Whitepaper_Autodesk_Vault_Integration_with_Microsoft_Sharepointx Wp Msd Vault And Sharepoint Integration

2016-06-08

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AUTODESK VAULT AND MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT

Contents

What is Microsoft SharePoint? ....................................................................................... 3

Challenge Accessing Design Data................................................................................ 3

What is Autodesk Vault? ................................................................................................. 3

Vault-SharePoint Integration Benefits ............................................................................ 4

Share Design Data with the Entire Enterprise .............................................................. 4

Boost Productivity, Respond Faster .............................................................................. 4

Make Better Decisions .................................................................................................. 4

Experience Deep Integration with Microsoft Products .................................................. 5

Benefits to SharePoint Users ........................................................................................ 5

Project Manager ....................................................................................................... 5

Accounting Personnel .............................................................................................. 5

Procurement ............................................................................................................. 5

Sales ........................................................................................................................ 5

Marketing .................................................................................................................. 6

Field Technicians ..................................................................................................... 6

Suppliers and Vendors ............................................................................................. 6

Benefits to Vault Users ................................................................................................. 6

Engineer/Designer .................................................................................................... 6

Architect ................................................................................................................... 7

Benefits to SharePoint Administrators .......................................................................... 7

Extending SharePoint Benefits ..................................................................................... 7

Social Computing, Search, and Collaboration .......................................................... 7

Composites .............................................................................................................. 7

Business Intelligence (BI) ......................................................................................... 8

Workflows ................................................................................................................. 8

Technical Solution Overview ........................................................................................... 8

Deploying and Configuring the Solution ........................................................................ 8

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 9

For More Information ....................................................................................................... 9

AUTODESK VAULT AND MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT

What is Microsoft SharePoint?

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 is a business collaboration platform (BCP) that makes it easier

for colleagues, partners, suppliers, and customers to collaborate more efficiently and

effectively both inside and outside the firewall. One of the most successful Microsoft

products ever, SharePoint is widely used by manufacturing and architecture, engineering,

and construction (AEC) businesses to share ideas, expertise, and information. The

platform’s robust search capabilities and ability to expose data from disparate systems

helps users manage documents and projects from start to finish, as well as to access and

analyze the data they need to make better decisions.

Thanks to the familiar SharePoint user interface, people in manufacturing and AEC

organizations can more easily find and use the business information they need to be

productive. SharePoint can also help these organizations reduce costs by consolidating

intranet, extranet, and Internet sites on a single platform that can be accessed via

personal computers, mobile phones, and tablets. Many manufacturing and AEC

organizations have developed customized SharePoint solutions to meet their specific

needs.

Challenge Accessing Design Data

Historically, however, it’s been difficult to access design data through SharePoint. In

manufacturing organizations, such data is typically managed using product lifecycle

management (PLM) and product data management (PDM) systems available only to

designers and engineers. When project managers, accountants, purchasing personnel,

marketers, or salespeople need design data, they must request it from busy design and

engineering departments—where less-than-immediate response can render information

out of date by the time it’s received.

AEC firms also struggle to provide access to design data both within and beyond their

walls. Project managers, contractors, estimators, field technicians, and surveyors may use

SharePoint to share some project data, but have limited visibility into information managed

by the design department.

Frustrated with this lack of access, non-design professionals may ask IT staff for

workarounds. As a business collaboration platform, SharePoint is purpose-built to help

business users access the resources they need to collaborate every day, improving

productivity and decision making. To that end, the platform integrates seamlessly with

core business systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. However,

SharePoint wasn’t designed to manage engineering and design data, and therefore does

not offer an easy way to directly interface with 3D CAD applications such as AutoCAD®,

Autodesk® Inventor®, and Autodesk® Revit®. Some IT departments address the problem

by manually uploading design data to SharePoint, resulting in version control problems,

stale data, and files that lack intelligence.

What is Autodesk Vault?

While SharePoint was not designed to manage design data, Autodesk Vault data

management software is built expressly for that purpose. Tightly integrated with more than

20 different Autodesk Digital Prototyping and Building Information Modeling (BIM)

applications—including AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk® Simulation, Autodesk®

3ds Max®, Autodesk® Navisworks®, AutoCAD® Civil 3D® and Autodesk Revit

AUTODESK VAULT AND MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT

software—Vault understands how design data works, including how files reference each

other. It was specifically designed to help design, engineering, and construction

workgroups organize, manage, and track design data and related information.

The benefits of Vault are myriad. Manufacturing and AEC organizations can save time

organizing and re-using data. Users can control design iterations from within Autodesk

design applications, promoting faster cycle times and better-quality. Additionally, Vault’s

release and revision management capabilities help organizations avoid costly mistakes by

providing access to only the most current, accurate version of design data—and an

accurate, complete archive of the data’s history.

