Lockheed Martin has announced a strategic business relationship with ESRI, the world leader in geographic information systems (GIS) software, to jointly develop and market system solutions and services for defense, intelligence and homeland security.

The arrangement will enable Lockheed Martin and ESRI to support key customer initiatives involving GIS with a special focus on geospatial- intelligence analysis and production, multi-intelligence data fusion and exploitation, and horizontal integration. Lockheed Martin is the first federal systems integrator in ESRI's Authorized Systems Integrator Program.

"We're delighted to formalize this strategic relationship with ESRI," said Mike Thomas, Vice President, Lockheed Martin's Geospatial-Intelligence Solutions business. "Lockheed Martin has been an industry leader in providing integrated end-to-end geospatial-intelligence solutions to our customers, while ESRI has long been an industry leader in commercial-off-the-shelf geospatial solutions. A strong business relationship with ESRI supports our ability to continue delivering mission-critical solutions to our customers."

The relationship enhances Lockheed Martin's system integration work in the area of geospatial-intelligence systems and enables expansion of ESRI's commercial-off-the-shelf product line, integrating it with national defense, intelligence and public safety systems. This collaboration enhances support for geospatial database architecture development and integration, system architecture design, and customer needs assessments.

"We welcome Lockheed Martin into our new premier Authorized Systems Integrator program," said Jack Dangermond, President, ESRI. "ESRI is committed to building strong relationships with system integrators skilled in ESRI technology to help them achieve their practice objectives. This relationship delivers value to our end users and supports the growth of Lockheed Martin's ESRI practice, both keys to our continued market success."

Under this relationship, Lockheed Martin will utilize their lab facilities to develop prototypes and demonstrate the integration of ESRI technology in support of customer missions. ESRI software is already a key component of existing GIS analyst software suites that allow analysts to collect, integrate, visualize and analyze geospatial data, including commercial imagery and standard government cartographic products. These suites provide intelligence to personnel in the field, including warfighters and first responders.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin (http://www.lockheedmartin.com/) employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2003 sales of $31.8 billion.

Founded in 1969, ESRI (http://www.esri.com/) is the world leader in the GIS software industry. ESRI offers innovative solutions that help users create, manage, analyze, and display information to make timely decisions and solve problems they encounter every day. More than 300,000 organizations worldwide use ESRI's comprehensive product line, which ranges from desktop GIS to GIS for the enterprise. ESRI's headquarters are in Redlands, California. In 2003, ESRI's sales were $497 million.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin