"},{"ID":10222,"user_firstname":"Jill","user_lastname":"Edstrom-Shoemaker","nickname":"Jill Edstrom-Shoemaker","user_nicename":"jedstrom","display_name":"Jill Edstrom-Shoemaker","user_email":"JEdstrom@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2019-11-22 17:01:50","user_description":"Jill leads the ArcGIS Enterprise and data management product management teams. She focuses her time on enabling customers to get the most they can out of their ArcGIS software by aligning product strategy with real world implementation needs. Outside of work, Jill is working her way through visiting all the U.S. national parks, though she is more often found reading a good book with her dog by her side.","user_avatar":"
"},{"ID":5791,"user_firstname":"Scott","user_lastname":"Ball","nickname":"Scott Ball","user_nicename":"scottball","display_name":"Scott Ball","user_email":"SBall@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:17:37","user_description":"Scott is a product manager working to make the power of geography accessible to everyone. He spends his time listening to user feedback and working to make ArcGIS Online the best darn SaaS out there.","user_avatar":"
"}],"short_description":"Understand the differences between ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online and how they work together.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Adapted from an article published in ArcNews Summer 2023<\/em><\/p>\n ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise are<\/span> both foundational <\/span>to the ArcGIS system, <\/span>acting as a backbone to all <\/span>web-based GIS <\/span>workflows.<\/span> Both <\/span>products <\/span>allow users<\/span> to create, share, and use maps<\/span>, apps, scenes,<\/span> layers, analytics<\/span>, and data<\/span>. They also<\/span> powe<\/span>r<\/span> Esri\u2019s suite of applications<\/span>, built for collecting data in the field, sharing your GIS work with stakeholders or the public, and more. These apps enable a variety of geospatial workflows including<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>mobile workers using <\/span>ArcGIS Field Maps <\/span>to<\/span> data<\/span> analysts using ArcGIS Insights <\/span>to developers using ArcGIS <\/span>Maps SDK for JavaScript<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n With all these shared values between ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise, it <\/span>can sometimes <\/span>be hard to <\/span>articulate <\/span>the <\/span>distinctions <\/span>between the two<\/span> Esri products<\/span>, know <\/span>when to use one over the other, <\/span>and understand how to get the most out of using <\/span>them together<\/span>. In this article, we will dive into <\/span>both <\/span>the similarities and differences between<\/span> Ar<\/span>cGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online, <\/span>potential patterns of use, <\/span>and <\/span>recommendations for <\/span>choosing the product that best meets your needs. <\/span>Plus, since <\/span>ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise are designed to work together<\/span>,<\/span> in many cases you <\/span>won\u2019t<\/span> have to choose \u2013 <\/span>we will show you how to <\/span>use <\/span>them together to <\/span>get the best of both worlds.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","content":" How Are They Different? <\/a>| Maintenance <\/a>| Data Storage <\/a>| Security & FedRAMP considerations <\/a>| Licensing<\/a> | Why and how do they work together?<\/a> | Collaboration and Sharing <\/a>| Common Real-World Examples<\/a><\/p>\n","image_reference":false,"layout":"standard","image_reference_figure":"","snippet":"","spotlight_name":"","section_title":"","position":"Center","spotlight_image":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" The ArcGIS system offers a comprehensive set of tools and capabilities to do work from desktop GIS, to web GIS, to web and mobile apps, and developer tools that span across ArcGIS. ArcGIS is a modular, comprehensive system that you can use as a single GIS analyst, or with a large department across your entire organization, in almost any industry. Many ArcGIS <\/span>customers<\/span> use a combination of products across <\/span>the ArcGIS system to meet their business needs.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n A very common workflow within the ArcGIS system is to start in ArcGIS Pro on your desktop. Here you might be editing your data, using geoprocessing tools to analyze your data, visualizing your data, and creating maps, all stored within the ArcGIS system. From there, you can share your data as web layers to ArcGIS Enterprise or ArcGIS Online so others at your organization can also work on the same datasets, analyses, and maps concurrently. ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online also power Esri\u2019s full suite of applications and extend to your own custom applications to share out your data, layers, and maps in different ways, tailored to your specific audiences and projects. When you\u2019re ready, the ArcGIS sharing model allows you to share your work with a wider audience, including others in your organization and even the public. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You may find that ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online organizations look very similar. And that\u2019s intentional! ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise share many of their underpinnings, meaning the user experience between the two products is very similar.