Autodesk Vault: Darkest before the Dawn

Welcome to the Nfluencr blog! I just came from a customer where they are realizing that they are in the dark when it comes to Autodesk Vault. They had been using Autodesk Vault with Autodesk Inventor with little to no problems until they wanted to automate a few processes. Once we looked at their Vault together, we realized that they did not know how their Vault Configuration was setup.

Like many companies, they paid another company to create their workflow for them, and if that company doesn't first train you on the software, you only know to click buttons. This can leave your company in the dark and that can be a dangerous place to be.

One reason is that if you don't know what you don't know, you could put your engineering IP at risk. In todays cyber world, there are many ways to steal or damage company information. The Autodesk Vault works to prevent that, but without proper safeguards, it will not function the way that it was designed.

Another reason that not knowing is dangerous is that you could be building a HUGE database with little to no value. Autodesk Vault was built to give you a better way to find information. Rather than searching Google or Windows Explorer, Autodesk Vault gives you the opportunity to categorize, control, and automate finding the information quickly. If you don't configure it with the end in mind, you will end up with data that is there but not easy to find. This usually causes a bloating of the files because of duplicate work already done simply because you could not find it.

I listen to a podcast that preaches "Don't do anything until you understand it". This is true in the world of software. I am not saying that you should be an expert on configuration of software, but knowing how it is setup and specifically how your software is setup is critical for a good result.

The exciting thing is that if you understand and the software is configured for your workflow, the users of that software will have a great experience and you will look like a hero. So my advice is to do your homework, ask the questions, and if you don't understand, don't go forward with the project until you do.

-Melissa Thomas

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