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ArcGIS

ArcGIS

Overview

What is ArcGIS?

Esri in Redlands, California offers ArcGIS, a geographic information system.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

ArcGIS is widely used across various industries and departments for a range of tasks. Users have found it valuable for assessing distances …
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Trusted Leader

10 out of 10
May 22, 2022
Incentivized
ArcGIS integrates with mapping and staking platform provided by NISC and is used to map services and is used in multiple iVUE applications …
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Happy Esri User

7 out of 10
October 22, 2019
Incentivized
We are an R&D Center at a University. Our applications are both internal and external:
Internally, we use ArcGIS to manage university …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

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Pricing

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Viewer

$100

On Premise
per year

ArcGIS for Personal Use

$100

On Premise
per year

ArcGIS for Student Use

$100

On Premise
per year

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

ArcGIS Online Join Features Demo 3 – Join to a table based on common attribute

YouTube

How to use Symbology demo in ArcGIS 10 - GT-101 - Washington College

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ArcGIS Collector App (iOS & Android)

YouTube

ArcGIS Maps for Power BI Demo - Drive Time Analysis

YouTube

Introduction to Python in ArcGIS Pro

YouTube

Curso online DEMO: ArcGIS aplicado a la Cartografía Geológica l Explorock

YouTube
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Product Details

ArcGIS Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Esri in Redlands, California offers ArcGIS, a geographic information system.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 9.

The most common users of ArcGIS are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(139)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

ArcGIS is widely used across various industries and departments for a range of tasks. Users have found it valuable for assessing distances between clinic sites and patient locations, generating maps, integrating data, and conducting spatial data analysis. It has become the go-to tool for logistics network optimization at FedEx and is extensively used in architecture, engineering, and civil engineering projects. In educational settings, ArcGIS is commonly used for completing projects and research tasks. It also plays a crucial role in research projects related to geography and groundwater chemistry analysis. Furthermore, ArcGIS facilitates collaboration between different fields of research and offers sophisticated visualization and statistical analysis capabilities. The software is integrated with mapping platforms to optimize operations across industries. Additionally, it has been instrumental in solving location and planning problems, promoting organized development, facilitating cartography, creating infographics, and presenting data in a visually engaging manner.

Versatile Tool: Users have found ArcGIS to be a versatile tool for planning and promoting organized development in various territories. It allows for the visualization, management, editing, calculation, and analysis of georeferenced entities and attributes. Many reviewers appreciate its wide range of possibilities with geographic data.

Intuitive Interface: ArcGIS is praised for its easy-to-use interface and intuitive menus. Users find it easy to learn, with localized tools that make navigation straightforward. The intuitive user interface has been mentioned by multiple reviewers as a positive aspect of using ArcGIS.

Powerful Integration: Reviewers highly value ArcGIS's powerful integration with other systems. They appreciate the continuous enhancement and upgrades that keep the software up-to-date. Additionally, the rock-solid ArcGIS.com cloud technology has been commended by users for its reliability and convenience.

Confusing User Interface: Many users have expressed frustration with the user interface of ArcGIS, finding it confusing and difficult to get used to. Some reviewers have suggested that a usability study should be conducted to improve the work process.

Expensive Cost: The high cost of ArcGIS is a common concern among users, especially for small companies and professionals in underdeveloped countries. Reviewers mention the expensive price of the software itself as well as the high annual maintenance fees compared to the new features provided.

Installation and Technical Support Issues: Users have reported problems with the installation process for new versions of ArcGIS, often requiring technical support. They have requested training materials and user-friendly videos to better utilize and understand the software.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-18 of 18)
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May 22, 2022

