Portland, OR — September 29, 2009 — With the wide acceptance of the ESRI Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) and Small Utility ELA (SU-ELA) programs, cost barriers previously associated with software licensing have been substantially reduced. Because of this, GeoNorth is seeing a renewed interest in the desktop platform. At a time when web applications appear to dominate the IT landscape, desktop solutions still have much to offer, especially where connectivity is limited or non-existent. Desktop solutions can provide performance advantages, more robust features and functionality, and can better accommodate integration with other client server based business applications. For these reasons, desktop solutions may have a place in many organizations.

In support of the ELA and SUELA programs, GeoNorth is pleased to announce the release of our CityMap™ 9 framework solution for ArcEngine®. CityMap is a "database-driven" desktop/mobile product for querying and viewing GIS, tabular, and raster data from disparate sources in an integrated "dashboard-style" interface. Data sources, queries, map display properties, and user access can be configured without programming. Because of its flexibility and versatility, CityMap™ is often used as an Enterprise GIS application or to map-enable traditional database systems such as permitting, asset management, as well as police RMS and CAD systems. It can also be bundled with data products that are marketed to external customers.

CityMap is full-featured, yet simpler and less expensive than an all-purpose desktop GIS product such as ArcGIS ArcView®. At the same time, it delivers more functionality and faster performance than web-based alternatives, and does not require special server hardware or server administration expertise. Just like ArcGIS ArcView or ArcGIS Server®, it can use your existing MXD files which make it even easier to support.

While keeping the traditional CityMap user interface design that many have come to depend upon for its scalability and extensibility, CityMap9 has been completely re-architected as a .NET and ArcObjects based solution. It also been greatly improved with features such as a mailing label wizard, GPS tracking, advanced bookmarks, document integration, markup, configurable query screens, reports, and printable maps. CityMap also features administrative utilities for managing access. CityMap has a multi-tiered license that provides even more flexibility for smaller organizations as well as an unlimited enterprise license for mid to larger sized organizations.