It Takes Two: Rugged Tablets, Software Must Sync For GIS Success

Field service technicians – especially those working in the Oil & Gas, Mining, and Public Safety sectors – frequently call on mobile technologies to gain an all-access pass to critical data in the remote and rugged environments. They anticipate full geographic information systems (GIS) support no matter where they travel on foot or on four wheels.

But not all mobile devices are cut out for this very specialized job. Some are too fragile for the environments to which GIS directs them. Others can’t handle intense data processing in real-time. Some, still, don’t have the expansive storage capacity needed for regular GIS system updates.

So, many of these mobile workers have been trying to make do with mobile technologies better suited for an office environment. Unfortunately, simply extending a desktop experience to a mobile envi- ronment via a “portable” PC isn’t enough. Since there isn’t a single GIS app that will work on all devices or a single GIS solution that will suffice for all job descriptions, many field service technicians have started rede- fining their expectations for mobile technologies.