ESRI recently sent out a reminder that starting April 16, 2019, they will be updating ArcGIS Online to enforce the use of TLS version 1.2 only.  The update is likely to affect most ArcGIS software and your custom solutions.  If you have not updated and validated your system’s support for TLS 1.2 only, you may lose your ability to connect to ArcGIS Online.

If you use ArcGIS Pro to connect to ArcGIS Online, you are fine if you are using versions 2.0 to 2.3.  If you are using Pro 1.2 to 1.4.1, these versions are all retired and you are encouraged to upgrade to the recent version.

If you use ArcGIS Desktop to connect to ArcGIS Online, version 10.7, to be released in first half of 2019, will support TLS 1.2.  Version 10.6.1 and earlier will require a patch to enable TLS 1.2.  ESRI has provided validation web services so you can quickly verify that ArcGIS Desktop, third-party apps, and custom components will work when TLS 1.2 only is enforced.

For more info on this, see ESRI’s technical support article on TLS.  Also see the list of software products affected by this change.  To enable TLS 1.2 on ArcGIS Desktop, see this FAQ.  Validation web services can be found here.

Starting the night of December 5th, ESRI will be changing the user types in ArcGIS Online.  Right now there is a Level 1 and Level 2 user, where Level 1 was a viewer only and Level 2 could publish and edit data.  After the change there will be 5 user types: Viewer (formally Level 1), Editor, Field Worker, Creator (formally Level 2), and GIS Professional.

The new user types include a mix of capabilities and included applications.  For example, the Field Worker user type includes the ability to edit existing datasets through field apps like Survey123, Workforce, and Collector.  The different functions of each user type can be found here.  Read the ESRI blog about the new user types here.

ESRI states your current user settings will not change … I would check that after December 5th!  Role settings will not change.

Some of you might remember Wade Kloos when he was working at ESRI as an Account Manager for the LA and Orange County areas many years ago.  He is currently the Director of Enterprise Systems at Utah Department of Natural Resources and has recently done a presentation at the 2018 NWGIS User Conference about why ROI studies rarely get done and how you can use a One-Page GIS ROI solution yourself for free!

He states, “By doing this ROI investigation yourself, Continue reading →