having never used ArcIMS I am not able to answer the following question. "Why don´t we use ArcIMS anymore?" I have recently taken over a position which used to administer ArcIMS clients but now use ArcGIS Server architecture. Colleagues who have been here a while still ask why ArcIMS needs to be replaced and the only answer I can give is that the software is not supported or developed by ESRI anymore. But regarding stability, functionality,supported formats etc I can´t say much.
Could anyone give me a concise little list of reasons why ArcIMS is "old" and should be replaced by ArcGIS Server? It would also help me to understand how Server GIS in ESRI has developed.
Thanks for any comments,
Robert
Best Answer
Last version 4.0 was in 2002 and that is "old" now. As time moves on, the risk increases that updating any piece of software (java, OS update etc.) on your server, makes ArcIMS fail. That should be a good enough reason to replace it, unless you make sure not to change anything and your needs do not change.
I used to administer an ArcIMS installation around 2002 or so, but have not used ArcGIS Server at all, so I can't tell about feature-wise changes.