New Case Study on Microsoft Azure and ESRI
It looks like Microsoft has posted a new case study that focuses on the Azure platform and ESRI.
By making the MapIt service available with Windows Azure, ESRI has made it easier for organizations to adopt GIS technology. The underlying technology is easy to work with and familiar, because it uses traditional Microsoft products. Customers spend less time deploying a solution and more time reaping the benefits, without the need to become a GIS expert.
Customers can deploy the MapIt service in Windows Azure without having to configure and deploy new hardware and install software packages, which can take weeks or months and cost tens of thousands of dollars?not to mention the ongoing costs associated with IT maintenance, power, and data storage. By freeing customers from having to make large hardware, software, and staffing investments up front, we?re helping lower the cost of GIS entry and increase the return on investment,? says Haddad.
Or in simple terms, “You don’t need ArcGIS Server and tons of IT admins to have geospatial applications on the web”.
Let us have Simon & Garfunkel take sing us out - Cloudy!
SQL Azure Now Supports Spatial Types
Some good news out of Microsoft last week, SQL Azure now supports spatial types:
Spatial Data Support - SQL Azure now offers support for the Geography and Geometry types as well as spatial query support via T-SQL. This is a significant feature and now opens the Windows Azure Platform to support spatial and location aware applications.
Brilliant if you ask me!
SQL Azure Now Supports Spatial Types
Some good news out of Microsoft last week, SQL Azure now supports spatial types:
Spatial Data Support - SQL Azure now offers support for the Geography and Geometry types as well as spatial query support via T-SQL. This is a significant feature and now opens the Windows Azure Platform to support spatial and location aware applications.
Brilliant if you ask me!
ArcGIS API for Flex 2.0 is Released
One of the more popular ArcGIS Server APIs has gone 2.0. ArcGIS API for Flex 2.0 is now ready for showtime at the ESRI UC later next month. You can read up on the highlights in “what’s new in version 2.0”.
ArcGIS API for Flex 2.0 is Released
One of the more popular ArcGIS Server APIs has gone 2.0. ArcGIS API for Flex 2.0 is now ready for showtime at the ESRI UC later next month. You can read up on the highlights in “what’s new in version 2.0”.
OpenLayers 3.0 Takes Shape
Mid-Long Term isn’t around the corner, but there is much to like about OpenLayers 3.0.
Amongst the things we did discuss (and agree on) in the meeting are:
- Have the map be a central place for triggering events
- Streamlining the drag flow
- Maps are the leaders of all. They have the projection properties, and you can reproject maps
- Layers advertise their ability to render in a projection. If they can’t render in one, they turn off or something
- LonLat is a bad name. Location() is the future, and it is smart. Geometry comes from Location, and is also smart. They know about projections.
- Baselayers are a bad concept. Mutually exclusive visibility is the way of the future. Layer groups is a potential name for this type of thing
- Things which are called many times (which we now know/can examine) should be improved performance wise
- Create adapters for things like DOM manipulation but still have OpenLayers keep its own implementation. Just make it easier for people to roll in their favourite, be it jQuery, ext-core etc.
- Potentially pull out the geometry operations stuff into a separate library
- Keep a set of “widgets” but better separate them, so that people can more easily write their own “widgety things”
- Facilitating mobile support
We welcome your feedback.
OpenLayers 3.0 is like my own little Private Idaho!