Esri licensing changes and what they mean for you

In response to customer feedback during the 2017 user conference, a series of changes in Esri software licensing came into effect on 1 January 2018.

These changes open up the opportunities for organisations to extend GIS applications to larger numbers of viewer, or read only users without impacting licensing costs and to maximise current investment with concurrent use licensing. Here’s our quick summary on what the changes are, and what they mean for you.

What’s changing

The Esri licensing changes apply in three different ways:

• ArcGIS Desktop. Concurrent Use licensing is now available for new and existing customers of ArcGIS Pro and Arc Map. This provides the flexibility to deploy ArcGIS Desktop in a way that best fits business workflows.
• ArcGIS Named User Identity. Regardless of whether you hold single or concurrent use licensing for ArcGIS Desktop, each license now includes a Named User Identity. This can be used to access either ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise and provides access to all ArcGIS platform capabilities.
• ArcGIS Enterprise. All ArcGIS Enterprise Standard and Advanced customers are now eligible to add Viewer Licenses (Level 1 Named Users) at no additional cost. This change does not apply to ArcGIS Online.

What it means for you

For many Clarita customers, ArcGIS Desktop licensing represents a significant investment. Concurrent use licensing is generally the most cost-effective and efficient license model.  Esri’s announcement provides the clarification that many organisations were looking for before undertaking the upgrade to ArcGIS Desktop 10.5.1 / 10.6.

For ArcGIS Enterprise clients, the major opportunity is that their staff can now access secured layers, maps, apps, and services for free, by leveraging the Esri Portal for ArcGIS product.

The benefits of utilising this licensing model means a reduction in the cost of ArcGIS Desktop Licensing, by delivering the same functionality via thin web client apps and device apps, allowing your staff to access enterprise location information anywhere, anytime on any devices.

To activate additional Viewers, your administrator simply needs to access the “Generate Portal for ArcGIS Licenses” option from the Licensing area in My Esri.

As Esri Silver Partners, Clarita Solutions can help you establish, develop and maintain your enterprise GIS solutions on the Esri platform. Call us to discuss how you can best leverage these Esri licensing changes in your business.