ArcGIS Online

A digital map is an excellent communication tool to inform colleagues, clients, citizens and businesses. ArcGIS Online is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that operates entirely from that idea. It is an accessible platform that allows you to connect within and outside your organisation.

The biggest advantage of ArcGIS Online is that the learning curve is less steep than that of ArcGIS Pro. This can make collaboration with internal stakeholders with less GIS knowledge easier.

Also improve collaboration between your GIS department and the rest of your organisation? Then schedule a appointment with one of our specialists. We are happy to think along with you!

Customised ArcGIS Online Apps 

For governments, utilities, infrastructure organisations and also in the construction industry, location data plays a central role in daily business. ArcGIS Online offers an infinite number of possibilities to support employees in the field and/or on the street. Apps like FieldMaps, Survey123, Workforce and ArcGIS Navigator have been specially developed to support them.

In the 30 years of Tensing's existence, we have learned that no GIS-related requirement is the same. While it is true that there is much to learn from best practices of similar organisations, there are always factors that make every GIS project unique. ArcGIS Online's App development capabilities reflect this seamlessly. It is possible to customise any of the existing Apps to suit the needs of your organisation.

It is also possible to configure a customised App in ArcGIS Online, for example to support your fieldwork, asset management or environmental monitoring. You do not need any knowledge of programming languages for this. To configure very complex customised requirements, however, you may need help from an experienced GIS Consultant.

Dashboarding as a communication tool

The relationship between location and government information provision peaked during the corona crisis due to interest in the corona dashboard. This peak has now passed. Yet this is not an isolated hype. The location-driven dashboard as a communication tool towards citizens and companies is a trend that, in our view, will continue in the coming years.

The heatmap is one of the most powerful visual communication tools for getting a complex message right to the recipient. They can already be found online: crime, recreation, traffic accident and mobility heatmaps. At Tensing, we expect this too to become an increasingly common communication tool. The Heatmap Renderer in ArcGIS Online makes it possible to create a heatmap based on a large dataset. It can then be shared publicly via an ArcGIS Storymap.

Flexible scalability thanks to the cloud

Working in the cloud has pros and cons, like all choices have pros and cons. From Tensing, we recommend that organisations combine the benefits of the cloud with the advantages of on premise and/or desk-based working. For smaller and medium-sized organisations, the combination ArcGIS Pro and Online is highly recommended as it combines advanced analytics capabilities with the benefits of the cloud.  

Business and Location Intelligence

Data is the new gold. That realisation is anything but new. However, being integral with all available data is certainly not easy. ArcGIS Online is built for collaboration, and this does not stop at fieldworkers, GIS analysts and other specialists where location traditionally plays a major role in their work. By leveraging existing APIs or building a custom API, you can bring together data from all corners of your organisation. In practice, this already happens a lot with links to CMS, CRM and ERP systems.

ArcGIS Online offers a wide range of standardised APIs. Our experience shows that customisation is often required when linking systems. Customisation that, by the way, is definitely worthwhile, because bringing all your data sources together can lead to useful insights for your organisation's strategic and policy choices.

Tensing is an ESRI Gold Partner and has completed projects at various organisations in recent years. In our knowledge base you will find best practices from Tensing!

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