About Randolph County IL
Randolph County, a community of 30,000 people in southwestern Illinois, has been supported by Sidwell Solutions, specifically ArcMap workflows since 2018. From ArcMap Parcel Fabric and Parcel Administrator to FARMS solutions, Randolph County and Sidwell have a history of working closely to ensure the county has the tools they need for success.
In the spring of 2024, Chris Koester, Supervisor of Assessments, identified the need to move Randolph County staff and operations to ArcGIS Pro. While ArcMap had served them well, its support was ending March 2026, and Koester wanted to stay ahead of the curve and provide a best-practice solution for staff and customers.
The Migration—A Customized Path with Support
Randolph County initially considered performing the migration independently with the guidance of publicly available, generic ArcGIS Pro training. However, they ultimately decided their operations required more customized support to ensure the large migration happened seamlessly. The County looked to Sidwell for guidance, knowing they offer a standard approach and process for all migrations to ArcGIS Pro, which is then tailored to each clients’ needs.
Migrating to ArcGIS Pro is a major change for the staff of any organization, and necessitates careful and thoughtful planning. The Sidwell team worked closely with Koester to design a tailored migration that carefully considered their workflows and ArcGIS environment. The migration ensured Randolph County’s existing ArcMap tasks and workflows were replicated, via three configured tasks in ArcGIS Pro. It also included upgrading the County’s Parcel Fabric from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro.
Koester and his team saw the value in collaborating with the Sidwell team to develop a roadmap to ensure the successful adoption of ArcGIS Pro and achieve their organizational goal.
Thorough Training with Seamless Transition
Sidwell’s comprehensive training element was crucial to Randolph County’s success. Over three days, Sidwell trained the staff on standard ArcGIS Pro workflows and the three configured tasks to ensure the entire team was comfortable with the transition. Sidwell also provided focused training on Parcel Fabric editing and data management workflows.
A few weeks after the initial training, Sidwell conducted follow-up sessions to address any questions or challenges the staff came across during the early phase of using ArcGIS Pro.
Amy Rice, Chief Deputy of Land Resource Management, shares her satisfaction with the transition and Sidwell’s support. “[They] did an exceptional job. [The team] was thorough and patient while explaining ArcGIS Pro…The transition has been smooth and easy.”
A Model for Future Migrations
Randolph County’s successful and seamless migration from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro highlights the importance of a tailored approach when upgrading critical systems, as well as partnering with an experienced Esri Gold Business Partner. By collaborating with Randolph County to identify their specific needs and concerns, Sidwell was able to provide customized training and ensure the transition was smooth and stress-free for the County’s staff. As more organizations face the need to move away from ArcMap, Sidwell is ready to support their transition with a process tailored to their needs
For a customized approach to support migrating your team to ArcGIS Pro, please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@sidwellco.com.