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Selecting a deployment pattern for self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing systems

Self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing systems are typically deployed using one of three deployment patterns:

Selecting a deployment pattern is one of the most important decisions to make in designing a GIS system for your organization.

Perhaps the most critical factor in this decision will be aligning with your organization’s IT principles, guidelines, and comfort-level in supporting different deployment approaches. For example, some organizations may prefer to standardize on SaaS-based systems and solutions. Other organizations that are investing heavily into Kubernetes-based deployments, including hiring and training staff with operational Kubernetes experience and skills, may prefer Kubernetes-based deployment patterns.

Note:

The capabilities as well as the considerations differ between deployment patterns. Please review the comparisons below, along with the deployment pattern pages for additional information.

For general information and considerations around these deployment approaches see the ArcGIS products and deployment options page of the ArcGIS Overview.

Capability comparison

In addition to aligning with your IT principles, guidelines, and comfort-level, it’s also important to consider the capabilities of each deployment pattern in your decision-making process. The capabilities of a data editing and management system differ between deployment patterns. The following matrix compares the specific capabilities supported by each of the deployment pattern.

Capabilities used in a self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing system, but typically provided by other systems, such as basemaps, geocoding, and other location services provided by a location services system are not listed below. Learn more about related system patterns.

Capability SaaS Windows/Linux Kubernetes
Mapping and visualization
App building
Site building
Sharing and collaboration
Data publishing and hosting
Data editing
Data import and export
Data interoperability and transformation1  
Data distribution and replication
Workflow management and automation 2 2,3
Spatial joins and relationships
Network analysis 4 4
Pattern analysis
Proximity analysis
Summarization analysis
Geometry analysis
3D visual analysis
Graph and link analysis   5  
Hosted Python notebooks 6
Advanced exploratory analytics  
Community engagement    
Indoor GIS7
Production mapping7   3
Market intelligence 8  
Urban planning and design  
Project delivery and coordination
Other industry solutions9

Full support

Partial support

  1. ArcGIS Data Interoperability for ArcGIS Pro supported in all deployment patterns ↩

  2. Requires ArcGIS Workflow Manager Server ↩ ↩2

  3. Requires some Windows/Linux infrastructure ↩ ↩2

  4. Requires integration with a location services system or additional data, such as ArcGIS Street Map Premium ↩ ↩2

  5. Requires ArcGIS Knowledge Server ↩

  6. Requires ArcGIS Notebook Server ↩

  7. Full capability spans multiple system patterns ↩ ↩2

  8. Requires ArcGIS Business Analyst Enterprise ↩

  9. Some industry solutions only available on SaaS ↩

See the self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing system capabilities for more information on each row listed above. Additionally, each of the cells above is described in more detail in the self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing system deployment pattern pages.

The capabilities represented above reflect those available as of December, 2024.

General considerations

The considerations below aim to help align your organization’s business and IT needs with the appropriate self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing system deployment pattern. The information presented here is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather highlights key considerations for designing and implementing self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing systems.

  • Scalability, reliability, service level agreements (SLA), security, and the balance of responsibility between your organization and Esri tend to be major factors in selecting a deployment pattern. Please see the reliability, performance and scalability, and security pillars for more information.
  • The SaaS deployment pattern using ArcGIS Online features the quickest time to market.
  • Some of the more advanced, specialized, and/or industry-specific capabilities of self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing systems only exist for a subset of deployment patterns. Please review and consider the capability comparison and deployment pattern pages thoroughly in your design and decision-making process.
  • It is common for organizations to deploy more than one self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing system within their organization. Common drivers for this include, but are not limited to:
    • Separate systems for internal and external use, with the former commonly deploying on Windows, Linux, or Kubernetes and the latter commonly deploying via SaaS.
    • Domain or workflow-specific systems, for example deploying separate systems for urban planning, analysis, and general purpose self-service mapping and sharing.
    • Regional or departmental systems that establish strong boundaries and governance control across geographic or organizational units.
  • Self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing systems rely heavily on location services provided by a location services system. These two system pattens are often combined, especially when deployed as SaaS. The deployment of your location services system(s) should be taken into consideration when designing a self-service mapping, analysis, and sharing system.

Selecting a deployment pattern is one of the most important decisions to make in designing a GIS system for your organization. However, it is not the only one. There are many additional factors to take into consideration when designing your system, including areas like security, reliability, and integration. As such, please don’t consider the information provided here to be exhaustive. Please review the architecture practices and pillars of the ArcGIS Well-Architected Framework, as well as product documentation, in detail as part of your design process.

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