What is a WebGIS?
A WebGIS is a GIS application made available through a common web browser.
Typical GIS applications are normally huge and CPU-intensive client side programs running on workstations or Personal Computers.
While this kind of applications is perfect for heavy map processing, its limits appear when you are trying to use them to delivery geographical informations to a broader or a less specialized public, in fact a typical user will not have any special GIS software installed and will probably want a very simple user interface.
In this scenario, web technology seems to be the perfect solution: everybody has and is able to use a web browser. Additionally, you will not need to distribute your data but only a pre-processed representation of the data (typically an image).
System components
To serve dynamic maps on the net, you usually need some server-side components and some client-side software such as a web browser and some other small software components that run into the client's browser to enhance user interaction:
- Server side
- Web server
- Map server
- Geodata storage backend
- Client side
- Web browser
- Optional software components to be run inside the browser
Market share and open source revenge
All major GIS software players published proprietary solutions to face this new challenge, but none of them reached (in our opinion) the goal to realize a general purpose, flexible reliable, fast and affordable system.
One of the more common pitfalls seems indeed the competition between different vendors that led to a plethora of incompatible formats, another issue is the lack of W3C standard support from the web browser producers.
Open Source Software gives us great solutions for all of these tiers. Strictly bound to the KISS theorema, open source developers produced several high quality specialized components to face all these items. We now have many full out-of-the-box solutions ready to be deployed on the net.
Should I really need consultants then?
Maybe...
GIS technologies are not simple ones, even if you had the best software in the universe, you still need know how and expertise to put it all together.
NetGis and itOpen staff can analyze your needs, project an integrated solution, develop, deploy and promote your mapping on the web.
Our clients range from private companies to big public administrations and we have base programs for all most common needs.
Feel free to contact us!