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In a climate where nearly half of AECO leaders report projects running 11-20% over budget, cost control is essential. While general inflationary pressures and supply chain disruptions are largely outside firms’ control, tracking and managing their own operational costs is not.
Nearmap has launched project-based usage tracking — a feature that allows enterprise accounts to attribute, track, and export data consumption by individual API applications to accurately allocate costs.
Why project-based usage tracking matters right now
The AECO industry is in the midst of a cost control crisis:
- Material, equipment and wage inflation are squeezing margins.
- Contractors on fixed-price contracts are struggling to absorb rising costs.
- Large infrastructure projects typically go 80% over budget and take 20% longer than planned.
- Cost control is the #1 challenge for AECO firms — surpassing even talent shortages.
By enabling usage attribution, firms can shift Nearmap from an operating expense to an allocated, reimbursable expense – aligning costs with project deliverables and client billing cycles. Whether you’re a GIS manager juggling usage across teams, a construction project manager managing project-specific billing, or a project engineer tasked with keeping projects within budget — project-based tracking brings clarity and control to your data use.
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The business impact
Unlike other platforms that offer only basic or manual usage reporting, Nearmap gives you project-level visibility and exportable insights — making it easier to connect data usage with business outcomes.
Project-based usage tracking will enable administrators to easily track and control costs, boosting profitability by:
- Attributing Nearmap usage to specific projects, clients, or users
- Exporting usage data for cost allocation, budgeting, and billing
- Set up API keys to limit access by area or time range, reducing overages
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With precise usage tracking, firms can boost project margins by billing clients for actual data consumption, reduce operational overhead through automated cost allocation, make smarter decisions with data-driven insights, and eliminate budget surprises via real-time usage monitoring and alerts.
Autodesk’s 2024 report states that digitally mature companies with integrated tools and processes are experiencing greater operational success, with cost control now identified as the top challenge facing AECO firms.
How it works
By enabling usage tracking as part of project-based overhead, usage can be attributed to specific clients, supporting accurate billing and cost recovery. More specifically, the feature allows you to:
- Monitor usage of Nearmap data and export the usage metrics from the unique API app.
- Export usage metrics in various formats (e.g., CSV, Excel) and integrate them into the billing systems.
- Leverage usage data from individual API apps within the CSV extract as an input for cost calculations and client billing.
What does this mean for Nearmap customers?
In MyAccount, under the Usage section, admins can now:
- View usage for WMS and Tile APIs by application name
- See the number of API keys, tile counts, and total 2D data usage
- Export a CSV report showing usage by client type, tile count, and other fields like is active, is deleted, and email
Note: MapBrowser usage is tracked separately from API applications and ArcGIS Online usage is not included in this report.
Ready to take control of your project costs
To get started, log in to MyAccount and set up your application-based API keys.
For implementation support or further setup recommendations, contact your Nearmap account team or read our Help Center article on the new feature.