Trusted Leader

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcGIS integrates with mapping and staking platform provided by NISC and is used to map services and is used in multiple iVUE applications such as CIS, OMS, Map Viewer, AppSuite and iVUE Connect. ArcGIS Server helps to optimize our operations and day-to-day workflow.
  • Tight integration with NISC and other commercial systems
  • Helps to make better informed decisions and improve service
  • Planning new infrastructure and locating existing underground infrastructure
  • Building in more help tools into the application itself
  • Less restrictions on the licensing
  • Price could be lower but you really do get a lot of capability
There's not really a downside to the product. It meets every need that we have for performing staking and mapping functions. If you had to pick a scenario the only one would be for personal use. It is intended for organizations.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I have been a user of ArcGIS Desktop since the initial release of 8.0, and I manage a team of people that use it. It's currently used by pretty much every department at my municipality, from Emergency Operations, field data collection, internally mapping requests to name a few. The tools are used daily by staff that need to create report maps, determining if an planning application is viable. Our staff have also developed 3D models and are served up through web services to internal and external parties. We have also taken advantage of their portal technology for the publishing of Open Data. The tools have streamlined our business processes, and we can not function with out them.
  • Easy to use and learn
  • Extremely powerful for integration with other systems
  • Always being enhanced and upgraded
  • The ArcGIS.com cloud technology is rock solid
  • If your not on an Enterprise License Agreement, it can be expensive
  • If you are migrating to, this can be difficult. Use a consultant to assist
The application is best for organizations that need an enterprise GIS system. All students that are graduating from School that took GIS classes will have learned ArcGIS. If you need a GIS to do high end analytics, data science, or down to basic mapping, this is the tool for you. If you need to integrate your GIS with systems such as SalesForce, SharePoint, or virtually any other system, this is the tool that you should use. My organization can not survive with out ArcGIS
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
My organization uses ArcGIS for many different applications across the firm, ranging from uses in our 3D models to design and structural drawings. More specific uses include extracting exact coordinates for purposes of surveying, geophysical modeling, AutoCAD drafting, digitizing old construction drawings into 3D using LiDAR data, and geo-processing functions in ArcGIS. It has proved to be the go-to software package for anything involving mapping or coordinate calculation/extraction.
  • Digitization of 2D data into 3D
  • Multi-functional
  • ArcMap has a very old/cluttered interface
  • Can be a bit complex to learn
ArcGIS (ArcMap and ArcPro) is extremely useful in the engineering industry, especially in construction, subsurface geology determinations (for my case), utility locating, natural gas industry, 3D modeling (for working with shapefiles), georeferencing, the list goes on. There are better software packages out there for more specifics (such as with the 3D modeling), but I find ArcGIS to be great at many different things, rather the being the best at one task.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
My organization engages is civil engineering projects related to transportation planning, traffic operations and safety planning. We support the Iowa DOT on their projects. We use ArcGIS extensively for working with geospatial data such as traffic and vehicle locations, crash sites, pavement monitoring sites etc. We use geodatabes and shapefiles extensively for handling large data sets. We also use queries to find specific information.
  • Storing information in the form of shapefiles is a big advantage
  • Using geodatabases to work with large data sets is a strength of ArcGIS
  • The ability to solve spatial problems using ArcGIS is a great tool
  • Publishing online maps is a great feature
  • Improvement in processing speed using CPUs
  • Importing CSV files could be made smoother
  • The pricing is too high to fully leverage using all the software's capabilities
The software is a great tool for working and manipulating spatial data, creating and publishing maps, reports and pdf documents. It can import data from spreadsheets. It can be used to solve complex spatial problems. It is not well suited for analyzing data that does not have a geospatial component.
October 22, 2019

