[Geoinquiets Barcelona] 6 Google Maps Engine Alternatives - Safe Software Blog

dic gen 21 14:39:35 PST 2015

    6 Google Maps Engine Alternatives - Safe Software Blog
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6 Google Maps Engine Alternatives
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Posted: 20 Jan 2015 02:56 PM PST

Google has announced that they’re ending support for Google Maps Engine
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/google-maps-engine-users/IfqS90d8f0A>.
If you’ve used Google Maps Engine to store your vector and raster data, you
should be aware that *your GME data will disappear on January 29, 2016*.

No better time than the present to migrate your geographic data to a
replacement Maps Engine solution. But where to go? What technology can give
you everything GME did?

   - A place to store your geographic data in a web-based environment.
   - Powerful visuals for inspecting and analyzing your data.
   - Easy collaboration on maps.
   - Real-time capabilities like dynamic rendering, alerts and
   notifications.

Let’s look at a few of the alternatives we’re aware of, and how you can
migrate your data there without losing anything important. Please add your
own suggestions in the comments.

You might find that one solution suits your requirements better than the
others. I’d suggest testing out as many alternatives as you can before
making your own decision about which is best.
*1. ArcGIS Online*

If you want everything you had in Maps Engine, then ArcGIS Online
<http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgisonline> is probably your
solution of choice. It’s made for creating interactive web maps and apps,
and comes complete with all the analytical power and authoritative data
you’d expect from an Esri product. Like GME, AGOL renders maps dynamically,
which means it offers better visualization for data that’s constantly being
updated.

The ‘apps’ component is interesting: you can turn any of your feature
services into apps
<http://www.arcgis.com/home/gallery.html#c=esri&t=apps&o=modified&f=readytouse>,
adding a new level of power to your data. AGOL also has no quotas or rate
limits, offering more to organizations with high data volumes. They also
have ArcGIS Open Data <https://opendata.arcgis.com/about>, which, if you’ve
been using Google Map Gallery <https://maps.google.com/gallery/> with Maps
Engine, is an equivalent public dataset collection and distribution
platform.

Getting your data out of Google Maps Engine and into ArcGIS Online is a
one-step process using FME <http://www.safe.com/fme/fme-desktop/>. Note you
don’t need to have ArcGIS Desktop in order to use ArcGIS Online.
*2. CartoDB*

CartoDB <http://cartodb.com/> is also a full solution that would work
nicely as a GME replacement. In fact, they’ve just published a blog
<http://blog.cartodb.com/gme-to-cartodb/> comparing the two and describing
how easy it is to move your data from one to the other.

In CartoDB, the web-based environment and spatially aware database
components are handled by PostGIS in the cloud, while the visualization,
collaboration, and analysis aspects are presented simply and beautifully in
a web interface.

I need to stress the ease-of-use here. Last week I needed CartoDB for a
demo video, and was apprehensive about needing to learn how to use it
first. I created an account, logged in, and—that was it. I already knew how
to use it. The simplicity of importing data, creating a map, and choosing
how to represent my data was immediately obvious. Kudos, CartoDB.

CartoDB also offers dynamic rendering and geo-temporal visualizations,
giving you real-time maps and the ability to see data as it happens.

Again, you can extract your data from Google Maps Engine and load it into
CartoDB in one step using FME.
*3. iSpatial*

iSpatial <http://www.t-sciences.com/product/ispatial-2> is a complete map
creation, visualization, storage, collaboration, and analysis solution.
>From their website: “iSpatial is a web-based collaborative framework that
leverages Google Earth and Maps in a flexible, task-based approach to
solving complex problems.”

In addition to location-based inspection and analysis, it’s set up for
real-time reporting and alerts management.

This technology is based on Google Earth/Maps, so if it’s the visual Google
experience you’re after, this could be your solution. It also leverages
Postgres/PostGIS in the back end.

And, yep, FME can extract your data from Google Maps Engine and put it into
PostGIS in one step too.
*4. A combination of Google products*

Google, of course, suggests replacing GME with a combination of their own
solutions. Google Maps/Earth is obviously great for visualizing and
creating maps, but what about the rest of what Maps Engine offered?

My Maps <https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/> is basically the map creation,
visualization, and collaboration aspect of GME (up until a few months ago,
it was actually called Google Maps Engine Lite). Storage, then, can be
handled by migrating your data to Google Cloud SQL
<https://cloud.google.com/sql/>—a MySQL database in the cloud. Great, so
now we have the web-based environment and database storage aspects.

Next, to bridge the two. Once you get your data from Google Maps Engine
into the cloud-hosted MySQL database, you’ll have to follow their guide
<https://support.google.com/mapsengine/answer/6147674> to build a spatial
app using the Google Maps API. They’ve also provided an example vector data
app <https://support.google.com/mapsengine/answer/6147673> and self-serve
raster app <https://support.google.com/mapsengine/answer/6147655> for
reference. Building stylized maps then involves a bit of JavaScript
programming. Not an impossible migration, but not as straightforward as
some of the solutions above, either.

If this is your solution, then guess what? You can extract your data from
Google Maps Engine and put it into Google Cloud SQL in one step using FME.
Google even published a page
<https://support.google.com/mapsengine/answer/6147668> describing how.
*5. Mapbox*

Mapbox is a great way to publish your geographic data. It’s scalable,
cheap, and open source. This, however, is more of a “partial” GME
replacement, and will need to be combined with other technology if you want
to have everything you knew and loved about Maps Engine. For instance, it
lacks some of the powerful data management and analysis tools found in the
solutions above.

Storage of your map tiles is handled by a SQLite database (which FME also
migrates to). On the front end, Mapbox uses TileMill for creating
interactive maps—a design environment that leverages the stunning
cartographic abilities of Mapnik <http://mapnik.org/>. Creating web map
tiles with FME <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKrFuNFqDbQ> is a common
scenario, and MBTiles
<https://www.mapbox.com/guides/an-open-platform/#mbtiles> is on our radar
for an upcoming release (potentially FME 2016).
*6. Your own custom integration*

[image: jigsaw-305576_1280]In addition to those above, FME supports writing
to many other cloud spatial data storage systems. If you’re not afraid of
writing a bit of JavaScript, you can pick your favourite storage system
(e.g. Amazon RDS <http://aws.amazon.com/rds/> or Aurora
<http://aws.amazon.com/rds/aurora/>), your favourite map creation
library/framework, and bridge the two using JavaScript.

Regardless of which technology you choose, rest assured you can easily
migrate your data without losing anything. Google provided this page
<https://support.google.com/mapsengine/answer/6147675> to walk you through
exporting your stuff, where FME <http://www.safe.com/fme/fme-desktop/> is
one of the recommended migration strategies.

Extracting your data from Maps Engine with FME is as simple as dropping
down a reader and entering your credentials. From there, you can move it to
any of 335+ <http://www.safe.com/fme/format-search/#!> alternate systems,
including those listed above. FME also offers hundreds of data
transformation and quality control options if you need to manipulate the
content or structure before loading it into another system.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact our most excellent support team
<http://fmepedia.safe.com/knowledgeSubmitCase?> if you need help getting
your data wherever it needs to go.

*If you’ve been using Google Maps Engine for your geographical data, please
share: What alternative solution do you plan on using? Can you suggest any
others?*

The post 6 Google Maps Engine Alternatives
<http://blog.safe.com/2015/01/6-google-maps-engine-alternatives/> appeared
first on Safe Software Blog <http://blog.safe.com>.
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