Each year at this time, we try to look back and reflect on the past. Every day, every week, every month, we are running, meeting, measuring, and talking constantly. If we don’t take time to stop, look back, and examine the results of our effort, eventually the axe will dull, and the momentum may stop.

As Jim Collins famously wrote, “Good is the Enemy of Great, so we do all we can to not get stuck on Good, and are always striving to chase Great.” Business leaders are always trying to find a way to get an advantage, squeeze one more dime, make one more dollar, and that can be exhausting.

So it’s important to look back and measure the things that matter. Things like how we treat people, whether we are fair, or if we bring value to both sides. If we look at what matters most and make sure that we are taking care of the small things, the big things will ultimately come to fruition.

I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Watch the Pennies, and the Dollars will take care of themselves.” 2025 was a banner year for GEOGRAPH. We added 25 new organizations to the GEOGRAPH family. We also added 4 new employees to the team. Growth is always a challenge. Overcoming those challenges and learning from them is when true success begins to happen.

Below are some highlights that we at GEOGRAPH focused on over the past year:

Esri ArcGIS Pro

We continued development and grew our understanding of ESRI ArcGIS Pro. With the impending retirement of ArcMap, it was important for us to have a place for our users to land.

We implemented CrescentLink on ArcGIS Pro at the end of 2023 and have been working hard since then to move our customer base to Pro. Today, we have over 800 users using CrescentLink for ArcGIS Pro. This accounts for about 50% of our user base, so we anticipate further growth in this area as the retirement of ArcMap continues to approach.

Since launching CrescentLink for ArcGIS Pro, we are now on update 13 and support Pro 3.6.

Esri ArcGIS Enterprise

Most of the progress we made technically in 2025 revolved around Esri ArcGIS Enterprise. Just like ArcGIS Pro, there have been many advancements to the Enterprise architecture.

One thing we have found out is that there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to deploying a proper Enterprise solution. Understanding things like Traditional versus Branch versioning, On-prem versus in the Cloud, User Types, and roles.

Understanding and developing expertise with ArcGIS Enterprise has been one of our biggest areas of focus this year. One of the things we have learned along the way is that Enterprise will be the foundation for all future advancements with not only CrescentLink but in the Esri Ecosystem as well.

New CrescentLink Functionality and Services

Because of ArcGIS Enterprise, we spent this past year working to get some foundational functionality into CrescentLink. That functionality was the ability to work with Feature Services in ArcGIS Enterprise.

Historically, Crescentlink utilized a Direct Database connection. This meant that our application had minimal ability to integrate with other parts of Esri and other Esri-based systems. Being able to implement the ability to utilize Feature Services hosted and deployed through ArcGIS Enterprise means we can move to even more streamlined functionality.

Accessing Datastores and services allows for deeper levels of sharing data across the organization. That, powered with the strength of Esri and the world-class data available, will give your organization more insight, more control, and better visibility into what’s important.

Enhanced Processes for Projects and Services 

One of the things we have witnessed over the years is that, as Esri continues to advance its technologies, our users struggle to keep up. That means they look to trusted resources to help navigate these new worlds. We take pride in being one of those trusted resources.

As we continue to move forward, we want to open our expertise to more of our customers and beyond. We know the complications of running and installing an ever-changing technology, so we want to do all we can to take on that burden for you.

2025 was a big year of learning, refining, and good old-fashioned trial and error. We believe that gaining this foundational knowledge and know-how will expand our ability to serve our customers. We are no longer solely a software company. We have to be Consultants, Data Analysts, Trainers, and System Experts to fully support our customers. 

Another important task this time of year is to look at what is to come. Below are emerging trends that we see and our thoughts on how we plan to approach these.

Hosting and Managed Services

As noted above, the landscape of GIS is changing and evolving. This evolution requires a deep level of understanding that many organizations either don’t have or don’t have time to learn.

GEOGRAPH has a desire to reduce or eliminate that burden on our customers. Our focus is to create options for customers to host data. Web-based applications are now the norm, and it’s no different for Fiber Management. We must have the ability to compete in this environment. We have a goal to implement a hosted web-based front end for our customers who have limited experience or knowledge of the Esri Ecosystem.

We still plan to use Esri as the foundation for this service, but the infrastructure would be in our control. This means fewer headaches for our users and more options for us.

New Functional Additions

Because most of last year was spent strengthening our foundational posture, new functionality has been on the back burner for a while. One of the new functional tools that will be released soon is the ability to model and manage circuits and CWDM/DWDM.

We unveiled the prototype for this at our User Conference back in August and look forward to releasing it in early 2026. 

Digital Transformation is Coming to an End

One of the big buzzwords over the last decade has been “Digital Transformation.” Part of the early success with CrescentLink came because organizations were transforming their documentation from paper records to a GIS system. The industry was still in its infancy, and being on the cutting edge of technology, CrescentLink was the beneficiary of this movement.

A new trend we have seen over the past year or two is that most organizations now have their systems in some version of a digital format, but are now realizing that the system they chose was not right for them. This could mean several things, such as a lack of functionality, inferior support, and high prices. The list is broad, but those who do not feel they are getting the value out of their current system are the customers we want to focus on.

GEOGRAPH spends about 50% of our operational budget on Customer Support and Communications. We believe that no system, service, or product is good enough to stand on its own without quality support and communication.

Our goal is to be the trusted advisor to help organizations maneuver the complexity of all these systems to best run their businesses. Because of our focus on the customer and the partnership between us, we are now seeing folks moving from other systems into ours. We are focusing on making these transitions as smooth and seamless as possible for all involved.

Lastly, our mission not only this year but every year is to provide the best products and services with expert, timely, and courteous support to our customers. Because we focus on the small things that matter the most, the big things tend to work themselves out.

GEOGRAPH is built for the long haul, and our partnerships with our customers are what drive that. We look forward to many more years of innovation and support to drive your business forward.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Cheers to a Good Year, and Prayers for even Greater things ahead. Until next time!