Due to the fact that Autodesk has discontinued its Autodesk World product line, Computer Foundation, a leading spatial provider of spatial solutions which was recently appointed as a MapInfo VAR, will be offering a migration path to all Autodesk users. This offering comes at fifty percent of the normal price.

Since its appointment as a MapInfo VAR by Spatial Technologies, the southern African master distributor of MapInfo Corporation, Computer Foundation staff have been involved in intensive programmes to enable them to install and maintain the packages they market.

Wilhelm Herbst, Managing Director of Computer Foundation, an authorised developer in GIS and mapping arenas, says MapInfo will add further value to his company's product range. Says Herbst, "Due to the fact that Autodesk announced that they do not plan any new releases of the Autodesk World product, it provides an even bigger opportunity for MapInfo to continue the active development into the future. Specifically in areas such as networking, raster analysis, map production and additional add-on products for specific market areas.

Alan Ellis, Managing Director of Spatial Technologies, says: "Negotiations between MapInfo, Computer Foundation and Spatial Technologies have resulted in a very attractive offer for Autodesk users. A discount of fifty percent is being offered to Autodesk World users in order to assist them with their migration to MapInfo Professional. Our new alliance with Computer Foundation has offered great potential for Spatial Technologies to extend its reach into the markets where Computer Foundation already has a strong foothold."

Computer Foundation has for many years been one of the market leaders in GIS in this country, particularly in the traditional markets, being the government, municipal and utilities sector. MapInfo is widely used in the commercial sector where, with a market share of between 30-40%, Spatial Technologies is clearly the market leader.

A member of the Demef Group of Companies, Spatial Technologies was formed in 1994 and is a specialist computer distributor and services company based in Rivonia, Gauteng. The company offers products and added value services enabling organisations to analyse and manage data spatially. It is the southern African master distributor for MapInfo Corporation, a leading provider of products and solutions for business intelligence through the use of geographic analysis and visualisation. MapInfo products are marketed directly and through a network of partners throughout the region.

Spatial Technologies offers the following MapInfo related services:

* Full product support.

* Basic and advanced training.

* Application development.

* Customer-related studies.

* Database design.

* Consultancy.

Spatial Technologies

(011) 807 3807

Computer Foundation

(012) 672 0100