ArcGIS 9.3 is our next release of the ArcGIS platform and will provide focused new capabilities and services, especially for ArcGIS Server users.  ArcGIS 9.3 is currently in the design and early development phase.  We expect to be in beta this summer with a release before the end of 2007.

ArcGIS Online is a new family of products from ESRI focused on offering online GIS content and services to ArcGIS users. ArcGIS Online consists of a collection of 2D maps, 3D globes, and reference layers which can be used directly in ArcGIS Desktop, including ArcGIS Explorer and ArcReader. This content is continually maintained and updated by ESRI and provides the foundation layers that many GIS users need, including satellite imagery, street maps, shaded relief, physical, and political world data.

ArcGIS Online will grow over time to include additional online services and capabilities, but the current content and services are available for use now. You can access the maps, globes, and layers by visiting http://arcgisonline.esri.com. Future releases will include premium subscription services, such as sub-meter resolution imagery and real-time content, such as traffic or weather data. The upcoming ArcGIS Data Appliance will provide organizations with the ability to obtain the data available through ArcGIS Online and publish the same content on their own server.

ArcGIS Image Server provides extremely fast access to your collections of imagery, either from a DBMS or using the raw image data on disk.  As we move forward with ArcGIS Image Server we will be more tightly integrating it with ArcGIS Server as an optional extension and optimizing the server data pipe for faster Web-based delivery via ArcGIS Server.  Over time we will add more processing capabilities to better clean up and balance these image collections dynamically as well.

ArcIMS provides simple map services and is a widely used Web-based GIS mapping application.  At the ArcGIS 9.2 release, ArcIMS now shares the same Web Application Development Framework (ADF) with ArcGIS Server.  These shared components will continue to evolve in the future and provide vital tools for both platforms (ArcIMS and ArcGIS Server). 

To be certain, our future development will focus on improving ArcGIS Server rather than ArcIMS since the ArcGIS Server architecture allows for a more flexible and functionally-rich system design.  As a result, ArcIMS has been moved from an active development effort to a maintenance project.  We will continue to update and maintain ArcIMS and fix bugs in the system, respond to critical platform certification requests, and maintain compatibility with the rest of ArcGIS (including ArcSDE technology and the Web ADF).  Nevertheless, new development in ArcIMS will be very limited since the resources and effort will focus on ArcGIS Server. 

We will continue to have future releases of ArcIMS including 9.3 and subsequent.  Yet, the focus of future ArcIMS releases will be to maintain compatibility with the ArcGIS System and to fix minor issues.  This is the same strategy we have followed with ArcInfo Workstation for more than seven years.  As with ArcInfo Workstation we do not anticipate an ‘end date’ for this product and plan to support and maintain ArcIMS for many years to come.  In addition, we provided ArcGIS Server to ArcIMS 9.1 users with current maintenance so they are well positioned to take advantage of the additional ArcGIS Server capabilities into the future.

ArcWeb Services, which are on-demand GIS Web services hosted by ESRI, have undergone a number of significant enhancements and updates since the last Developer Summit including the following:

• Released the JavaScript API – this API provides an easy way to build rich internet mapping applications with capabilities such as on-the-fly layer manipulation, thematic mapping, and the ability to animate real-time mapping objects without having to refresh the entire browser window.

• Enhanced the Map Image Service – the enhancements offer the ability to work with vector data using the new image formats such as SVG and SWF. You can now easily build visually engaging capabilities into the browser client by allowing for developer level control over multiple data layers, cinematic transitions, as well as mouse listeners for identifying points, lines and polygons, and the ability to vary transparency levels all without the need for a server round-trip.

• Updated data release – The business and demographic data in ArcWeb Services is updated annually to include current and five year projections. The 2007/2012 update will occur in the third quarter of 2007.

• Increased evaluation period to 90-days – this increase accommodates organizations whose workflow requires extended time periods for basic acceptability testing.

• Announced ArcWeb Services Labs – Labs provide you with access to APIs before they are released to production. Labs subscribers can provide feedback directly to the ArcWeb Services development team and interact with other developers in the ArcWeb Services community.

Looking forward, the ArcWeb Services team is building mapping components for Adobe Flex 2, which will enable even easier development of reusable and full-featured Web mapping applications with expressive user interfaces.

ESRI will fully support the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.  Support for ArcGIS Desktop is planned as part of ArcGIS 9.2 Service Pack 3 (available around June/July 2007) and Windows Vista will be fully supported in ArcGIS 9.3.

ArcGIS Explorer is a lightweight client for ArcGIS Server that became available in November 2006 to ArcGIS customers with current maintenance and ESRI Developer Network (EDN) subscribers.  A number of organizations are already distributing maps and services to clients operating ArcGIS Explorer software. On the other hand, consumers judge the value of a free mapping client by the breadth and depth of its associated data.  The ArcGIS Online development team is currently “standing up” high resolution image services.  We expect these services to become available within the next few weeks as a no-cost preview of the United States.  In conjunction, we plan to publicly release ArcGIS Explorer at that time.

ArcGIS Server is offered in a scalable line of editions (Advanced, Standard, and Basic) that are built from a common set of technology components.  These editions are distinguished by their functionality.  Each ArcGIS Server edition is offered at an Enterprise level and a Workgroup level. These levels define each edition's capacity.  Learn more about editions and levels.

