topic Re: Hexagon vs Esri in ArcGIS Collector Questions

Hexagon vs Esri

WellingtonChristian_Rodrigues_ — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 21:13:56 GMT

Hi everybody

...

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 04:30:23 GMT

Wellington,

That would be really interesting to hear about the differences. I hope you get some replies. I tried poking around some and only came across this (which was not very helpful):

Compare ESRI ArcInfo vs Hexagon Geospatial | IT Central Station

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

DanPatterson_Retired — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 09:56:54 GMT

Very strange.... since they have joint project(s)...

Esri and Hexagon Promote Their Joint Collaboration at HxGN LIVE

perhaps you could pursue this internally incase this is related and the left hand with be competing with the right hand.... or maybe whoever 'wins' will subcontract to the other.

strange indeed

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

PeteCrosier — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 10:50:46 GMT

First thing I noticed on Android is that Mobile MapWorks seemingly can't be installed on phones, only tablets.

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

NeilAyres — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 11:12:00 GMT

Not strange at all. There is on the surface a level of cooperation, but a fierce rivalry lurks not far below...

Remember when Erdas was the image processing software of choice for esri users? Then it was bought into the Hexagon group along with ER Mapper, Microstation etc etc. Out went Erdas, in came PCI (Envi).

We still have a good lot of cooperation here with the local Leica agents because their survey kit and field devices are just better than most.

As regards the original subject I would say....

Don't worry about the opposition. Just make sure that what you say about the features of collector are actually true ie, go out and use it with real, live data. Don't just believe the sales talk.

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

AdrianWelsh — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 12:50:01 GMT

As regards the original subject I would say....
Don't worry about the opposition. Just make sure that what you say about the features of collector are actually true ie, go out and use it with real, live data. Don't just believe the sales talk.

Neil,

Truer words cannot have been spoken. Collector can be a deceiving tool. Sales talks can make it appear the to be the greatest but I would wholeheartedly second what Neil has said in terms of trying it out yourself.

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

JoeBorgione — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 00:28:00 GMT

Neil Ayres‌ Don't just believe the sales talk

Adrian Welsh‌ Sales talks can make it appear the to be the greatest ...

You guys nailed it. But this is true about just about anything. I'm about to embark on a new project involving Hexagon. They tell me I have nothing to worry about. (like I haven't heard that before...)

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

AdrianWelsh — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 14:45:51 GMT

Joe,

You'll have to report back here on what you think about Hexagon!

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

JoeBorgione — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 15:43:24 GMT

I will. The agency I work for (9-1-1 dispatch) has just barely started to the migration to Hexagon's I/Cad which will require me to convert my ESRI data (centerlines, address points, dispatch polygons, yadda yadda yadda...).

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

NeilAyres — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 06:37:44 GMT

migration to Hexagon's I/Cad...

Really. That's a big change. Who persuaded them that this was a good idea. Is your current system not doing what you want it to do?

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

JoeBorgione — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 11:40:32 GMT

Is your current system not doing what you want it to do?

Pretty much... (I'm assuming 'you'refers the agency, not me: I'm just the GIS guy in the back....)

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

NeilAyres — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 13:00:08 GMT

Joe, wasn't trying to cast aspersions....

I guess someone "high up" thinks this is a good idea, just wondering why.

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

JoeBorgione — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 15:27:11 GMT

No problem Neil. This will be my third CAD migration in about 15 years (between two different dispatch centers), so it's not like this is my first rodeo!

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

AnnBorowik2 — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 19:51:45 GMT

Joe,
I was the GIS Admin at a PSAP that migrated to I/CAD and the GIS data was all ESRI-based. No small feat. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.
~Annie

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

JoeBorgione — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 20:19:16 GMT

Annie- just one: what's your favorite Hexagon Drinking game? All seriousness aside, I'm keeping all my ESRI data as is with respect to maintenance workflows. I understand there is some sort of whiz bang tool Hexagon provides to convert ESRI data (not sure if they will make me mash my feature classes into shapefiles) into whatever format the CAD needs. Comments?

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

AnnBorowik2 — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 20:29:57 GMT

Joe-

I never thought of a Hexagon drinking game! Whatever game you play, just don’t drink the GeoMedia Kool-Aid!

I’m an ESRI advocate through and through, but I’ve never worked anywhere that was too strapped to pony up the funds for ArcMap. Our data was also maintained and stored in ESRI technology; it was a large GIS shop and I was merely one cog in the machine but I certainly wouldn’t have converted if it was up to me. I used FME to ETL the data into a GeoMedia (Access?) warehouse. It was a steep learning curve but I took full advantage of the Intergraph onsite training sessions. Have you been assigned a map lead? I had three different ones, Hexagon lays-off then rehires in short cycles. (What a joy it must be to work there!) My first map lead was a dud but the next two were stellar. They helped me set up a custom workflow. Like I said, I used FME which I could not have survived without. But soon before I left that gig there was an announcement about ESRI and GeoMedia playing together. I would agree with whoever said there was animosity there, I witnessed it. Mostly from Intergraph towards ESRI, but it’s easy to be the bigger person (ESRI) when you have 99.999% of the market share, yes? So, in a nutshell, I recommend using an ETL that spits data out from ESRI format to GeoMedia-I/CAD format. And in a stored procedure or script because you will rerun that sucker a billion times so you want it to be as automated as possible.

Good luck!

Annie

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

JoeBorgione — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 20:58:04 GMT

Here is a youtube vid of what they offer now:

https://67.130.136.10/owa/redir.aspx?C=ohAu4yHtfDyPikoatZLcvAVi_I_ncTr3jnsFSz4gzqKtTJgNq-jTCA..&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.yo…

I'll learn more next week when I sit in a series of phone bridge meetings with Hexagon.

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

AdamPadilla — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 02:32:53 GMT

I worked at a company for many years that used GeoMedia for 2D and 3D feature data creation. About four years ago I took a job with another company doing the same type of feature data creation, only the new company used ESRI products. I picked up ArcMap pretty quickly and tried to find analogous tools and functionality I would use, for the most part I found the tools I needed. Unfortunately there is some functionality that ArcMap can't do, such as

- no geometry type restrictions a feature class can be point, line or area geometry

- On the fly topology repair, now I have to build elaborate rules and validate on a regular basis

- Attribute based symbology

- Dynamic Geoprocessing results

- Spatial Filter

Having worked in both for feature data creation, I would choose GeoMedia

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

JoeBorgione — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 12:01:15 GMT

Having worked in both for feature data creation, I would choose GeoMedia...

And you're okay saying that on the ESRI forum... Alrighty then...

Re: Hexagon vs Esri

AdrianWelsh — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 16:48:09 GMT

Adam,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I find it helpful to see different opinions on other options out there. It would be hard for me to go and try to learn a brand new set of tools and such. Knowing that something besides Esri software is helpful for some groups gives me hope that there is still much room for improvement. I do not doubt that Esri looks at what their software cannot do and will work towards finding a solution for the majority of GIS needs.