Best way to provide a client access to an ArcGIS Online product they have commissioned

[Rob_Hughes_32Alpha]

My company provides GIS product development services. Essentially a client will come to us, ask us to build something to spec, then we will create it (usually) within our own ArcGIS Online environment.

At the moment, when private access to the commission product is necessary, our delivery model requires that the client purchases an ArcGIS Online environment of their own, then we establish a group with the content in and share it through partnered collaboration. This has two key drawbacks:

1. Additional expense and administration burden for the client (having to set up and maintain their own ArcGIS environment when they may not necessarily need one)

2. Partnered collaboration relationships are limited to 20 per organisation. This effectively limits us to 20 managed service clients, which is likely to have a significant impact on our organisation as it grows.

My question is - is there a better way to do this? We initially wanted to lease access to x number of named Viewer licenses per client according to their needs, but were told by our sales representative that this is against Esri's T&Cs for ArcGIS Online. 

If anyone has any insight, or can share how they go about this problem I would much appreciate it. 

Cheers,

Rob

[MobiusSnake]

I'm not sure how to get around issue 1, but couldn't you avoid issue 2 by transferring the content to their AGOL instance rather than continuing to host it yourself?  e.g. using the Python API's clone_items() function (which granted isn't perfect, but is a good jumping off point combined with some JSON tweaking)

Edit to add - Or, if it's a requirement for them to establish an AGOL instance anyway, why not get them to create a user for you in their instance, create the content there to start with, then remove your user when the project is complete?

[Rob_Hughes_32Alpha]

Thanks for the reply. The issue with both in many cases is that these are typically regularly updated managed services. This would mean either very frequent copy/transfer operations for option 1, or a significantly more expensive setup cost for the client for their AGOL. For example, at the moment they need 1x Creator license plus x amount of viewers according to their needs. If we were to produce it within their environment they would need several ArcPro Advanced licenses, and possibly Insights, GeoBIM or whatever other tools we were using to build the product. It could end up being 10-20 times more expensive than a partnered collaboration, which makes it a harder sale or eats into our profits.

Thanks for the suggestion though, good to talk through options like this

[HollyTorpey_LSA]

This question is a bit old, but could you not share the app, map, and data in a group and add the client's publicly visible AGO account to the group? I don't think there's a limit to the number of groups you can create. This may also violate the T&Cs, though I've looked and I can't find where it says that.

I suspect Esri will want you to apply for a sales authorization or partner bundling agreement of some sort. I'm trying to understand those options myself at the moment and I'm completely confused.

[georgedaigh6]

Hi Rob, 

I am currently facing this same exact issue. I have created a web map for a client that they would like to use internally for a board meeting. The map contains proprietary info and cannot be shared publicly. 

Checking in to see if you've reached a viable solution to part #1 of your question?

Thanks,

George