For the Enterprise level, the ArcGIS Server components (Web Tier, Server Object Manager, Server Object Container, and ArcSDE) may be deployed in various architectural scenarios, from single machine deployments to multi-machine scenarios.  With the Workgroup level, all software (both GIS server software and DBMS software) must reside on a single machine.  Since any computer running any of the ArcGIS Server components is subject to licensing fees, it would be expected and consistent with the industry that multi-machine deployments of ArcGIS Server will typically cost more than single machine deployments.

Users of ESRI server products (ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS, and ArcSDE) migrating from 9.1 to 9.2 can find detailed information about licensing in a document titled, Migration Information for ArcIMS, ArcSDE, and ArcGIS Server Users.

The System Design Strategies technical reference document shares a system design methodology to promote successful deployment of GIS technology.  The current edition, dated January 2007, includes a section for gaining maximum performance for both ArcIMS and ArcGIS Server.  The System Design Strategies document is a free download.

In addition, Web mapping performance is the subject of several Developer Summit technical sessions including Deploying and Tuning ArcGIS Server and Building and Deploying Enterprise ArcGIS Server Solutions.

ArcObjects have a long and healthy life ahead of them.  ESRI will continue to look for opportunities to create more coarse grained objects in the future.  We will send out a detailed questionnaire in the next few weeks asking how developers currently use ArcObjects and which areas of the API you would like to see simplified.

For more than 25 years, ESRI has built open and interoperable commercial off-the-shelf software products that adhere to important and emerging IT and GIS standards.  ESRI recognizes the Java platform (standard and enterprise editions) as a strategic and critical platform for customers requiring a secure, portable, and scalable solution. At the 9.2 release, ArcGIS Engine for Java and ArcGIS Server for Java have evolved to become a rich toolset for Java developers.  Nonetheless, we recognize that the Java documentation is lacking in some areas and are currently improving and updating the online documentation during the 9.2 service pack releases  ArcGIS Engine for Java documentation and ArcGIS Server for Java documentation.

Regarding future product releases, ESRI plans to support newer versions of Java Standard and Enterprise editions. We will continue to enhance our developer experience via seamless IDE integration for rapid ArcGIS Engine and ArcGIS Server development. We are working to support the extension of ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server with Java, including the building of custom geoprocessing tools. For ArcGIS Server, developers can expect better integration into service-oriented architecture (SOA) infrastructures, portal support, integrated security supporting federation and single sign-on, enhanced Web-based server and application management, etc.  For ArcGIS Engine, we’re looking at tighter integration with standard Rich Client Platform (RCP) frameworks.

The ArcGIS 9.2 release resolved many of the quality issues that users brought to our attention. Generally speaking, we have slowed down development where appropriate and implemented a new long-term software quality plan based on several key elements:

·          Improved documentation

·          More extensive internal testing prior to a Beta release

·          Continued rapid response to post-release quality issues

·          Better links between ESRI staff in Technical Support and Software Development

·          Improved incident tracking

·          Better information about software quality issues published on the Web (knowledge-base articles, lists of fixed bugs, etc.)

·          Improved bug tracking process and a new system to provide more complete information on each customer request and quality incident.  This will allow users to input more information on incidents so that we can better document and track problems and resolve issues faster.

·          Periodic releases of service packs (at every 3-4 months).

We continue to focus our teams on improving the quality of our software across the board, in the areas of the install, application use, documentation, error reporting, scalability, and much more.  Our software release process is centered on ensuring the highest quality with the upcoming ArcGIS 9.2 service packs and ArcGIS 9.3. 

ESRI is committed to supporting GIS and Web service standards.  This includes GIS standards from ISO/TC211 and OGC, Inc., and Web service standards from W3C and OASIS.

As GIS standards become finalized we support them directly in ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Server, the ArcGIS Data Interoperability extension, the ArcIMS Data Delivery extension, and ArcWeb Services as well as in application products such as MOLE, PLTS for ArcGIS, and GIS Portal Toolkit.

ESRI will continue to make major investments in the development and implementation of GIS standards to serve GIS users and promote the sharing of geographic data across all GIS platforms.

Additionally, ESRI supports Spatial ETL (extract, transform, and load) via the ArcGIS Data Interoperability and ArcIMS Data Delivery extensions.

To learn more about ESRI’s commitment to standards and interoperability please visit:  www.esri.com/standards.

ESRI supports KML interoperability with software that read and generate KML.  ArcGIS Explorer, a freely downloadable Web-client application, and the ArcGlobe application in ArcGIS 3D Analyst provide rich three-dimensional globe visualization capabilities (similar to Google Earth) as well as analysis tools and the ability to integrate KML data with your GIS data.  In addition, ArcGIS Server dynamically publishes your GIS data in a wide variety of open standards including KML for use in any KML client such as ArcGIS Explorer or Google Earth.

We especially want to thank the approximately 250 people who took the time to complete the pre-summit questionnaire.  Survey responses are critical to help us focus our energy on appropriate areas and relevant technology as well as improve items that are not meeting your needs.  Summary charts of the results to the multiple choice questions are posted for your review.