\u00a0 Whether creating new data, new web maps, or new apps, your individual users may not know if they\u2019re using ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. If you\u2019re not sure which product you’re using, there is one easy way to tell: if the address shown in your browser includes arcgis.com then it\u2019s ArcGIS Online. Otherwise, you’re probably using ArcGIS Enterprise. <\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2045942,"id":2045942,"title":"Enterprise UI","filename":"Enterprise-UI.png","filesize":49231,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/administration\/arcgis-online-or-arcgis-enterprise-you-dont-have-to-choose\/enterprise-ui","alt":"ArcGIS Enterprise administrative user interface","author":"5791","description":"","caption":"The ArcGIS Enterprise portal and ArcGIS Online have a very similar look and feel. ","name":"enterprise-ui","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2029032,"date":"2023-08-09 16:06:48","modified":"2023-08-16 17:18:20","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":621,"height":307,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":229,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI.png","medium_large-width":621,"medium_large-height":307,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI.png","large-width":621,"large-height":307,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI.png","1536x1536-width":621,"1536x1536-height":307,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI.png","2048x2048-width":621,"2048x2048-height":307,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI.png","card_image-width":621,"card_image-height":307,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Enterprise-UI.png","wide_image-width":621,"wide_image-height":307}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2045952,"id":2045952,"title":"Online UI","filename":"Online-UI.png","filesize":50729,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/administration\/arcgis-online-or-arcgis-enterprise-you-dont-have-to-choose\/online-ui","alt":"ArcGIS Online administrative user interface","author":"5791","description":"","caption":"","name":"online-ui","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2029032,"date":"2023-08-09 16:07:28","modified":"2023-08-09 16:07:49","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":604,"height":306,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":235,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI.png","medium_large-width":604,"medium_large-height":306,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI.png","large-width":604,"large-height":306,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI.png","1536x1536-width":604,"1536x1536-height":306,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI.png","2048x2048-width":604,"2048x2048-height":306,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI.png","card_image-width":604,"card_image-height":306,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Online-UI.png","wide_image-width":604,"wide_image-height":306}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" As we start to go beyond the user interfaces and look at how these products are built, the distinctions between the two products become more obvious. A central difference between ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online is that ArcGIS Enterprise is software and ArcGIS Online is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Both software and SaaS have different advantages.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Since ArcGIS Enterprise is software, it is installed on infrastructure your organization controls. You can deploy this software in a public cloud environment, private cloud environments, on-premises, on virtual machines, and so on. Essentially ArcGIS Enterprise can be deployed in any type of environment that meets the basic system requirements. You can choose whether to deploy on Windows, Linux, or Kubernetes depending on what makes sense for your organization. Additionally, you have the ability to scale your deployment in a very fine-grained manner according to your specific needs. You may want a single machine for a small GIS organization of five members or you might require many machines for a large GIS organization of 100,000 members. If your organization requires high availability, you can architect your Enterprise deployment to support stringent uptime requirements. Some organizations may need to have Enterprise installed behind their firewall or work in environments disconnected from the open Internet. To enable this, you can choose to have your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment fully connected, partially connected to the Internet, or fully disconnected. ArcGIS Enterprise gives you full control over your system administration, security, customization, and integration.