Migrating to open source from a commercial geospatial platform is easier than you think

25 September 2018 Geoff Zeiss

Samuel Song is responsible for the National Cemetery GIS implementation within Veterans Affairs and like many in government increased use of GIS means a greater sensitivity to cost. Samuel decided to investigate migrating to an open source geospatial from a commercial stack and found it surprisingly easy though there were some challenges.  Samuel outlined his experience at this year’s GIS in the Rockies conference in Denver.

Currently he is using ArcGIS Desktop as his desktop GIS, SQL Server as a database, ArcGIS Enterprise as a web server, and ArcGIS API for Javascript for his web GIS. Samuel’s main costs are ArcGIS Desktop which costs him $7200/annum. To look at ways to lower his costs Samuel decided to experiment with open source geospatial software; QGIS for his desktop GIS, PostgreSQL/PostGIS for his database, GeoServer for his web server, and Leaflet or OpenLayers for his web GIS (all part of the OSGEO open source geospatial stack). Some of the things he found in his proof of concept are surprising, others perhaps not so to folks who have been working with open source geospatial software for years. His most important findings from his perspective is that QGIS is a very stable, very powerful alternative to ArcMap. He also found that PostgreSQL/PostGIS is a stable alternative to SQL Server. He found that migrating data from an ESRI Geodatabase is much easier than he expected. He had some problems with Leaflet and WMS attributes, and preferred the greater functionality of OpenLayers.  

He is recommending as a first step migrating off ArcGIS Desktop to QGIS. That alone will save him $7200/annum.  In the future he is looking at PostgreSQL/PostGIS replacing SQL Server, using OpenLayers for his Web GIS and testing QField mobile data collector to replace Collector for ArcGIS.

His overall conclusion is that although some GIS professionals fear a transition to an open source stack due to its perceived complexity and many moving parts, he found that it is possible to move to a fully open source platform from an existing ArcGIS implementation and that some parts of the migration are much simpler than he expected.

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss

Geoff Zeiss has more than 20 years experience in the geospatial software industry and 15 years experience developing enterprise geospatial solutions for the utilities, communications, and public works industries. His particular interests include the convergence of BIM, CAD, geospatial, and 3D. In recognition of his efforts to evangelize geospatial in vertical industries such as utilities and construction, Geoff received the Geospatial Ambassador Award at Geospatial World Forum 2014. Currently Geoff is Principal at Between the Poles, a thought leadership consulting firm. From 2001 to 2012 Geoff was Director of Utility Industry Program at Autodesk Inc, where he was responsible for thought leadership for the utility industry program. From 1999 to 2001 he was Director of Enterprise Software Development at Autodesk. He received one of ten annual global technology awards in 2004 from Oracle Corporation for technical innovation and leadership in the use of Oracle. Prior to Autodesk Geoff was Director of Product Development at VISION* Solutions. VISION* Solutions is credited with pioneering relational spatial data management, CAD/GIS integration, and long transactions (data versioning) in the utility, communications, and public works industries. Geoff is a frequent speaker at geospatial and utility events around the world including Geospatial World Forum, Where 2.0, MundoGeo Connect (Brazil), Middle East Spatial Geospatial Forum, India Geospatial Forum, Location Intelligence, Asia Geospatial Forum, and GITA events in US, Japan and Australia. Geoff received Speaker Excellence Awards at GITA 2007-2009.

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