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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

(1-24 of 24)
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Rachel Piper | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As a middle school history teacher, I often use ArcGIS in my classroom with my students. I often use the Geo-inquiries as a lesson with my students for them to get a broader understanding of our current unit's geography and it's larger affect on the world. Other teachers use it in their prospective classes for science, math, and even language arts. We have also utilized it to create surveys among our students to put on a mapping system. By allowing my students to manipulate maps, they get a much better understanding of geography in general.
  • Geo-inquiry lessons are already made and easy to integrate in the classroom.
  • Map manipulation allows students to fully understand geographical relationships.
  • Story maps are extremely easy for students to use and create their own.
  • PD training for me to better utilize and understand.
  • User friendly videos for my students to watch to better understand.
  • General training since some are difficult to implement.
We utilize ArcGIS for each of our units. For example, we just completed our unit on the Middle Ages and are starting our unit on the Renaissance. There is a GeoInquiry that has students manipulate a map to not only see but understand the spread of the plague. They can toggle on and off different layers and icons to see how deadly the plague truly was, and how it led to the rebirth of Europe.
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
Charles Tremblay | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Territory development.
  • Powerful.
  • Intuitive.
  • User friendly.
  • GIS software for big or specialized business.
  • Expensive.
  • Weak service.
  • Weak and slow technical support.
  • Complex method to licensing (6 months later, we don't have access to all purchases).
  • Dependence on technical support.
Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst are very powerful and easy to use. I'm learning QGIS and it can make up to 90% of my needs. I think that this software is for big business; for smaller ones, I recommend taking QGIS and saving money to do complex analyses by a specialized company. In our case, it's more cash efficient.
Licensing methods are very complex and technical support is very slow. Dependent on technical support but it is hard to work with in low communication service territories.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcGIS is used by our organization to accomplish many geographic modeling tasks. The tasks include geocoding, building interactive web maps, creating analytical models to answer business questions, and for other advanced geographic analyses. The software is used across the organization by IT professionals as well as professional analysts with the technical know-how to address geographic questions.
  • ArcGIS is world-class with geographic analyses.
  • ArcGIS works well with web applications.
  • ArcGIS takes forever to open, and it seems to be getting slower with every new release.
  • The creators of the ArcGIS software make it more difficult to create add-ins for the product than what could be done with an open-source solution.
ArcGIS is well-suited for firms that need the most advanced geographic modeling capabilities. ArcGIS is capable of accomplishing most anything, and if the method is not programmed into the point-and-click interface, ArcGIS allows for custom programming extensions from professionals that know languages such as Python. The software is not for beginning geographers.
Yoni Dvorkis | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have one named user license with ArcGIS as well as Open Streetmap Premium to enable us to geocode addresses for what is otherwise considered to be protected health information. This geocoded data is then plotted on map visualizations usually outside of ArcGIS where we can asses visual and geographic distance between our clinic sites and where our patients live.
  • Geocoding is very fast with StreetMap Premium.
  • Easy to use interface good for novices and experts alike.
  • Allows for geocoding to building location vs. mapping address which is useful for several of our applications.
  • Exporting data into excel as a CSV is a little clunky there should be a more intuitive way to do this.
  • License configuration is impossible to do for the end user. I needed customer support to walk me through every step is was much too complicated.
  • Updating street maps is confusing I would prefer a more intuitive interface that launches directly from ArcGIS to do this.
Geocoding addresses locally without sending PHI over unsecured internet this tool is very good to use. Map functionalities are intuitive and easy to implement, Also the process to export latitude and longitude from the tool into a data extract is easy to do once you do it a few times but the first couple of times might be tricky. I had to ask customer support to show me how to do all of these things the first time around.
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 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I work in architecture and engineering, and much of our work involves preparing site visits. We use ArcGIS to plan, strategize, and model what our next steps are. ArcGIS provides us with all the mapping tools we need, as its toolboxes open a plethora of opportunity to analyze the spatial data we are working with.
  • ArcGIS has so many tools to manipulate spatial data.
  • ArcCatalog makes it easy to find files.
  • Creating tools and modeling are a breeze in ArcGIS.
  • There is a steep learning curve for ArcGIS users.
  • It takes a lot of computing power for ArcGIS, as it can't be installed on every computer.
  • At times, tools can be outdated and there are many similar competitors making more web-based tools that can replace ArcGIS.
Our team does a lot of coordination and scheduling for field assessments. ArcGIS is the most comprehensive and robust mapping program we've used and it has offered a lot of benefits to how we can strategically analyze our spatial data. The toolbox of modeling tools is especially helpful when we are predicting future routes or analyze the spatial data we are given.
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.
Thomas Young | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcGIS is used by my organization to present geographic maps and to do a host of geographic analytics. The tool offers geocoding, buffers, traffic analytics, and many other tools that can't possibly be listed here. ArcGIS is used across the organization for the purposes just mentioned. Perhaps the most advantageous part of ArcGIS is that it is the geographic tool of choice for so many analysts that it's not hard to find help from another analyst.
  • ArcGIS has such a large user base that accomplishing a geographic task is much easier than using other competing tools. Whenever you have a question, almost always, perhaps always, someone else has had the same question and had it answered by the ESRI professionals.
  • ArcGIS is perhaps the most advanced tool for geographic analyses. You can just about do anything you want to with geographic data.
  • ArcGIS's recent move towards online interactivity is awesome. They've made data transparency much simpler.
  • ArcGIS takes forever, not kidding, to open. Especially if you have tons of data in the system. If you plan on using ArcGIS with big data sets make sure you have an awesome computer.