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, ArcGIS Online is a SaaS. This means Esri takes a lot of work off your plate by hosting and managing the infrastructure for your Online organization. When you purchase ArcGIS Online, you don\u2019t need to architect and install the system; you simply choose whether you want a standard data store or a premium data store (for higher storage limits and more processing power) and determine how many users you need. It is up and running right away, accessible through your web browser. Maps and apps can be authored to take advantage of the global caching of our content delivery system, meaning they will perform quickly and reliably under heavy load and the system will automatically scale for changes in usage and traffic. ArcGIS Online will also update automatically throughout the year, meaning you don\u2019t have to plan for downtime in order to upgrade your organization. ArcGIS Online has significant advantages in terms of the ease of getting started and not needing to do work to maintain and patch your system. ArcGIS Online is also available to any location with an internet connection. ArcGIS Online is easier to use, set up, and do business with overall but lacks the customization and control over your system that is available in ArcGIS Enterprise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" With ArcGIS Enterprise, you can choose when it makes most sense for your organization to upgrade to a new version. Maybe you want to schedule specific downtime, or maybe you want to wait to upgrade to a new version while you prepare for significant changes or train internal staff on what is coming with the new version. Architecting, deploying, managing, and maintaining ArcGIS Enterprise gives you this level of control over your system, but this takes careful planning and time. You will need IT administrators within your organization to help architect, deploy, and maintain the system. You will need the physical or virtual infrastructure to host Enterprise. And you will need the time and expertise to tune and scale your deployment over time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Conversely, ArcGIS Online is updated by Esri several times per year and requires no intervention or planning to get the latest updates. For those who wish to preview the changes before the updates go live, there is the ArcGIS Online Early Adopter Community program which allows users to see and test interface updates and new features several weeks prior to them going live. Once released, all changes are immediately available to all users of ArcGIS Online.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You can also choose how the data you are using in ArcGIS Enterprise will be stored. With Enterprise, you can use data that is both hosted by the system itself, within ArcGIS-managed data stores, or referencing registered data stores of your own, whether it is a folder, enterprise geodatabase, cloud data warehouse, or more. <\/span>\u00a0The ability to reference registered data is very powerful because it<\/span> allows you and everyone in your organization to edit or make changes to the data that will be reflected everywhere. This means you won\u2019t have to spend time syncing your data or wondering which data source has the latest updates.<\/p>\n When using ArcGIS Online you can store and use data directly in Online, or you can use externally hosted services and layers from ArcGIS Enterprise, KML layers, OGC web services, and other compatible web services.<\/span> ArcGIS Online has regional data hosting centers that allow you to store your Online-hosted data closer to your location wherever you are around the globe (you choose your hosting region when initially setting up your organization).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" ArcGIS Online is in the process of becoming an authorized FedRAMP Moderate Cloud Service Provider by the US federal government. With this news, you might be wondering if this changes the consideration between using ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise. The pending FedRAMP Moderate authorization for ArcGIS Online indicates that it meets particular standards and requirements for security as a Cloud Service Provider for U.S. Federal Government agencies. Because ArcGIS Enterprise is not a Cloud Service Provider, but is software, it inherently is not eligible for any level of FedRAMP authorization. It is as secure as you enable it to be with the deployment and infrastructure it is installed on. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you have a requirement for a FedRAMP Moderate compliant environment or meet certain other similar security requirements, the power is in your hands to determine what criteria you need to meet with your deployment and architect your ArcGIS Enterprise to meet those standards. With that said, the fundamental values of the two products remain the same, with ArcGIS Enterprise is software that you install and manage on your infrastructure, and ArcGIS Online is SaaS managed by Esri. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ArcGIS Enterprise is licensed based on the number of cores in your servers (when deployed on Windows and Linux). Enterprise can also be deployed on Kubernetes, but it is licensed via a subscription model (since it\u2019s cloud-native, not server-based, cores do not apply here). You will also need to purchase licenses for users who wish to create, edit, or share content within the system. Because you are using your own system and hardware, there are no consumption-based storage or compute costs in Enterprise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJump to a category<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Starting your ArcGIS Journey<\/strong><\/h1>\n
<\/a>How Are They Different?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n
Deploying software (ArcGIS Enterprise) vs a SaaS (ArcGIS Online)<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Maintenance<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Data Storage<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Security & FedRAMP considerations<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Licensing\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n