ArcGIS Experience Builder is a powerful platform for building modern GIS applications but extending it beyond standard configuration using custom widgets introduces new challenges.
For many organisations, what starts as simple application development quickly expands into managing infrastructure, deployment pipelines, and ongoing operational overhead.
This article explores why this complexity occurs and how organisations are extending Experience Builder using custom widgets without taking on the burden of running the platform behind it.
For organisations operating in governed environments, this can be particularly relevant, as infrastructure, security, and lifecycle management introduce additional complexity.
As teams move from simple apps to more advanced use cases, several limitations emerge:
Individually, these challenges are manageable. Collectively, they create friction.
The result is slower delivery, increased reliance on IT teams, and a growing operational burden across the platform.
At this point, many organisations face a choice:
Neither option is ideal.
What’s needed is a way to extend Experience Builder, without inheriting the overhead of running the platform itself.
Managed Experience Builder for ArcGIS was designed to remove this trade-off.
It is a fully managed platform that enables organisations to build and run advanced Experience Builder applications, without managing servers, environments, or deployment pipelines.
This allows teams to focus on building applications, not operating infrastructure.
With Managed Experience Builder, organisations can:
In short, the platform removes the operational barriers that typically limit Experience Builder adoption.
The platform delivers two key components:
Importantly, all identity, access control, and data governance continue to be enforced by ArcGIS. There is no duplication of data and no alternative security model introduced.
A common misconception is to think of this model as “hosting Experience Builder”.
It’s not.
Managed Experience Builder is a complete application platform covering authoring, deployment, runtime, security, and operations, while Cartinuum manages availability, patching, and upgrades.
This distinction is critical for organisations operating in enterprise or regulated environments.
Managed Experience Builder is particularly suited to organisations that:
This is why it resonates strongly across sectors such as government, utilities, and resources.
For ArcGIS Enterprise customers, Managed Experience Builder provides a practical way to extend Experience Builder with custom widgets while decoupling application delivery from ArcGIS Enterprise upgrade cycles. This enables teams to work with the latest ArcGIS Experience Builder capabilities when ArcGIS Enterprise environments may lag. This allows organisations to accelerate application delivery and avoid the complexity typically associated with maintaining separate environments alongside their core ArcGIS platform.
Experience Builder has already changed how organisations deliver GIS applications.
The next step is removing the operational complexity that comes with scaling it.
Managed Experience Builder enables that shift, moving from configuration-led apps to fully extensible application environments, without adding infrastructure burden.
Extending ArcGIS Experience Builder doesn’t need to introduce infrastructure, complexity, or operational overhead.
With Managed Experience Builder, you can unlock advanced capabilities using custom widgets, while keeping your existing ArcGIS environment fully intact.
Get started today or explore pricing to see how it fits your organisation.