Erin Strickler, PE, GISP - Director of Services
Looking for some new professional goals for the new year? If you’ve not yet made the move to ArcGIS Pro from ArcMap, may I suggest that you place that on the top of your list? We all know the time is coming where you’ll need to use ArcGIS Pro for most workflows - some of us were early adopters, some reluctant adopters, and some of us are still holding out.
If you find yourself among the holdouts:
We have written about this multiple times since Pro 1.0’s release in early 2015, so we have a number of resources for you.
Are You ArcGIS Pro Ready? Check Your System Settings.
Top 5 Differences Between ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro
And we have spoken countless times on the topic, some of which were recorded as webinars:
So without further ado, here is a list of 5 reasons you should make the switch now:
1. Well, let’s get this one out of the way. Esri will stop supporting ArcMap on March 01, 2026.
Will it go away? No. You’ll be able to continue using it, you just won’t be able to reach out to Esri Tech support for help. (See also #3 below…)
2. Then why bother switching?
Because ArcMap 10.8.2 has been in the “Extended Support” Lifecycle phase since March of 2022. This means, among other things, that:
“Esri will not certify major new versions of an environment during the Extended lifecycle phase of an Esri product. Customers may use Esri software products in the Extended lifecycle phase with new environments, but Esri does not guarantee that the product will work with these environments.” - Esri Product Lifecycle Policy, June 2022
So, for example, if you want to upgrade to Windows 11, you’ll be on your own. (If you’re in this boat - you want to stay with ArcMap but want to move to Windows 11 - I would love to hear more!)
3. You’ll want all the new things Esri is developing for you.
“However, all desktop development efforts are focused on ArcGIS Pro…”
Which brings us to reasons 4 - 99, but I had to cut it off somewhere.
4. You can Edit feature services directly.
As Web GIS becomes more a staple with more and more GIS data is moving to the cloud, specifically in the form of feature services in ArcGIS Online/Portal for ArcGIS (hosted and otherwise), you’ll need ArcGIS Pro to edit that data in a desktop environment. This then opens the floodgates to all the new products that Esri is building that rely on the services-based platform like branch versioning which is required for multi-user editing workflows for Parcel Fabric, Utility Network, and services with Validation-type Attribute Rules.
5. The Catalog Pane is your friend.
This one is as low-tech as #4 is high-tech, but it’s hands down my favorite basic change between ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro. The ribbon might take a while to adjust to, but I’ve done it once with AutoCAD and now with ArcGIS Pro and lived to tell the story. The Catalog Pane puts everything you might need at your fingertips, including multiple maps.
Do you have more reasons to add to this list? Or do you want to begin celebrating Festivus early and air your grievances? Comment below! We’re here to listen, and then we’re here to help. We’ve got an ArcGIS Pro Kickstart made just for you. Reach out to us today on our contact page.