  • ArcGIS offers so many advanced analytics tools that it's hard not to use it over other tools. But, those other tools come with costs. I wish ArcGIS came with all the analytical toolsets in the base package.
  • Learning the python coding side of ArcGIS isn't for the faint of heart. It's not hard, but it's not exactly easy to become completely competent at either.
Of all the geographic analysis tools I have used, the one I always come back to is ArcGIS. The software is able to accomplish any geographic analysis task possible, and the time it takes to accomplish the task is usually much less than other tools. ArcGIS is well-suited for proximity analysis, transportation analysis, geographic coding, geo-regressions, and many, many other common analytical tasks for spacial analysts. The software is not well-suited for any analysis that doesn't need geographic analysis. It's only geography and geography's connection with statistics.
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.
Shelby Bowden | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use ArcGIS on a daily basis across the whole department. Users range from professors, professionals, graduate students, undergraduates, and even some high school students. It is an awesome tool that we use to manage, display, and manipulate the often large quantity of data that we deal with. No other software stands up to it.
  • Data display and customization
  • Editing data files such as merging, joining, and separating them
  • Data sharing with other programs such as Google Earth
  • Uses an insane amount of RAM
  • Constantly needs internet access to use a license, which can be a problem when working in the field
  • Confusing use of different generations of files
ArcGIS is extremely well suited for work in geoscience, even if you aren't doing anything statistics or data manipulation related. It is an excellent tool to display almost any type of data, and the images created in ArcGIS are publication-quality without any other editing. Sometimes it can be overkill if you are doing something more simple, and often the job can be done in Google Earth.
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.
Julio A Rivas | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Currently, ArcGIS is used with several product options. First are maps for a specific theme; there are maps for hydraulics systems and there are heat maps for population behavior. My company, has two main users; the other three people are field professionals, and they are always are looking for the latest information of some focused theme, like a traffic mobility or flood risk near Caracas.
  • Cartographic output
  • Data process
  • Attribute fields
  • Load field data information
  • Create raster procesed information from basic data
  • Every project occupied lots of computer memory
  • Makes the computer run slow
  • It's a very expensive software
ArcGIS worked the best when our company did a job on roadmaps for Zamora's Mayor Office, with a pump stations risk map and a first response and hospital map, at the end we finished with an all-in one-map. It was very hard to see the problems that the Mayor's Office has to deal with. ArcGIS has a high price for a small business like ours.
Dmitry Galkin | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Several people throughout our company use ArcGIS to create visual stories through maps. We often work with cities, because of which we need to make maps using parcel data.
  • ArcGIS is very good at allowing one to incorporate data from different sources, for example matching parcel shapefiles to Excel-based data on certain parcels.
  • When used properly, ArcGIS can be good at showing compelling stories visually. This is useful when one needs to convey geographical information quickly.
  • ArcGIS does a good job of maintaining a consistent interface over different updates. This makes it easier for someone, once trained in ArcGIS, to adapt quickly to a new version.
  • ArcGIS can be a difficult interface to get used to for new users. There are many tools at one's fingertips, but it takes a while to learn them. A standard tutorial program may be available, but should be marketed more to companies that use ArcGIS.
  • I'd like to see ArcGIS connect more to publicly available shapefile data that could be accessed and incorporated directly through the program.
  • I think a user forum, with input from administrators, similar to what IMPLAN provides, would be very useful. This could help users ask questions and get answers on tips for using ArcGIS.
  • I don't really like the credit-based subscription system to which ArcGIS transitioned. Perhaps it's more fair overall, as it links usage to cost, but the fact that credits do not carry over seems like a punishment for the subscribers who use ArcGIS moderately.
ArcGIS is very suitable for situations when you need to create detailed maps. It is not suitable if you do not need to create a map and you have limited or no experience in the program already.
Cesar A Siso L | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Well, ArcGIS has been used in my organization since 2010, when happened de Mayon change in the municipality, with the intention of obtaining real data of the urbanization and people for making them pay taxes. The software is only used in the Catastral Department, not in other locations. The main problem that is the transition from a trial version for one that had been paid, it was very expensive for the organization and limit the number of users.
  • ArcGIS has an excellent core of tools to make possible everything you need in spatial analysis, from analysis of raster data to the conversion of CAD file to shapefile to simplify their use
  • The simple use of the software is its other great virtues, it is very easy to use, very friendly with the user, the localizations of the tools, the intuitive nature of the menus and the facility to open and save the files
  • The exit format of the maps maybe it is other of the great advantages of ArcGIS in comparison with other GIS, you have a big range of formats to save your map images, and that allows you to uses in any way you like
  • The first thing is the cost, it is a very expensive software for countries of the underdeveloped world, so the professionals of GIS who want to use it, sometimes observe a big range of limitations, because we can use only a few tools that the organization pay and our analysis sometimes are limited because of that.
  • For a rookie user, maybe the software can be overwhelming, seeing so many tools and so many options and features maybe can be afraid or do not know where to start, so it is necessary to prepare a big range of tutorials for people that do not know anything about the GIS, because they can be a possible users but maybe they can be afraid of the software
  • The process of installation of a new version in our case bring us a big problem because the software does not want to be uninstalled so we have to contact technical support to make the transition from version 9.3 to 10 and that delay many of our work
ArcGIS can be used possibly in any private or public organization that needs a kind of spatial analysis, the software allows you to use a big range of tools to analyze everything you have in your territory or market, like people, frequency of buying, transit, transportation, pollution, green areas, urbanization, soil use, travelers, etc. All these categories allow us to make plans or organize a budget and generate a better use of information.

