Q: When is Desktop software more than Desktop software?

A: When it is ArcGIS for Desktop?

Those of you who know us will have noticed that over the last 24 months Esri has put significant investment into the ArcGIS technology stack, and particularly, into the interconnectedness of all of our software products to create what I believe is the most extensive GIS platform available today.

However, when we think ‘platform’ we all invariably think online, internet, content, web etc. In our case this generally means that we think ArcGIS Online. And while we consider that ArcGIS Online is the glue that connects all component parts of the ArcGIS platform together, we must not forget that ArcGIS for Desktop is the engine that transforms data into actionable information and actionable information into business intelligence. In light of this, ArcGIS for Desktop is now so much more than just a simple desktop software product. And for me, this is what differentiates ArcGIS for Desktop from any other desktop GIS software on this market.

When you buy ArcGIS for Desktop today (or whether you are maintaining existing ArcGIS for Desktop products) you are now getting so much more than just desktop software. Desktop users now have all the capabilities of ArcGIS the Platform, including access to on premise server & services, hosted web GIS and all of the services, functionality and collaboration that comes with that.

But even more tangible and fundamental to the desktop user is that ArcGIS for Desktop is no longer simply just ArcMap, or ArcGIS Pro (a new desktop application shipping with ArcGIS for Desktop this year). But as integrated users within the ArcGIS Platform, ArcGIS for Desktop users (at any level, basic, standard or advanced) now have access to all of the ArcGIS applications, enabled through an ArcGIS Online entitlement that you get with your desktop license.

What does this mean? It means that the ArcGIS for Desktop User now has the access to, and the ability to use and deploy, the following ArcGIS applications:

• Collector for ArcGIS
• Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS
• Explorer for ArcGIS
• ArcGIS Viewer for Flex
• ArcGIS Viewer for Silverlight
• Web App Builder for ArcGIS
• ArcGIS Open Data
• Story Maps for ArcGIS
• Esri Maps for Office
• Esri Maps for Sharepoint
• Esri Maps for Dynamics
• Esri Maps for MicroStrategy
• Esri Maps for Cognos
• Esri Maps for SAP
• And an ever evolving suite of ArcGIS Web Application Templates

Quite an array of applications and functionality.

Furthermore, and over and above the applications listed above, ArcGIS for Desktop also includes an online digital atlas. ArcGIS for Desktop users have access to a wide variety of continuously updated data: global data; local data; data kept current by a community of professional GIS users all over the world, including an active community here in Ireland. Using this rich spatial content and spatial data infrastructure Esri also provides access to useful geo-processing services such as geo-location & search, geocoding, geo-enrichment, routing and various online spatial analysis services, all available to the ArcGIS for Desktop user.

I believe that with all of this capability ArcGIS for Desktop now delivers value that is far greater than the sum of its individual parts. When you invest in ArcGIS for Desktop you are investing in the ArcGIS platform: a platform that is evolving every three months in terms of improved functionality, new applications and additional content; a platform that embodies the notion of ‘dynamic stability’ (something that is both stable and dynamic at the same time).

In summary ArcGIS for Desktop is not just desktop software. It now comes with access to everything within ArcGIS Online, providing individual desktop users with their own platform for success and development within their respective organisations.

How many of you are aware of this already? Contact us, at mapsmakesense@esri-ireland.ie, if you want to know more.

Paul Synnott