TOPIC:

ESRI is moving towards the "Cloud" platform each year but tribes are always leary about
putting their data out on the cloud for valid purposes. One product that may work for a lot of
tribes is PORTAL. Any thoughts on this? We have installed here at Couer d'Alene tribe and are thinking of incorporating it before ESRI forces us to at some point down the road.

I think portal has a lot of potential when it comes to cloud based GIS as the data is still on Tribal property behind the Tribes firewall which keeps it protected from both a technology standpoint but also a legal standpoint by housing the data on Trust land.

It is also free of charge because it falls under the ELA, Jack made it available to anyone with a enterprise license even if its through the BIA ELA. Currently ArcGIS Online still costs 2500 a year for unlimited licenses for tribes, but ArcGIS portal is free of charge. Basically ArcGIS online but housed in-house.