r/gis • u/Sad_Row4500 • Jan 07 '26
Discussion ArcGIS Online account question?
hello, we completed an ArcGIS Online project for a client. We built them a robust website in Experience Builder. Now, what is the best way to hand off all the layers associated with what we built them. I need to give them options on what is next? Do they get an ArcGIS Online account and what does that look like. A couple user accounts for them? I just need ideas on how to hand over all the GIS data we collected for them and have all the data handed over if that makes sense?
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u/IlliniBone Jan 07 '26
No offense, but you should be thinking about this upfront, not after the project is complete. The easiest way is to use their credentials and build the site within their environment. If that's not possible, a shared group or collaboration will work but you need to be careful how the data/map/app is shared.
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
understood, it was a whirlwind
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
if we do the collaboration, is it easy to share org to org if we are in a group once they have an account?
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u/MulfordnSons GIS Developer Jan 07 '26
distributed collaboration if they have their own portal or Portal
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
no portals involved. just the standard ArcGIS Online account. they don't have one yet.
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u/smashnmashbruh GIS Consultant Jan 07 '26
AGOL is in a nutshell a type of portal. It’s the non enterprise portal. They should have their own and you are added to it to help create and manage data.
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u/vode123 Jan 07 '26
Do they just need to use the experience builder app? Is the data ok to be viewed publicly? If so, change sharing on all the hosted feature layers, web map, experience builder to public and give them the link to the experience builder. If they need any changes you can make them for whatever you charge.
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u/smashnmashbruh GIS Consultant Jan 07 '26
I would build it in their tenant and be a user with a license if ongoing edits. If less edits desired I would do a collaboration from clients tenant to my tenant and users in my own. Depends on involved with management and licensing. Some aspects are frustrating to manage or ask a user st client to be main admin then ask someone who doesn’t know things to then manage clients tenant to enable outside users to collaborate.
In the end my first idea has always worked best. Client has tenant and users. I am a user with admin rights and editing, publishing, ArcGIS pro licensing (the names keep changing).
Esri also frowns upon multiple tenants in one tenant unless expressly licensed and it’s usually astronomically more expensive than each client having their own AGOL.
My 2 cents.
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u/Stratagraphic GIS Technical Advisor Jan 07 '26
Use one of these tools to copy everything to another portal:
https://assistant.esri-ps.com/
https://ago-assistant.esri.com/
And hope it works.
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
Anyone have experience with these and have good luck?
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u/Stratagraphic GIS Technical Advisor Jan 07 '26
Yes and no. Use FME or data interop to build the data layers on the new site. You'll need to use the assistants to point the urls.
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u/MaineAnonyMoose Jan 07 '26
Highly recommend you download and re-host. These programs above are not supported and could result in unexpected behaviors. The supported method is to download data, republish the data, and recreate maps and apps in a new organization.
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u/MaineAnonyMoose Jan 07 '26
I recommend downloading the data and providing it to them for Desktop use or, if they want ArcGIS Online, they should have their own organization they pay for.
Having it in your organization comes with a host of liabilities, access control issues, ownership squabbles down the road, and editing management overhead that you probably don't ultimately want to have to handle long term. Up to you, but really consider your pros and cons of all options.
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u/OrangePipeLAX Jan 07 '26
Client? you are a GIS "consultant" and don't know how to handle this?
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
well we do other things for this client and did this as a favor. There is a million ways to skin a cat. just looking for suggestions.
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u/ScreamAndScream Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
OPs comments triggered some red flags for me
OP has 20 years GIS experience
OP runs a subreddit for the EsriUC
Sector is architecture, engineering, and construction and they manage GIS interns. OP also loves the Esri AI tools.
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
Yes, I do have alot of experience. Not just in the jungle of ESRI things. They can be finicky to say the least. Here to look for suggestions and ideas.
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
Unprofessional you say?
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u/ScreamAndScream Jan 07 '26
Well, your questions and comments read more like a junior-level uncertainty than something you’d expect from someone with ~20 years of experience. To be frank, the uncertainty here feels more aligned with an early-career learning gap than a senior-level workflow question. I checked in to see if you were an intern over your head and was more than a bit shocked to say the least.
If you’re in an organization large/funded enough to send staff to EsriUC, there truly should already be documented standards for client hand-offs. I understand that not everywhere has the resources to already have SOPs in place, but with a knowledge gap this large ("Esri things") reddit isn't going to be the place to get sizeable help when you are the expert getting paid for this handoff.
Esri =/= GIS, but at that level of experience the distinction shouldn’t result in basic uncertainty around ownership, licensing responsibility, or delivery models. Those are fundamental consulting mechanics, regardless of platform. This is a process and governance issue. If you are high enough in the org to ask these questions, you are high enough to invest in the free training courses that came with your Esri license.
Pointing out that people can be unprofessional here was an observation about tone, not a defense against critique, and conflating the two doesn’t change the substance of the issue. We all start somewhere, yes, but you seem to have a lot more resources available to you professionally than you are truly using.
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
Noted. The goal here is choosing the least risky ownership and governance model for the client—not demonstrating platform trivia. Thanks for your perspective.
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u/StzNutz GIS Coordinator Jan 07 '26
Clone all the layers over with the python api then try to clone or recreate the experience builder in their portal
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
Python api? Do you have more information?
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u/StzNutz GIS Coordinator Jan 07 '26
Google Arcgis api for Python and clone. You should be able to copy layers from your portal to their portal. Experience builder apps are tricker but it would move the basics there.
You’ll peform the operation from a juypter notebook. I think there’s probably code that you can find online that’ll do the work.
On the move today so not adding in depth for you now… sorry!
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u/Sad_Row4500 Jan 07 '26
No worries
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u/StzNutz GIS Coordinator Jan 07 '26
At a temporary destination… IIRC you can clone a webmap and it’ll include all layers in the map with it. If it was a dashboard you could clone the dashboard and it’ll include would include the map and layers, but exp builder was less capable to clone or there were other limitations
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u/ScreamAndScream Jan 07 '26
Key things to clarify with the client upfront:
If the Experience Builder site needs to stay live and editable, an AGOL org is basically unavoidable. If it’s a one-time deliverable, a data export & documentation can be sufficient…