Happy Esri User

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are an R&D Center at a University. Our applications are both internal and external:
Internally, we use ArcGIS to manage university needs, such as campus mapping and inventory. We also use the suite of products for teaching and production work.
Externally, it is used as a core solution for extramural projects - like building a county GIS or similar client needs.
  • Enterprise GIS - multi-user, multi-versioned geodatabase access through a host of apps and web tools really help people stay connected to data.
  • Cartography - fantastic control and customization available with the ability to automate workflows.
  • Training - tons of training videos, seminars, and other learning materials are easily accessed. The help documentation is superb.
  • Ability to manage an organization through dashboards is extremely helpful.
  • Hard to find things in Pro that I used frequently in ArcMap.
  • Dislike increasing reliance on having everything run as a script.
  • User management can get buggy.
Desktop GIS analysis is a continuing strength as are enterprise-wide applications and data management. Advanced configurations of Portal and the Amazon pricing model are a nightmare to sort out.
Gabriella Lott | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It's used across the whole organization for neighborhood analysis, geographic presentation of data, and more.
  • ArcGIS Online simplifies complicated functions in ArcMap.
  • Allows you to layer various data points on top of each other
  • Enables for some spreadsheet calculations within the platform (instead of having to do every single step in Excel before bringing it in as a CSV.)
  • Faster processing speeds.
  • Ability to work in multiple maps at once.
  • A "tips" indicator and better help blog posts.
Well suited when working to assess Census data and other metrics across a city at a tract or council district level, when you need to see things spatially. I also think ArcGIS is just good for making simple maps with clear labels, thanks to the ability to draw your own boundaries as map notes.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcGIS is being used by our organization to map incidents, assets, work orders, and other features. It is used by almost all departments organization-wide to provide quick answers and analysis to spatial questions. Many problems can be better represented and analyzed in a spatial format. GIS provides the tools for that and in particular, ESRI's ArcGIS set of tools is expansive.
  • ArcGIS has continuously developed its toolset to provide an effective and easy to use GIS application to solve any problems that present themselves in a spatial format (the where in a who what where problem).
  • The tools themselves while complex in nature are fairly easy to learn and ESRI provides excellent training for them as well.
  • The software itself is an industry-standard and this makes it easy to find educated, experienced, and skilled employees.
  • Their support is very good. They are responsive, knowledgeable, and good with follow-through.
  • The newest user interface is well designed, easy to pick up and very comprehensive.
  • As the software has developed, the primary application has gone a couple of different directions. The latest versions have seemed to bring that back together. Hopefully, that will continue for the foreseeable future.
  • Cost is something that can be a hindrance to smaller organizations. We hope they would continue to work on their cost model to improve it in particular as it relates to the smaller government space.
When it comes to GIS applications, ESRI is the standard. We have been using their applications for 27 years and ArcGIS is a well-oiled product that has no rivals that we are aware of. We have used spatial mapping to analyze and solve problems in days that would have taken weeks to resolve in tabular formats. These analyses might not have been possible to even resolve without spatial data. ESRI's ArcGIS applications and online SAAS provisions allow this work to be done anywhere in the world at any time.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Used by our research team:
- Audience and reach generation using census data
- Proximity Reports
- Spatial Analysis
- Market insights
- Infographic creation
  • Create availability to ESRI and Census data
  • Easy to use online platform that does not require you to download an application
  • Allows you to seamlessly share maps/layers within the team
  • Often times on the Business Analyst app, the site will crash or result in random glitches when handling large datasets
  • I would like the ability to handle more than 5000 geolocations while using the Arcmaps proximity search
Well suited for advertising agencies looking to create targeted campaigns (using census and geolocation data). The geolocating processing limits can be very limiting when you are trying to analyze large data sets.
Scott McGee | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We utilize ArcGIS Server and ArcMap products from ESRI. Some of the data we manage is our sanitary and stormwater systems, parcels, streets, and road signs. We use ArcGIS to conduct our field inspections for sanitary sewer and stormwater which helps us with determining the correct maintenance action to perform. Our zoning map and voting maps are all in our GIS system as well which makes changing boundaries very easy. ArcGIS online allows us to publish our maps to the internet which allows our mobile teams to access our GIS data in real time.
  • ArcGIS makes exporting maps to PDF documents very simple - file-export and 30 seconds later you have a PDF.
  • The editing tools for ArcGIS are very powerful and allow us to make changes on the fly with little effort.
  • ArcGIS online publishes our maps to the internet with only a few clicks within the client application.
  • If you don't have any existing ArcGIS products, it's a very expensive piece of software to acquire.
  • Annual maintenance fees are rather high compared to the new features that you get.
  • You will need a computer with a powerful graphics card to fully utilize all of the software's capabilities.
If you need to maintain any type of assets that are underground this software is an excellent choice. The user interface is very easy to navigate and the ability to turn layers on and off similar to AutoCAD applications is very beneficial.

