Is Intergraph Still a CAD Company?

The reason I ask "Is Intergraph still a CAD company?" is because no longer calls itself that. Instead, Intergraph says it is "a leading global provider of Spatial Information Management (SIM) software."

SIM. Hmm. Sounds a bit like simmulation, which is good -- unlike BIM [building information management], which sounds like bimbo. "Spatial" is another term for 3D; "information" is another term for data; and "management" is another term for software. Put them them together, and we have 3D data software, or CAD :)

I wondered if this was a case of a company creating a new acronym so that it could be the leader in that newly-defined, exclusive-by-definition field. But no, spatial information management is in use elsewhere, such as the Spatial Information Management for Food and Agriculture division of the world government wannabe, the UN, which describes itself as:

"Appropriate geo-referenced information on physical and socio-economic resources for agriculture in the broadest sense (including forestry and fisheries) is of substantial value in the analysis of economic feasibility and environmental acceptability of agricultural and rural development and food security programmes." Couldn't the FAO take a hint from Guy Kawasaki, and just say, "We know where food grows"?

Q2 Results

Intergraph announced it made US$145.4 million in Q2, up 5.4% from $138.0 million a year earlier. In yet another set of reorganizations, the company cut the number of divisions from four to two: Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I) and Process, Power & Marine (PP&M) -- costing the jobs of 160 people.

Comments

[Adena Schutzberg]

Over in GIS-land SIM is used, too. It refers to the broader industry, something like "geospatial." The big propenent of the term is IDC, a research company.