ArcGIS Online (often referred to by its URL address, ArcGIS.com) is an online website for working with maps and other types of geographic information. ArcGIS Online includes maps, data, applications, and tools (including geoprocessing services) from Esri, its partners, and the GIS community at large. Anyone can access, contribute and share maps, tools, tasks, and applications via ArcGIS Online. Refer to the ArcGIS.com Help to get started with sharing and using content through ArcGIS Online.
Geoprocessing services in ArcGIS Online
You can share your geoprocessing tasks when publishing or add the service and its tasks to your ArcGIS Online content by providing the REST endpoint of the service. Also, you can search ArcGIS Online for geoprocessing services shared by the community. In ArcGIS Online, all content is termed an item, and all items have a type (such as Web Map or Features) and detailed information about the item. A Geoprocessing Service item in ArcGIS Online provides a brief description and the REST URL for the service. Using the REST URL, you can use the geoprocessing service in ArcGIS for Desktop, ArcGIS Viewer for Flex, Silverlight, and other web applications.
Adding services in ArcGIS for Desktop
In ArcGIS for Desktop, you can add geoprocessing services and execute tasks by connecting to an ArcGIS Server. You must specify a SOAP endpoint (URL) to create an ArcGIS Server connection in Desktop. You can derive SOAP URL from the REST URL provided in the description of the service in ArcGIS Online. For example, if the REST URL is:
http://sampleserver.esri.com/arcgis/rest/services/<mygpservice>/gpserver
the corresponding SOAP URL for creating server connections is:
http://sampleserver.esri.com/arcgis/services
Use the SOAP URL to create a user connection to the server. Once you have created the connection, browse through the server catalog to find geoprocessing services and tasks.
Learn more about using geoprocessing services in ArcGIS for Desktop
Adding services in ArcGIS Viewers
Esri offers ArcGIS Viewer for Flex and ArcGIS Viewer for Silverlight to create web mapping applications through an interactive configuration experience. If you are unfamiliar with the viewers, you can learn more about them by visiting developers.arcgis.com. The viewers provide a configurable widget to add geoprocessing services and execute them. Use the REST URL specified in ArcGIS Online to configure the geoprocessing service in a viewer.
Adding services in web applications
Web applications are applications that run on a web browser. You can add GIS functionality in web applications using ArcGIS Web APIs. Using the REST URL specified in ArcGIS Online, you can incorporate geoprocessing functionality in your web applications. Visit developers.arcgis.com for more information.