Abstract

"The Cloud" Within Enterprise GIS- Organizational Review and Evaluation Process
Track: Implementing Enterprise GIS
Authors: Rajagopalan Srinivasan

"The Cloud" offers organizations an opportunity to simplify internal maintenance of GIS software and hardware infrastructure and rapidly deploy ArcGIS solutions. In the world of GIS this can be a time and money saving venture; however, there can be drawbacks depending on your internal workflows, data sensitivity/risks, other integrated dependent systems and organizational structure. This paper explores methodologies to determine if your organization and GIS program can benefit from "the cloud," if a hybrid-cloud approach is more appropriate, and how to plan for and execute a phased transition from internal resources. This paper further explores a case study of the Prince William County Service Authority's (PWCSA) internal review and evaluation of cloud options versus internal infrastructure and exploration of ArcGIS online portal use for internal map mashups and data sharing across the organization.