Cornare: ArcGIS to QGIS and PostgreSQL migration

A Colombian case with institutional evidence

Cornare documented an evolution of its Regional Environmental Information System in its 2024 Management Report. The organization reported migrating databases to PostgreSQL and subsequently moving from ArcGIS, described as a commercial license, to QGIS, described as free-to-use software.

The report links the decision to an expectation of lower licensing costs and wider access to GIS tools across the organization. It does not publish a before-and-after savings measurement.

The scope was larger than changing desktop software

Cornare’s contract included support, maintenance and evolution of the environmental system, migration to an open GIS platform connected to the geoportal, MapGIS Data changes, surveys and a content-integration platform. Infrastructure, servers, database engines and the GIS viewer or manager were also evaluated.

This makes the case a platform modernization. PostgreSQL and QGIS are visible components, but the outcome depended on architecture, applications and integration—not simply installing software on workstations.

How to read COP 291,252,500

The report identifies COP 291,252,500 in support from HyG Consultores within the SIAR migration. That amount is not a QGIS license fee or the isolated cost of converting ArcGIS to QGIS. It combines several objectives, support and evolution of custom products.

Using it as a universal quote would make the same mistake as treating a complete ArcGIS procurement as the price of one user. Contract scope determines cost.

What it proves and what remains unknown

The source proves that a Colombian environmental authority migrated data to PostgreSQL and reported changing from ArcGIS to QGIS. It also shows that licensing and wider access were part of the motivation.

It does not disclose prior ArcGIS renewals, user count, retained licenses, annual operating cost or realized savings. The economic statement is an institutional expectation, not a quantified result.

What would be required to measure savings

• ArcGIS invoices or proposals before migration.
• Inventory of retired users, extensions, credits and servers.
• Proprietary licenses or services retained.
• Migration, development and training cost separated from other work.
• Annual infrastructure, support and staffing for the new platform.
• A comparable horizon and months of parallel operation.

Lesson for other Colombian organizations

Cornare is especially relevant because it shows migration inside a Colombian public authority connected to real environmental systems. It also rules out simplistic promises: open software has no license fee, but professional modernization requires a budget.

The financial opportunity should be calculated by retiring only costs whose functionality has already been validated. When a contract combines geoportal, data, applications and support, each component must be separated before alternatives are compared.

Update: MapGIS remained part of the architecture

Cornare’s first-half 2025 management report documented the development, configuration and integration of MapGIS modules within a new service architecture. The organization estimated that MapGIS9 and its modules would be operational by the end of August 2025.

The Cornare intranet, updated May 6, 2026, separately identified an “Internal MapGIS 8.0 Geoportal” and a “(New) Internal MapGIS 9.0 Geoportal.” This confirms continuity and the public incorporation of V9, although it does not establish on its own that every planned module was complete.

This evidence prevents an inaccurate reading of the case: Cornare reported a move from ArcGIS to QGIS and databases to PostgreSQL, but not a complete MapGIS replacement. The modernization was hybrid and retained modules within the resulting architecture. The sources do not publish realized before-and-after savings.

To decide whether a particular installation should be retained, upgraded, decoupled or migrated, review GeoSAT’s MapGIS modernization assessment.