ArcIMS 9.2 to Include ArcGIS Server and ArcSDE - Big news for GIS
Big news for those of us in the GIS community. ESRI has just announced a few of the rumours that many of us have been speculating about for some time. Namely, that ArcGIS Server will be integrated with ArcIMS -- and added to that ArcSDE will also be thrown in. That's right -- if you are on maintenance for ArcIMS, you will get ArcGIS Server Standard Edition and ArcSDE at version 9.2. ArcGIS Server will now have three flavours -- Basic Edition, Standard Edition, and Advanced Edition. Standard Edition will allow the publishing of globes as well as maps, plus:
"...a collection oof 2D and 3D web mapping/geopublishing tools, applications and services. Application developers will have access to components (objects, Web controls, and services) for building solutions on both the Java and .Net frameworks."
This not only "streamlines" the product line -- it also diffuses the tension between Oracle Spatial and ArcSDE. Since you now get SDE as part of "Server GIS" when you get ArcGIS Server and ArcIMS, it simply makes SDE a non-issue. I am sure that we will be hearing more and more about this as the UC approaches, and the implications for creating a CFC connector for "Server GIS" has been raised another knotch in my opinion.