If you are looking for a CAD replacement, ArcGIS is not a suitable replacement. It does not have the accuracy tolerance that a CAD application will have.
John Michael Callen | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcGIS is used throughout many departments of the company, including the geology and engineering departments. The software is primarily used as a map generation and geospatial reference software, as well as a means to efficiently combine data from multiple other servers and databases. To a lesser degree, it is also used for its geo-analytical computing power.
  • ArcGIS is very effective at efficiently manipulating maps and display details of layers in order to make both aesthetically pleasing and extremely customizable in order to convey all of the necessary information to the end map viewer.
  • ArcGIS allows for easy compilation of data from many different sources (spreadsheets, database servers), as well as many options for combining/linking this data.
  • The learning curved surrounding manipulating certain elements of layer displays can be somewhat steep. In some cases, these display options do not act the same between shapefiles from different software sources.
  • Formatting of Excel spreadsheets in order to join and use them in ArcGIS can be difficult.
The program is well suited when you need Data from the server database and spreadsheets to join information in shapefiles.
FRANCO PIÑERO | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The program is used by the planning and development direction of the company. Thanks to ArcGIS, it has managed to solve problems of location of services and jobs by means of data vectoring, geo-referencing of polygons and superposition of data. It has been an excellent tool for planning the territory in order to promote organized development. This program has helped in the visualization, administration, edition, calculation, analysis of entities and geo-referenced attributes in different works. I also managed to solve the difficulties in the elaboration of cartography with thematic layers previously identified by a characteristic indicated when starting to work in ArcGIS.
  • Geo-referencing of data for the exact location of an object for the planning and development of the territory.
  • Is a program with excellent work tools for visualization, administration, editing, calculation, analysis of entities and attributes geo-referenced in different jobs.
  • Contains multiple work tools that allow the elaboration of cartography with thematic layers previously identified by a characteristic indicated when starting to work in ArcGIS.
  • I consider it difficult to use, it has an interface that needs to be studied to offer the user the use of the applications in a simpler and simpler way.
  • It is an expensive program that requires the investment of a large sum of money, which can be used to modify other work areas.
  • Is a program that requires a greater installed capacity of the computer so that the tools work correctly, being a disadvantage that can generate a delay in the delivery of the work.
ArcGIS is suitable for working on complex projects or activities that require high professional quality and detail. ArcGIS is ideal for the vectorization of hydrographic basins and mountainous reliefs because it contains the options of point, polygon and line that facilitate the identification of the things that we want to highlight. ArcGIS is ideal for the superposition of maps in order to analyze and evaluate the territory. ArcGIS is not ideal for simple activities or easy to solve because it is a difficult program to work and learn.
Rafael Mejias | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcGIS is used by two departments in my place of work, with this software we approach the elaboration of thematic maps. We also use it to plan the territory and analyze the impact of possible projects on the environment.
  • Analysis of the territory.
  • Advanced functions for maps and plans.
  • Cost of the license.
  • Incompatibility of old formats in the new versions of ArcGIS, for example, work done in ArcGIS 9 many times is not compatible with Arcgis 10.0.
ArcGIS adapts very well in the realization of thematic maps, it gives me a large number of options to represent on the map the study that is to be carried out. I believe that the management of the labels must be improved, often these overlap and the interface is not very intuitive to solve the problem.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcGIS is used by my department in the earth sciences. It allows sophisticated visualization and statistical analysis of geospatial data. It is also used by some other departments (e.g. astronomy and archaeology) for ad-hoc needs.
  • ArcGIS can handle multiple data types natively and usually without error. This mixing allows for more in-depth analysis than with a less robust software suite.
  • ArcGIS has ready-to-use basemaps that save time when doing quick work.
  • ArcGIS often allows multiple solutions to a problem. This user flexibility makes for a more comfortable experience.
  • There are frequently errors when using some tools, and the descriptions on these errors are often vague and unhelpful. This makes troubleshooting very difficult.
  • ArcGIS is slow for many tasks, which makes for an annoying experience - particularly with large datasets.
  • ArcGIS is expensive. Licenses may be out of reach for some researchers or organizations.
ArcGIS is the industry standard for geospatial analysis because nothing else has such a large suite of features. This robustness is the software's greatest strength and is why it's used everywhere from academia to industry. One useful scenario is in performing network traces from thousands of different points - model builder or Python can automate this process. However, ArcGIS' high cost and memory/slowness issues preclude it for being perfect for all scenarios. Some open source competitors offers 90% of the functionality without the headache.
Rafael Becemberg | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Initially is was used by me to analyze and characterize the historical trajectories of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.
Its versatility and ability to work phenomena in geographical coordinates and across different time zones allowed me to analyze the behavior of hurricanes since 1851. With other programs such as AutoCAD it would have been impossible to do so. It is currently being used to characterize the rainfall pattern in Venezuela. Different people of the company are being trained in the use of this tool, with the local commercial representative (Esri).


  • It allows to work and analyze phenomena on a large scale.
  • The fact that one is able to work in geographical coordinates makes it much more versatile for these tasks than programs such as AutoCAD or similar, designed to work in smaller domains.
  • The interpolation functions that it has can be extended and improved.
  • The interface with the user can also be improved so that any user who uses it for the first time, can access to understand the program more easily.
It is the most functional program that I have found so far, both because of the variety of georeferencing datums and coordinate systems, allowing to pass from one datum to another with great ease. In global meteorological and oceanographic studies, its value is very high because it allows the complete visualization of the phenomenon that is to be studied, and at the same time it allows sensitivity analysis when turning off or igniting certain variables in certain years or areas.

Its weakness, in my opinion, lies in the methods of interpolation that it has because they can lead to erroneous interpretations, depending on the skill and experience of the user.