Like SharePoint, Vault is widely deployed by manufacturing and AEC organizations—and

its adoption has risen drastically over the last few years.

Vault-SharePoint Integration Benefits

Now, manufacturing and AEC organizations that rely on both SharePoint and Vault can

experience the best of both—and collaborate without compromise—thanks to seamless

integration between Autodesk Vault 2012 and Microsoft SharePoint 2010. Together, these

two innovative technologies build a crucial connection between design teams and the

extended business enterprise, helping organizations increase productivity and profitability

by giving everyone access to the information they need throughout a project’s lifecycle.

Share Design Data with the Entire Enterprise

The integration of SharePoint and Vault allows even non-design professionals to access

and manage engineering and design data through familiar SharePoint workflows. That

means that SharePoint users across and beyond the enterprise—from project managers

and field technicians to procurement professionals and suppliers—can continue to work in

a comfortable and familiar environment while directly accessing the Digital Prototyping

and BIM data they need to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. In addition, users

can view, print, and incorporate files from Vault into existing enterprise data, tools, and

processes, enabling complimentary business processes with engineering workflows.

Boost Productivity, Respond Faster

With access to both design data stored in Vault and other related project data,

organizations can increase productivity. Whether it’s a DWG™ design file, email, Word®

document, Excel® spreadsheet, or PowerPoint® presentation, users can find and use any

type of file related to a project from within the SharePoint environment. Centralized global

searching lets users conduct a single search for information and view aggregated results

from SharePoint and Vault. Project teams can extend their collaboration using the latest

social computing enhancements in Microsoft SharePoint 2010, including

videoconferencing, voting mechanisms, and discussion capturing. With access to the right

data at the right time, the right people can better respond to changing business needs

faster.

Make Better Decisions

Historically, manufacturing and AEC companies have had a difficult time integrating

design and engineering data into their business intelligence systems, forcing them to

make decisions based on incomplete or out-of-date information. With the integration

between Vault and SharePoint, that’s no longer the case. SharePoint users can

AUTODESK VAULT AND MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT

incorporate the most up-to-date BIM and Digital Prototyping data into interactive

dashboards, scorecards, reports, and business applications. So everyone in the

organization can get a complete picture of a project—helping them to make better

decisions.

Experience Deep Integration with Microsoft Products

The integration between Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and Autodesk Vault 2012 runs on

Microsoft servers and utilizes Microsoft web services and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2®

technology. Engineers, architects, and designers can manage and track design changes

through Autodesk Vault, while SharePoint users can search, view and print Vault data

from within SharePoint. Because Autodesk Vault 2012 is directly integrated with the

familiar ribbon interface in Microsoft Office software—including Microsoft Word,

PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook®—teams can more quickly and easily organize, manage,

and track all documents and email related to a project.

Benefits to SharePoint Users

Let’s take a look at how people already using SharePoint for collaboration within and

beyond their walls can benefit from the integration between SharePoint and Vault.

Project Manager

Responsible for tracking and managing action items, tasks, and milestones related to a

project, project managers use SharePoint to capture, manage, and share project-related

information. Where it was once difficult, if not impossible, to access or expose the design

data driving their projects, project managers can now include all project information—

including design data—on a project’s SharePoint site. They can now attach drawings and

models to action items, tasks, and milestones, as well as report on key performance

indicators (KPIs) as a project progresses. They can even create reports in Autodesk Vault,

then share them through SharePoint.

Accounting Personnel

With BIM and Digital Prototyping data at their fingertips, accountants can now keep closer

tabs on project costs. Through SharePoint, they can access metadata in design models to

use in spreadsheets, or capture material quantities or bill of material (BOM) information for

cost projections. As a result they can more effectively manage costs leading to greater

profits.

Procurement

Easier access to models, drawings, assembly instructions, BOMs, and parts lists helps

procurement staff streamline the ordering process. Instead of requesting information from

design and engineering departments—information that may be outdated by the time they

receive it—procurement personnel can use SharePoint to search and view real-time

design data stored in Vault. By including detailed BIM or Digital Prototyping information in

their orders, procurement staff can get more accurate price quotes and better service.

Sales

Sales teams often use SharePoint to manage pipeline reports and track sales

opportunities. Vault integration gives sales teams deeper visibility into the information they

need to pursue and follow up on the most profitable opportunities. They can access

technical sales documents to better understand a project or product, attach BIM or Digital

AUTODESK VAULT AND MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT

Prototyping data to bids, and search and view models and drawings posted on SharePoint

by technical teams.

Marketing

Early access to models gives marketing teams a deeper understanding of the building or

product being designed, allowing them to develop more strategic marketing materials. In

addition, they can generate visually rich renderings of buildings or products before they’re

built—saving on photography costs and providing a head start on attracting new clients

and customers.

