WhereGroup



The WhereGroup GmbH & Co. KG is a Commercial Service provider for spatial Free and Open Source Software solutions based in Bonn, Germany. The WhereGroup's business philosophy follows a clear path and is dedicated to commercial development and deployment of user oriented solutions based on professional Open Source software components. This includes advancing current development in Open Source methodology and Free Software licensing, which increasingly influence the IT market due to the win-win situation for both, customers and software developers.

OSGeo Associate Sponsor
The WhereGroup supports the Open Source Geospatial Foundation, leads the development of the graduated OSGeo project Mapbender and is involved in several other FOSSGIS providing for development, funding, training, documentation or just helping spread the word about them. The WhereGroup has a vital interest in helping to promote Free Software business models and the professional us of the OSGeo Software stack.

Range of Services
The WhereGroup supports the industry, public administration and private organizations throughout all aspects of introducing geospatial software components and solutions. All software used by the WhereGroup is licensed as Free Software and developed as Open Source but the major task most of the time is the integration with legacy systems of all makes. One core asset to achieve this is the adoption of international open standards as created and maintained by the OGC, ISO, W3C, IETF and many more. The range of services offered by the WhereGroup is extended by a comprehensive network of partners.

Consultancy

 * User requirement analysis
 * Project schedule development
 * Spatial Data Infrastructure deployment
 * Managing Free and Open Source Software projects
 * Legal advice, licensing
 * FOSS business model adoption
 * Integration of existing systems regardless of the vendor or licensing model

Software Development

 * Development of new functionality
 * Core development
 * Customization
 * Migration support for customized functionality

Implementation

 * Installation
 * Configuration
 * Operation
 * Maintenance
 * Upgrade support

Training

 * Free and Open Source Software
 * Introduction and basics
 * Business models
 * Contracts and legal background
 * Customer care
 * Geo Spatial Data Infrastructure (GDI or SDI) lectures
 * Standards and interoperability lectures (OGC, ISO, W3C)
 * Architecture design and security
 * Customized training for the OSGeo Software Stack

Event Management

 * Recurring German language FOSSGIS conference
 * Support of OSGeo appearance at FOSS4G conferences and  trade fairs.