Hello,
We currently have several flex viewer applications, and I would like to consider upgrading to the new WebAppBuilder. However, I am confused about the webAppBuilder and its integration with ArcGIS Online. I have several questions about the Web App Builder:
Users: With the flex viewer we manage users on our own server. If I wanted to I could set up hundreds of different users. Now with ArcGIS Online it appears that I am limited to 8 users. Is there a way that I can continue to manage users via ArcGIS Server, and not ArcGIS Online?
Site url: I would prefer our url to by http://gis.myorginization.org, not http://myorginization.arcgis.com. Is that possible with the new map builders?
Application location: I want my maps and applications on my server for a couple reasons.
1) I don’t want my applications to be dependent on a 3rd party site.
2) No offence, but I don’t want ESRI to be aware of each and every map and app I create. I realize that webcrawlers out there that can find public maps, but we have some data that is secure and we do NOT allow secure data to be exposed on a 3rd party site.
3) Backups. I prefer to create a backup of my entire GIS server for a certain date. As far as I am aware, there is no way to backup ArcGIS Online or restore applications to a certain date.
Webapp builder relationship with ArcGIS Online: Will ESRI support site based ArcGIS Server applications, or is everything going to be dependent on ArcGIS Online? I did notice there is a developer edition of ArcGIS Online, but even that asks for our organizations ArcGIS Online url.
Conclusion: I need a mapping system that allows me to build apps quickly, keep everything on my server (maps and data), and allow us to set up as many users as I want. ArcGIS Online is great for organizations that do not have a server, but I wonder if ESRI realizes that this over integration between ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Server is really constricting ArcGIS Server users. If I cannot continue to create apps on my own server, keep them on my server, set up permissions as I see fit, then I may abandon ArcGIS Server. What are other people doing? Is there a way to create apps using the webappbuilder and not be dependent on ArcGIS Online?