On the other hand, maybe ArcGIS can be a threat to politicians because the big quantity of data you allow makes an analysis of everything you want including the behavior of people and what their needs are. Sometimes that is something that politicians do not want the public to know for security reasons.
yixiang Shan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
ArcGIS from the ESRI has become the Fedex corporate standard. We use its Geo-location services, Mapping services, helping operational research, and engineering planning, for optimizing the Fedex express/logistics network. Fedex uses ArgGIS to provide the geospatial solutions that are extensible to multiple business applications by providing GIS infrastructure to enable rapid integration of GIS capabilities into global FedEx business applications.
  • ArcGIS is a great for displaying large amounts of geographic data. The online interactive platform ArcGIS Online is very useful.
  • The documentation of ArcGIS is very helpful and detail.
  • The graphical interface of ArcGis is user friendly.
  • ArcGIS is an powerful suite of applications and tools that all work together seamlessly for a complete desktop, mobile, and web solution.
  • The Python integration and REST API are make it more powerful and flexible, allowing you programmatically to access the data in a variety of ways.
  • The online help/forum changes too frequently.
  • Being the major paid GIS software, there is no real competition. But sometimes random crush will make the user disappointed.
  • Little bit too "black-box", any processes completed, ranging from geocoding to slope interpolations, do not have an exhaustive list of steps taken to reach the specific geo-coordinates, making understanding very difficult.
Very good for the big enterprise to study and improve the logistics network which is related to the GIS domain. Not suitable for the small business or study as the license fee is relatively high.
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.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Previously, I used ArcGIS in an educational capacity as a student. For a number of years I learned ArcGIS and used it to complete projects, assignments, and other tasks as required for my classwork.

Currently, I use ArcGIS in a personal/educational capacity as a tool to complete my thesis reseach. ArcGIS has proven to be absolutely critical in my thesis research as it is a fully functional GIS suite that in many regards is the industry standard (analogous to the Adobe Suite in the creative fields). Due to its long legacy, ArcGIS contains a huge suite of varied tools for analysis, display, and sharing of my data and results.

Over the years, ArcGIS has transitioned to being a bit more open in many regards. One of the biggest changes was switching the tools over to Python to ease scripting, updating, and modification of the internal tools and analyses. ArcGIS has also improved its ability to import/export various proprietary and open data formats and sources.
  • Fully-featured and powerful GUI.
  • Large library of integrated tools for analysis and visualization.
  • Large community of experts, novices, and academics to provide tons of examples, help, and guidance for users.
  • Excellent documentation.
  • Industry-wide acceptance and usage means ease of deployment and exchange with others.
  • Fully x64 native client is needed for large/complex datasets, which are not uncommon in GIS.
  • GPU-accelerated analyses is needed as it will reduce analysis times orders of magnitude in most every case.
  • Fully multi-threaded analyses where possible. Currently, analyses are almost exclusively single-threaded on the CPU with ArcGIS' GUI running in a separate thread to prevent lockup.
  • Better interchange capabilities with Open Data formats and sources like OpenStreetMap.
  • Product stability could use some improvement, especially when working on a very large project file.
If you work in the industry, I do not believe you can go wrong with ArcGIS, especially if your company is willing to license it for you. The power of ArcGIS combined with its industry-wide presence means it is the defacto tool in many companies and institutions. It also has an incredibly intuitive (for a GIS suite) GUI, which eases the learning curve when compared to other offerings which historically have had more obtuse GUIs. ArcGIS manages to strike an impressive balance between functionality and intuitiveness.

For home use, I think ArcGIS could potentially be overkill, though recently ESRI has offered a home-use single-seat license for $100 which is an excellent deal. For use-cases like this, I would recommend QGIS from OSGeo as it would be more than sufficient for home or hobbyist uses without carrying any cost for licensing.
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