A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a system that includes a type of database containing geographic, location-based data and which has software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing the geographic data in various useful ways.
ArcGIS Pro
Esri's ArcGIS Pro is a leading example of GIS software. ArcGIS Pro is a Windows-based application requiring enhanced graphics support. It is similar in computing and graphics requirements to professional Engineering CAD applications. ArcGIS Pro is a desktop-based GIS application that enables users to visualize data, run analysis, manage and maintain data, and work with 2D and 3D data. It connects directly to ArcGIS Online by using the ArcGIS Enterprise Portal.
ArcGIS users broadly fall into three usage profiles or personas, which can be described as Fundamental User, Intermediate User, and Advanced User. These categories put common ArcGIS Pro tasks and activities into groups. These activities range from map visualization and the use of 2D vector data and light editing, to advanced map visualization using complex datatypes such as raster data and applying advanced spatial analytics with geo-processing tools. These three user personas loosely correlate to the amount of CPU and GPU resources that are required to perform these associated activities.
The following table describes the user personas:
User persona | Typical activities | Licensing |
Fundamental User | Interactive map visualization in 2D and 3D, single user data editing and database spatial analysis using vector data, and raster imagery visualization. | GIS Professional Basic |
Intermediate User 1 | All capabilities of the Basic license level with the addition of multi-user editing and database management with larger datasets, and higher-end spatial and raster analysis tools. | GIS Professional Standard |
Advanced User | All the capabilities of the Standard license level with the addition of high-end cartography and the full range of ArcGIS Pro’s spatial analysis capabilities. | GIS Professional Advanced |
For more information, see User types, roles, and privileges.