Redlands, California - Southwest Florida Water Management District signed an enterprise license agreement (ELA) with ESRI to support the rapid expansion of an accessible geographic information system (GIS) that provides employees with the right data and tools to effectively perform their work. The agreement also supports the technological advancement of two key information systems built on ArcGIS Server. The ELA is an efficient and cost effective software acquisition method that meets the workflow demands of the staff.

A longtime customer of ESRI, the Southwest Florida Water Management District has woven GIS into the fabric of many of its work processes. Newly designed ArcGIS Server Web applications are spreading rapidly throughout the organization. The ELA accelerates the adoption of these GIS Web implementations by giving staff access to a full range of ESRI products in the ArcGIS suite that includes desktop, server, and mobile GIS.

“We are expanding our GIS usage for our many programs, which means a lot of redevelopment efforts,” explains Kim Cash, the district's resource architect. “ESRI products are key components in these projects. The expansion provides a good business case for the ELA. First, it gives us better business continuity. Second, rather than following the normal processes of software acquisition, the ELA allows us to install software as needed. The agreement provides the licensing flexibility we need to support these changes.”

The district has opted to include the ESRI Enterprise Advantage Program (EEAP) as part of its agreement. Steve Dicks, the district's mapping and GIS program director, says, "The EEAP offers the high-level technical support we need for our growing processes. It is far beyond basic support. The ESRI-assigned technical advisor understands our organization's vision, has an in-depth understanding of our systems, and offers advice addressing our system design and technical concerns."

To support its four areas of responsibility (flood protection, natural systems, water supply, and water quality), the district collects and stores massive amounts of data. Historically, this data has been managed in separate mainframe and GIS systems. These systems are currently being migrated to a GIS-based solution called the Water Management Information System (WMIS). This system combines ArcGIS Server, document management, and workflow capabilities to enable rapid access to district data including geospatial and field collection data and scientific information. The ELA allows the growth of the system using multiple servers and provides improved support for business continuity.

Dicks says, "We run multiple environments for development, testing, and production for all enterprise systems. We also need to have a higher availability level of access to ArcGIS Server capabilities. The ELA helps us meet these goals and build this system out to our user community."

The ESRI ELA facilitates the ease of launching a second information system, the Land Resources Information System (LaRIS). LaRIS supports the acquisition and management of more than 400,000 acres of land owned by the district. This huge system keeps track of land management information using an ArcGIS Web application, which includes mapping interfaces, and performs behind-the-scenes spatial analysis.