RealZips GeoData Platform is well-suited for Saleforce users and administrators who need to send targeted emails and snail mails and segment reports by a certain geographic area and are frustrated with Salesforce's built-in process for this, which is mostly non-existent. Other marketing platforms may handle this scenario better, but for Salesforce, RealZips is the best option
Styling: the styling engine is fantastic with raster styling features that I recognize from apps like Photoshop.
Print layouts: I can set up custom print layouts, and even do automated multi-page atlas style reports that I use for cycling through detailed areas when providing my clients with pdf reports.
Extendable: the plugins are fantastic, and almost anything I need that isn't provided natively with QGIS is available as a plugin.
Community: the QGIS community is passionate about GIS, and are always ready to help. There are great training resources available online.
The main strength of RealZips GeoData Platform is the ability to query the "Metropolitan Area" field they provide, which is based on the contact's zip code. For example, if you are looking to promote an event to all contacts in the New York City area, this field will automatically show contacts living within several miles of NYC, not just those living in NYC itself.
RealZips GeoData Platform automatically provides a zip code for contacts who may have that part of their address missing from their contact page. This helps keep the address data clean.
RealZips GeoData Platform will help you sort your prospects or leads into geographic areas, helping you schedule in-person meetings while on the road.
RealZips GeoData Platform provides a generous non-profit discount.
RealZips GeoData Platform only requires the contact to have a zip code to work. The contact does not need a full address.
Making maps in QGIS is a bit clunky. I also find it to be extremely unintuitive. For basic GIS, it is great, but I would much rather make maps (for publication purposes) in ArcGIS.
Editing and adding feature layers is not very intuitive. Changing colors of added point or line features is a rather convoluted process.
ArcGIS has a huge selection of online courses, and if you have the appropriate license, you can access most for free. I found these to be very helpful when dealing with map projections and other issues. However, QGIS does not have a large library of courses specifically made for that program.
RealZips GeoData Platform may be difficult to learn at first, as their reporting tie-in fields need a certain syntax. But once you figure it out, it becomes clearer for future uses. Otherwise, the product functions as intended.
I wasn't a GIS user at all when I started using QGIS, nor did I have any background working with data in anything other than Excel, and as a result, I struggled quite a lot in the beginning (it's not quite Google Maps). But having said that, I haven't come across anything that I couldn't do with a little help from the online community. I've done complex spatial analyses on large datasets of metropolitan cities, designed custom multi-page pdf reports that automatically cycle through different areas of an area, etc.
And the GIS staff that I've appointed, after their initial resistance, took to the tool like a fish to water, and I haven't heard them complain after starting to use the tool for a week or two.
But if you're new to GIS, be patient and invest some time to learn how to use the tool. It is absolutely worth it.
Even though there is a no dedicated support team for QGIS (or at least we are not aware of it), there is a huge online community and a large number of forums catering to every question you may have regarding any particular functionality of QGIS. So, you have a lot of help available but you will have to sift through it on the web.
QGIS is open source and freely available for Windows and Mac iOS Geographic Information System Software. QGIS is highly customizable as per project requirements and different application usage. QGIS has ample tools and plugins that are useful for the analysis of raster and vector data. It also supports GRASS, GDAL, and SAGA tools.
RealZips GeoData Platform integrates very well with Salesforce.com and works seamlessly alongside other apps, such as the Nonprofit Success Pack and Causeview, which transform Saleforce's data into a non-profit focused layout. Any changes in Salesforce's data structure do not seem to impact RealZips effectiveness. Furthermore, it works well as a data-cleaning tool, which increases the potency of all other apps.
QGIS gives us more impactful data on children and maternal health issues, which in turn has helped us establish more programs, relationships, and funding opportunities because of the excellent data presentations we can give.
QGIS has allowed our staff to improve their data analysis skills, improving our workforce across the board, with or without the direct use of geographic data.
QGIS has required a lot of staff time to learn, but the ROI on time spent vs the reports we produced afterward has been well worth it.
RealZips GeoData Platform has had a positive ROI by allowing us to target specific contacts based on their geographic location, not their physical address.
RealZips GeoData Platform has had a positive ROI by providing a very generous non-profit discount.
