Geotest AG, an engineering and environmental consultancy with over 200 employees, has been transitioning from Esri ArcMap to a fully open‑source GIS environment built around QGIS. This shift enhances flexibility, reduces licensing dependencies, and enables consistent geodata workflows across the organization.

We deploy QGIS LTR over our enterprise portal using centrally managed profiles that provide predefined settings, templates, and resources. To handle the heterogeneity of cantonal and federal datasets, we maintain curated QLR files and WMS/WFS catalogues for reliable, uniform access to authoritative data. Efficiency is further supported through custom plugins, tailored processing scripts, and automated workflows.

Knowledge sharing is anchored by our internal geo-documentation platform, built on Read the Docs, where tutorials, standards, and best practices are continuously maintained. Combined with our service desk system, a network of power users, and regular half-day user sessions, we ensure scalable and sustainable user support. Our development work relies on Gitea for version control and collaborative enhancement of our QGIS tools.

The shift from the Esri ecosystem to QGIS required significant in‑depth expertise and a geoinformatics team with strong open‑source knowledge. It also demanded a company‑wide willingness to invest in people whose work does not always show an immediate return, but is essential for long‑term stability and innovation.