Pitney Bowes offers MapInfo Pro, a Geographic Information System (GIS).
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Surfer
Score 9.0 out of 10
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Surfer is a data visualization suite from Golden Software in Colorado for oil and gas companies, or other entities in other industries requiring geological or environmental data.
Very suitable for any project where geographic data needs to be analysed or presented in a digestible format. There is more easy to use software for 3D and terrain work. For drilling data the plug in is limited and slightly clumsy in its execution although it is possible to draw the trace, snap to terrain and colour depending on geology, assay results, etc.
Surfer has been excellent for us, a small company, to process the electrical resistivity, refraction microtremor, and MASW data collected in the field. There are an increasing number of programs capable of assisting in this geophysical analysis but Surfer is the most advanced. The ability to create both 2D and 3D figures in the program while managing data is a huge help. It also greatly improved report quality and helped clients better understand what the results were for a study.
The user interface can be tricky at first. It's a little rough around the edges and takes a little time to get the hang of.
Not an ideal application for older employees. There are too many things with the interface that make it not worthwhile to train employees with less computer experience.
Manipulating data within Surfer is difficult because you have to do things in a certain order. Not terrible if you get the hang of it but certainly frustrating at first.
MapInfo Pro customer support has always been quick and very helpful with any issues I have had with the software. They usually get back to you about your enquiry within 24 hours and they also tend to follow up to make sure your issue was resolved. I find it refreshing to be able to contact their experts quickly and easily.
QGIS works very well however I find it a little harder to use and find the tools/settings I need in QGIS. It has a lot of the same functionality as MapInfo however QGIS doesn't really offer a dedicated customer support form or service which makes it harder to learn the product.
Surfer is very unique with respect to its capabilities. I am not aware of any other mapping software that is at the same time flexible, has a friendly interface, and creates such nice-looking maps.
The worst thing about Surfer is the cost. My company can only afford one license at the moment which means only one employee gets to use it regularly. Not so great when someone is sick or you have a huge wave of projects.
The user interface is a little rough but younger employees have been great at catching on quickly and producing great images.
There's nothing else quite like Surfer. It's versatile and not to difficult to use so, though the licenses are expensive, it is an excellent program that has done wonders for our company!
