Mobile GIS & LBS Posts Tagged ‘arcgis’Desperate need for ArcGIS business solution expertsThursday, November 10th, 2016I am sometimes asked “In which area of ArcGIS do you see the biggest skill shortage?” My answer: ArcGIS business solution experts! A follow up question from this response is often “What is an ArcGIS business solution expert?” Looking into the future this role will be hugely important to any and all GIS and intelligent map implementations. Basics: Offline Base-Maps and Layers – Part 2Tuesday, August 30th, 2016
In our first article in this series: Basics: Offline Maps and How to Get Started Part 1, we provided background on offline maps. We discussed the difference between base-maps and layers, and covered what are interactive and editable map layers. In this second post in the series we will discuss how we take base-maps and layers offline. 1. Taking Base-Maps OfflineFor this conversation we will focus much of our attention on ArcGIS. Note, the same basic principles discussed here will apply to other map and GIS offerings. So what is a base-map? It is a series of pictures or tiles combined into a single image. Rather like a jigsaw puzzle. And just like a jigsaw puzzle a single image is usually broken into smaller pieces. Think of a huge satellite image. Take a cookie cutter and break that up into smaller chunks. These are tiles. So why generate tiles? Improved user experience that is why. Google in 2005 released Google Maps. Suddenly we could pan and zoom satellite images for free on the web. And yes the first thing I did was zoom in to see my house. But take a closer look at Google Maps or an ArcGIS web map today. You will see the individual base-map tiles as you pan and zoom. Your experience is seamless and super fast. Imagine each time you panned the map, just for a moment the map disappeared, then reappeared with the new extent. That was the pre Google Maps reality. So how does this relate to offline? To be able to use base-maps in areas without wireless connectivity we need to copy these tiles to our smartphone or tablet. In Esri-land this can be done dynamically (see Collector for ArcGIS and the base-map selection option for offline) or through a tile package or TPK. This is simply a zip file of images. Tiles at different zoom levels: a “pyramid” of images.
Why tiled maps? from Penn State is a good article on this subject, well worth reading. What is a GIS Solutions Engine?Tuesday, August 9th, 2016
A GIS solutions engine: state the problem and with the simple press of a button …. out comes your answer. Sounds too good to be true. I bet I have you wondering where you can get this wondrous technology. What is a GIS Solutions Engine?There is little doubt that GIS has become easier. Releases like ArcGIS Online have greatly simplified the process or mechanics of generating and publishing maps. There are now many configurable (that means you don’t need to build from scratch) web and mobile applications which come with these platforms. Now anybody can set up and help provide answers to where questions with GIS. Right? Well… definitely, maybe! From our experience with customers, if you do not have in-house GIS expertise or are not prepared to spend time learning GIS ….. answering your business where questions with GIS might not be so easy. Mobile GIS: Integrating ArcGIS with Maximo®Monday, August 1st, 2016In this blog post we will be discussing mobile integration. That is between Maximo® and ArcGIS: two very complimentary technologies. Let’s start with some definitions. As described by IBM, Maximo® is:
While ArcGIS is:
On the mobile front we have Maximo® Anywhere:
As mobile ArcGIS experts. we have been looking into the integration of ArcGIS with Maximo® Anywhere to provide both online and offline asset management. A GIS Success RoadmapWednesday, July 13th, 2016
I often get phone calls which start like this: “We need an application built which does X”. Do you know my next question? Why? On the surface that would seem like an odd response. But think about it, the caller has a problem and yet the conversation starts with the technology. This is not the fault of the caller. But without understanding the problem the caller is trying to solve, how can we build out a solution. In this blog post I will share our approach to solving problems with GIS. We have developed a step by step process we use with those both new to GIS and experienced GIS users and organizations. Less an advertisement for what we do, more for you to think about how you might better solve organizational problems with GIS. Getting the most out of GIS requires careful planning and thought. Below we discuss our systematic approach to solving problems using GIS. Stuck in GIS Brexit?Sunday, July 10th, 2016
Those English are a funny lot. Its been an odd few weeks on their little island. In the Euros football (soccer) championship, Iceland (population 300, 000) beat England (population 53 million) 2-1. Andy Murray won the Wimbledon tennis tournament (let’s not here get into the England v British discussion). And then there was Brexit. The English have voted to separate from the EU. Oh dear! Stuck in GIS Brexit?With Brexit the Brits have opted for separation. So what do I mean by GIS Brexit? This post is about the many advantages of integration. Advantages, over time, the English will realise far outweigh the costs. Think about your GIS. As I’ve mentioned many times before, GIS is coming out of the shadows. Once perceived narrowly as purely mapping software, today it is being used more widely to solve business problems. In isolation GIS is powerful software, but when integrated with other business systems it really shines. Let me share with you two examples: ArcGIS and the Best of all WorldsTuesday, June 28th, 2016
I’ve mentioned many times before in this blog that we are big fans of the new cloud based approach to GIS (WebGIS). As Bill Meehan at Esri describes, connecting desktop, Web and mobile apps via your central GIS cloud based hub provides access, awareness and analysis. Moving from server to platform has many advantages. Its transforming GIS.
But today, the reality is that we live in a world of mixed technologies. Esri users have one or a combination of ArcGIS Server, Online, Portal. Web applications tend to be tied to these respective solutions. At WebMapSolutions we have been giving this considerable thought. Is GIS Groaning to Move Away from its Traditional Roots?Friday, June 17th, 2016
Is GIS Groaning to Move Away from its Traditional Roots?
GIS Widgets = Super Flexible AppsTuesday, June 14th, 2016
I have always been a big fan of flexible GIS applications which are easy to extend. Remember the very popular Flex Viewer for ArcGIS? Though Flex has largely gone away, the widget based approach to configuring and building GIS applications is still here. In fact we feel for many, widget based GIS apps should be leveraged across the organization. GIS applications built for one purpose, and big bloated web applications loaded up with tools are things of the past. I used the analogy of a cruise ship versus a speedboat in a past blog post. |
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