Introduction to ArcGIS Business Analyst features
Release 9.1 Last modified March 29, 2006	Print all topics in : "About ArcGIS Business Analyst"

With Business Analyst, you can take advantage of the following features:

• All data is available on your map at startup. It is not necessary to extract geography and other data from CD before beginning your analysis.
• Analysis accuracy has been improved using a method of block point data retrieval. When an analysis cuts across a block group, Business Analyst considers the locations of the block points inside that block group and allocates accordingly.
• A map document is provided on program startup. It can be used to immediately begin your analysis.
• You can begin work on an area of the map with your customers, stores, and various types of analysis, then create a study area if it is needed. With or without a study area, you will be able to save your work in an ArcGIS map document (.mxd file).
• Map documents are organized and selectable using the ArcCatalog™ toolbar icon. ArcCatalog presents a list of all map documents created with thumbnail views of each, if desired.
• Business Analyst supports input from all ArcGIS data sources, such as shapefiles and geodatabases.
• You can create your own datasets or customize the Business Analyst dataset to use your own data rather than using the provided standard demographic data. This could be used, for example, to add your local school district boundaries or voting districts with data you have collected that is associated with those geographies.

New ArcGIS Business Analyst features:

• ArcGIS Business Analyst includes an extensive data update. Base data includes updated demographic and consumer expenditures data from ESRI, updated streets from Tele Atlas North America (formerly GDT), updated business locations from infoUSA, updated major shopping centers from the Directory of Major Malls (DMM), and an updated Centrus™ street address geocoder from Group 1 Software.
• Business Analyst is completely integrated into the ArcGIS 9 framework. This integration provides a new environment for geoprocessing, modeling, and scripting including a new dockable ArcToolbox™ window with a comprehensive set of tools for all Business Analyst capabilities. The integrated ModelBuilder geoprocessing tool allows you to link geoprocessing operations together and build models interactively.
• ArcCatalog is now used extensively to organize Business Analyst data. Stores, customers, trade areas, and other Business Analyst data elements are now organized in the ArcCatalog tree.
• Business Analyst still includes the familiar ArcMap™ wizards that lead you through step-by-step procedures for creating and managing stores, customers, trade areas, and analysis. Quality and performance have been improved in a number of key areas.
• Reporting and report speed in Business Analyst have been vastly improved, and a number of new reports have been included. A custom report wizard is also included that will allow you to build and share custom reports.
• A new batch framework has been added, making it easier to work with multiple sites, trade areas, and customer files. This flexible batching capability will allow you to create trade areas, reports, and analysis one at a time or batched together as a group of work.
• A new, optional neighborhood segmentation engine can be added to Business Analyst. You can use this segmentation module to target customers, examine the merchandizing mix, and find optimal locations for new store sites using the Community Tapestry neighborhood segmentation system.
• A number of new trade area techniques have been added to Business Analyst. These new trade area tools will allow you to create, manage, and compare trade areas. A new sales forecasting model based on the Huff model has also been included that will allow you to evaluate new site locations.
• Routing and drive-time trade areas have been improved and are based on the new routing and service area tools from the ArcGIS Network Analyst extension. A license to the full Network Analyst extension is now included with Business Analyst.
• Additional data has been added to Business Analyst. The extension now includes Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA) and Designated Market Area (DMA) boundaries with a full complement of demographic data for each.
• The Business Analyst dataset includes a new toolbar that allows you to download satellite images and aerial photographs. The new toolbar, based on GlobeXplorer’s standard imagery service, provides a collection of high-quality aerial and satellite imagery that is regularly updated and expanded. These images can be used in reports and projects that require visual details of properties, neighborhoods, and towns.
• A number of other new tools and features have been added for performing site location research, customer targeting, and marketing analysis.

ArcGIS Business Analyst is an extension built for use with ArcGIS. This means it can be used with either ArcView®, ArcEditor™, or ArcInfo®. The components included in the Business Analyst package are:

• ArcGIS Business Analyst extension software—Provides tools for mapping, analysis, and managing work.
• Data from industry-leading vendors—Provides nationwide demographic, business listing, and shopping center data.
• Tele Atlas Dynamap/Transportation map data—Provides basemaps and U.S. national street network.
• Centrus geocoding technology from Group 1 Software, Inc.—Takes your customer or store addresses and locates them on a map.
• ArcGIS Network Analyst extension—Provides drive-time/drive-distance analysis and routing capability. The full license to this extension is included with Business Analyst.

ArcView, or either of the other alternatives of ArcGIS you choose to use with Business Analyst, will contain Crystal Reports™ from Business Objects. This is the industry-leading tool to present your analysis results in quality reports. Business Analyst makes using Crystal Reports easier through a series of integrated wizards.

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