It's an exciting time in the world of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Whether you're a utility looking to view your customer landscape to fix issues or analyze power consumption, or a manufacturer like Cisco looking to gain visibility into the supply chain, Esri can provide the visualization tools.

At the last Esri User Conference Cisco and Esri announced the testing of ArcGIS Pro in virtualized environments. As Esri said last year, ArcGIS Pro virtualizes well. ArcGIS Pro also delivers a great interactive experience when working with 2D and 3D data.

Virtualization is a trend that is continuing to grow as more companies move from physical desktops to on-premise VDI environments and cloud-based Desktop as a Service (DaaS). Cisco is helping Esri preview the challenges that come up in this new environment so ArcGIS Pro can be deployed for a great user experience.

What does this all mean? Well, the Cisco virtualization of graphics (working with NVIDIA GPUs) means that engineers don't have to wait around for seven hours in order to do 10 minutes of work to download design data on a new vehicle design (a quote from a major automotive manufacturer at a recent conference). Power utilities can be more responsive with greater visibility. It also means a great user experience for other Esri users viewing GIS data.

At the Esri User Conference there will be ample time to discuss with Cisco Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) these topics:

• How Esri and Cisco are working together to improve the user experience. Esri and Cisco are exploring ways that will provide this new virtualized environment easily to users.
• How Industries such as power utilities and manufacturing are benefiting from a secure scaleable environment that can be provisioned in minutes, not hours or days. Cisco UCS allows for consumption of location intelligence and spatial analytics from Esri anytime, anywhere and from any device.
• How we enable Smart City solutions that empower both government and the private sector to work together to provide improved services and greater responsiveness to citizens.

Have we intrigued you?  Then "come on down" to the Cisco sponsored 'Startup Zone'. Cisco is sponsoring the 'Zone' to help bring you 25 presentations in a dedicated demo theater, and 10 Startup session presentations in industry focused tracks. Of course, we're there too, talking about Industrial applications, Smart Cities and the new virtualization paradigm.

By the way, did I tell you we'll be giving away 'selfie-sticks'. Yes, we will be, it's true! Come on by to see how you could get one!

I'm looking forward to our conversations in San Diego at the Esri User Conference. Find us in the lounge area of the Startup Zone -that's Booth UNB2.

Here's the last Esri Conference News about Cisco and Esri if you missed it: A World of New Possibilities with ArcGIS Pro and Cisco Systems

Finally, to find out how Cisco and our partners can help you, go to Cisco Energy, Cisco Manufacturing, and Cisco Smart Cities.

From the Cisco-Esri team to you -safe travels and a great conference!

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