location-based applications for businesses and consumers. MapInfo's LBS platform enables location-based information to be shared, managed and accessed via a mobile device.

2. How does MapInfo eServices offer applications over the Internet and what are the benefits gained by the customers?

This is not applicable to MapInfo.

3. What is MapInfo's core area of technology and who are your target customers?

In CRM, our focus is on analytics--modeling with spatial demographic data to identify the location of customers, stores or assets to determine the next best customer and where to expand or consolidate with the most or minimal impact. In location-based intelligence, the focus is with our best-of-breed core technologies, which include mapping and visualization, geocoding, routing and data. We provide spatial solutions for various vertical markets such as insurance, government and telecommunications. In LBS, we are focused on being the leading supplier of geospatial tools for the location-based services market. We work with Siemens and Vodafone to help build their location-based services platform as well as delivering compelling location-based applications to carriers and organizations with mobile workforces.


4. MapInfo's First Quarter Financial Results showed a marked decrease in revenue. It seems to have come to 20.9 million down from 22..8 million. Was it a result of the global economic meltdown? How do you propose to turn it around for the next Quarter?

We had a disappointing first quarter. We attribute our shortfall primarily to low revenues in the Americas, reflecting longer than expected sales cycles, delays in customer procurement processes, increased budgetary pressure and reduced demand from some of MapInfo's telecommunications customers. 

With the quarter behind us, our main objective is to restore profitability. We are finalizing plans to reorganize certain activities and reduce our cost structure across the business and improve productivity. We have already begun the process and will complete the rollout in the second quarter. Specifically, we will reorganize the US sales team to achieve greater efficiency. We are assessing our office requirements and expect to realize savings in that area without affecting customer service. We will also realize savings from bringing some functions in house, such as web hosting, to take advantage of our new headquarters' facility. We will reduce costs in other areas of the business where appropriate and where it can be done without jeopardizing the long-term viability of the business. In total, these actions will allow us to bring our operating costs down to approximately $17 million per quarter, beginning in the third quarter.

We don't expect a complete turnaround in the second quarter. It is difficult for us to provide definitive guidance in this economic environment, but we are doing everything we can to restore profitability as quickly as possible.

5. What is MapInfo Professional and how does it enable to drive insightful decisions and perform sophisticated and detailed data analysis 

MapInfo Professional is the company's flagship desktop mapping software and is used by companies in virtually every industry to analyze business patterns and trends to make better-informed business decisions. MapInfo Professional seamlessly integrates with existing solutions and enables users to move beyond traditional GIS functionality to share important data and information, while ensuring faster, more reliable performance and flexible integration of critical data.

6. How does MapInfo TargetPro, the demographic, segmentation and analysis solution provide better business intelligence to enterprise organizations?

TargetPro is specifically designed to address the analytical CRM needs of enterprises. For example, a retail store chain could analyze customer data, such as sales, billing and purchasing information, from its current CRM system using TargetPro. They can then enhance that data with MapInfo's demographic data to reveal business opportunities based on customer information. Customer analysis based on location can reveal sales trends, market clusters, and the location, demographics and penetration level of high profit clusters. With this information, a retailer can create more targeted marketing campaigns, decide on ideal store locations, plan how to stock
the store, and identify new customer prospects, resulting in increased revenue and decreased costs.

With TargetPro, users can integrate, import and link to various forms of their own proprietary data and analyze this information along with TargetPro demographic and geographic data. The resulting reports can then be shared using other MapInfo products via the Internet or intranet for enterprise-wide analysis. Further, users can take advantage of TargetPro extensible platform to access the TargetPro engine from other MapInfo interfaces or industry standard CRM tools, bringing the power of location to every aspect of the decision-making process.

7. How would your acquisition of Thompson Associates help in increasing your core competencies in the aCRM Market?

On January 6, 2003 we acquired Thompson Associates, a leader in retail location intelligence. With Thompson Associates, we are strengthening our presence in the retail, restaurant and real estate sectors, and are also adding critical mass to our aCRM business in the United States. We have acquired a mature service and consulting offering in site evaluation, site selection and target merchandizing, that greatly strengthens our intended business model of long-term and intimate customer engagements.

Additionally, with the acquisition:

• We increase our opportunities to grow revenues from the existing

• Thompson client base through sales of existing MapInfo products

• We have the ability to expand Thompson's services offering to additional vertical markets and geographies.

• We added a strong management team with more than 20 years experience in profitably delivering analytical services.

• We acquired modeling skills for product development and custom consulting work for the aCRM sector in the US.

• We now have a mature product line of analytical software incorporating the ability to roll-out high end models created by our services group

We added extensive retail domain knowledge to MapInfo's aCRM efforts.

8. MapInfo received Exhibitor Best Solutions Award for Colorado Department of Corrections Application at GTC Southwest 2003. Do you anticipate this trend of growth in the coming years?

Yes, we do. MapInfo was selected by the Colorado Department of Corrections because we provide an open solution. Our technology seamlessly integrates with a customer's existing systems. This is an important consideration as we eliminate the need for customers to invest in more hardware. 

We also see demand for our e-government solutions as more agencies embrace the power of the Internet to increase efficiencies internally and better service their constituents in an easy-to-use public forum.

Prior to joining MapInfo, Mr. Cattini worked at Lotus Development Corporation from 1987 to 1995, eventually serving as National Accounts Sales Manager. In this position, he was responsible for all end-user corporate sales in the United Kingdom, managing five regional sales teams and achieving revenue target goals of $48 million. While at Lotus, Mr. Cattini won a number of prestigious awards including six Sales Achievers' Club awards and the Lotus WorldWide Managing Excellence Award.

Mr. Cattini started his professional career at Taylor Woodrow Services Ltd. and also held technical positions at Beecham Foods Ltd. and International Software Ltd. He received a B.A. in business studies with honors from Thames Valley University, London.

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