March 16, 2018

The best GIS tool

Isabel Huamani | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In my performance as a geography professional I have used ArcGis for the regionalization of the territory, the analysis of the regional urban system of different territorial areas, and the construction of topographic and thematic cartography for territorial diagnosis.
  • I think it's easy to use, has a friendly interface and a wide range of geoprocessing tools available.
  • I also like that it has several options to achieve the same result, being able to choose the best one according to the circumstances
  • In addition, the cartographic output is very professional. It is incomparable.
  • It can be very slow. It requires a powerful computer to execute tasks quickly, because It uses a lot of RAM
  • The costs of this software are enormous for the initial purchase price and the subsequent yearly fees for the product.
  • Limited options for incorporating graphics into maps
ArcGis is an excellent tool for spatial analysis. It allows you to reduce response times. Once you invest in training your staff, you will realize the benefits that using ArcGis can bring to your business.
Nikardi Jallah | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcMAP/ArcGIS is new for the department that I work with. I, on the other hand, have previous experience working with ArcGIS from my university. I currently use ArcGIS as a way to map prevalence and incidence estimates of several behavioral risk factors in my state. The prevalence and incidence estimates can be entered or uploaded to the attribute table in ArcGIS, where differences are illustrated using symbols (graduated colors or polygons). Spatial mapping is also important for our team. Hotspot analysis, address geocoding, and spatial rate and smoothers are easily done on the ArcGIS system. ArcGIS does a great job mapping X,Y coordinates which you can then spatially join on your map. In addition to spatial analysis, ArcGIS allows you to use python code to run the geo-processing tools that allow you to do the spatial analysis, buffers, joins, and much more!
  • ArcGIS is great at mapping geo-coded data (specifically data with X,Y coordinates like addresses or events in certain places).
  • Using ArcToolbox on GIS allows you to do many different analyses including spatial analysis, spatial statistics, hot-spot analysis, and joins with the many geo-processing tools.
  • ArcGIS is a great application for mapping health-related data, visually. Incidence and prevalence data can easily be visualized by using symbols or colors on your map. The layout view allows you to customize your map by adding a North arrow, legend, and scale bar.
  • ArcGIS can sometimes freeze or perform tasks slowly when too many geo-processing tools have been used on the MAP.
  • ArcGIS could be improved by having a better support page. It is difficult to get the answers you need if you are unsure of how to, for example, perform spatial auto-correlations on your map.
  • ArcGIS is only for data that can be spatially represented, and that is its limitation.
ArcGIS is great for data that can be spatially illustrated, primarily in the health or environment sector. ArcGIS does not do well with data that is better off seen on a graph or table. It is also important that you have X,Y coordinates if you want to correctly plot data on a map.
Tiffany Puett, GISP | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
ArcGIS provides the tools for both our customers and our team to catalog, visualize, and analyze spatial data. When training, I always ask my class what industry wouldn't benefit from spatial data and it's really a trick question because I believe there isn't one. In other words, being able to add dimension and depth to data that an organization already has from a spatial perspective is invaluable. Let's say you have some addresses of all of your customers in a database. With a flat table, there isn't much more you can do. But with GIS, you can map those addresses and come up with hot spots or areas where most of the customers are concentrated. For retail, it may be beneficial to put new stores in these areas. Further, you could introduce things like household income, age range of population, driving distance, and more that may help you make that decision.
  • ArcGIS has some really strong cartographic aspects. Users can print or export to various formats such as pdf for sharing with decision makers Or they may leverage some of the interactive capabilities of an ArcGIS Online app which can be made public or secured by logins.
  • The current state of ArcGIS Desktop is intuitive and user-friendly. Users can add data, symbolize it and start working with tables in rapid time. In addition, users can easily push their data to a web map with a couple of clicks.
  • My favorite aspect of ArcGIS is being able to quickly query out data based on a certain criteria. Users can also merge the data into another layer based on its location. For example, you may have a bunch of building all over the map that need a situs address. Users can merge the building data with underlying parcel data and grab the situs address. The number of buildings per parcel can then be extracted from the data to see if it matches the tax listing. The buildings that don't match up can then be extracted for field work.
  • It would be nice if more functions from the Desktop application worked on a tablet. I understand that it is a beefy application so this would be dependent on the capabilities of the device.
ArcGIS is well suited to those who need more than just a map as a visual representation of some data. Users will benefit from the vast amount of tools available for modeling and analyzing spatial trends. That said, if you just need a map, then there are many more affordable options out there.
Manik Mitra PE, CFM, CPESC | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
HR Green uses ArcGIS for all kinds preliminary engineering purposes and making exhibits. It is being used across the whole organization for planning, exhibits, design etc.
  • Making plans to prepare exhibits so that the clients can make decisions wisely and efficiently.
  • In terms of shape file editing ArcGIS could add some new features like Civil 3D.
[It's well suited for] making exhibits and planning purposes(data representation, analysis, and other planning). It's less suited for design purposes. You have to depend on other software for design purposes.
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