Sinc I'll take a shot at this when I have time to think it over.
Lot of points made, some that I agree with and some I don't.
A little time to digest and I will get back.
Well, you have a point, too. Just because Autodesk is horribly mangling the PM and model management doesn't mean we shouldn't use the tools they
aremaking available. But it is still a lot easier to add components one at a time. There is no good reason for using the Vault to control access to model data, except probably that someone at Autodesk thought the accountability of the check-in/check-out procedure would provide some value. It doesn't, really. It just adds hassle. (They probably also thought, "Hey, we already have this Vault, you think we could use it as an application server?", not knowing that that was a terrible idea...)
At some point in the process, I'll get the Vault setup on our server, and we'll try a project on it. But I plan on waiting a bit. We have Civil-3D working without the Vault, although this means we get basically no Project support at all from the program - merely the ability to create data shortcuts. However, until we get over all the bugs and gotchas involved here, I don't want to throw Vault into the mix. I have enough to worry about, trying to get an entire office moved to Civil-3D while still learning the program myself, and still maintaining productivity. We can't fail to meet our client's expectations just because we're switching to new software, and there's only so many hours in the day...
