How much does ArcGIS Online REALLY Cost?

Let me ask you a question. I’ll whisper it in your ear so others cannot hear. How much does ArcGIS Online cost?

You might answer:

“My 5 named user annual subscription is $2500 plus additional credits above and beyond my base allocation.”

A good start. But let me ask you again. How much does ArcGIS Online REALLY cost?

I see you scratching your head. Same question. But I’ve added REALLY to the sentence.  What could that possibly mean?

How much does ArcGIS Online REALLY cost?

If I told you one of our clients just spent $25,000 on a 5 named user ArcGIS Online account would you be shocked? Would you scream ‘gouging’? What if I further told you that client could not be happier and were looking to spend a good deal more in 2017, would you call me a liar?

All true. 

Suppose I mention this client saved $200,000 by spending $25,000. How does that make you feel? Warmer I am guessing.

This client came to us with two problems:

• The first was solve a critical business problem. A costly $225,000 problem.
• The second …… was in depth help with ArcGIS Online. Though lacking GIS expertise, they had purchased a 5 named user annual ArcGIS subscription. Their plan was to solve the problem themselves. After a period of frustration and questioning ROI, they contacted us. An ArcGIS Jumpstart or quick introduction was out of the question.

So how did $2500 become $25,000?

We carefully guided them to a solution that’s how. That took 4 steps:

1. We conducted an in depth Discovery Workshop to understand the problem and the solution story
2. Data, data, data. Time was spent gathering, correcting, enriching and publishing data.
3. Focused apps – we used both existing COTS apps and our widget based GeoAppSmart app to allow the client to visualize the data and provided tools so they could ask questions of the data.
4. Review and refine – was the ‘where’ question answered in full?

The question posed here is important. How much does ArcGIS Online Really cost? Let me ask one more question. Is that expensive or cheap? Everything depends on the outcome and that might require more than simply buying an ArcGIS Online subscription.

Categories: ArcGIS Online, Mobile ArcGIS, Mobile GIS, Web and mobile GIS

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 29th, 2016 at 7:05 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.