Field Technicians

Whether fabricating in the shop or building on site, field technicians can now use

SharePoint to access the documentation they need to assemble, fabricate, or build—and

to provide feedback to engineers and designers. They can mark-up models and drawings,

then upload them to a SharePoint site for teams to review. Maintenance technicians can

refer to SharePoint for all maintenance information. And organizations can build

customized SharePoint workflows to produce requests for information (RFIs), providing

bidirectional communication between the field and design and engineering teams.

Suppliers and Vendors

AEC and manufacturing companies already use SharePoint to manage information flow

with external suppliers and vendors. Now, they can also pass engineering and design

data to those project stakeholders—with full confidence that it’s entirely accurate and up

to date. Companies simply create a secure SharePoint site that gives suppliers controlled

access to specific Vault data associated with those projects.

Benefits to Vault Users

While Vault users already have access to BIM and Digital Prototyping data, sharing it

beyond the design and engineering team typically involves attaching documents to emails

or using slow, outdated FTP sites. In addition, companies usually deploy Vault behind

their firewalls, leaving suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders without direct access.

With the integration between Vault and SharePoint, however, users can collaborate and

disseminate important design and engineering data throughout and beyond the enterprise

via secure SharePoint sites.

Engineer/Designer

Although Vault is an effective tool for collaboration within engineering and design teams,

many engineers and designers still rely on paper- or email-based processes to circulate

designs for approval, release them to manufacturing, or share them with suppliers. These

manual processes can introduce errors and file version problems. Engineers and

designers may not remember which files they sent, or stakeholders may make changes to

the wrong version. Furthermore, manual processes cost engineers and designers time

better spent on more productive and value-added activities.

The integration between SharePoint and Vault lets designers and engineers focus on

designing rather than distributing content. Sales reps, manufacturing personnel, quality

control, and others throughout the organization can use a project SharePoint site to

access live Vault data—without interrupting designers and engineers. The solution

improves the accuracy of disseminated information and helps teams get on the same

page at the same time, communicate issues sooner, lower risk, and make decisions

faster.

AUTODESK VAULT AND MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT

Architect

Architects who already use Vault to manage BIM data—such as AutoCAD drawings,

Autodesk Revit Architecture models, and Autodesk Navisworks fly-throughs and 4D

sequences—can now easily make this data available to other project stakeholders using

SharePoint. Suppliers, owners, contractors, and project managers can search, view, and

print BIM data stored in Vault without jeopardizing design integrity.

Benefits to SharePoint Administrators

In the past, SharePoint administrators seeking to manage Autodesk design application

data through SharePoint needed to develop a customized integration between SharePoint

and the applications—typically with the help of outside consultants. Now, however, out-of-

the-box integration between Autodesk Vault 2012 and Microsoft SharePoint 2010 gives

SharePoint users direct access to live Vault data with little to no customization, reducing

the burden and costs for SharePoint administrators.

In addition, site administrators who control SharePoint lists for specific business units or

projects can now meet the information requests of their users. Instead of manually loading

data, SharePoint site administrators can use standardized processes to enrich project

sites with BIM and Digital Prototyping data. Because the data is pulled live from Vault, it’s

more accurate and up-to-date.

Extending SharePoint Benefits

While the primary benefit of integrating SharePoint and Vault revolves around accessing

and sharing design data, SharePoint provides additional user benefits including social

computing, search, and collaboration; composite applications; business intelligence, and

workflows.

Social Computing, Search, and Collaboration

Enterprise collaboration, social computing, and search functionality in Microsoft

SharePoint Server 2010—which enables collaboration sites, blogs, wikis, and really

simple syndication (RSS)—helps AEC and manufacturing organizations connect people to

the knowledge they need from others in the extended enterprise. For example, a

manufacturer could set up a social media site on which each worker details his or her

education, current and past projects, activities, credentials, hobbies, and more. In addition

to such user-provided information, SharePoint can access metadata associated with

designs and parts, powering robust searches. Then, in the course of a workflow, people

can search for the information and input they need—for example, where a particular part

or material has been used before. Or, faced with a problem, engineers can search for

other engineers who have worked on similar projects, and learn from their insight.

Composites

SharePoint 2010 Business Connectivity Services (BCS) make it possible to combine

information from a variety of systems as if all of it lived in SharePoint. Users can create,

read, update, delete, and search the data using external lists, working online in a browser

or in Microsoft Office. For example, a project manager on a construction site might need

financial information, schedules, design data, and work resources information—all from

different systems. With SharePoint’s composite capabilities, she can view it all in one

place, allowing her to work more efficiently.

AUTODESK VAULT AND MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT

Business Intelligence (BI)

With SharePoint 2010, employees can use interactive dashboards and scorecards to

define and measure success. Key metrics can be matched to specific project milestones

and strategies—then shared, tracked, and discussed.

For example, an AEC firm working on a government construction contract might receive

payments at certain project milestones. With SharePoint, the firm can monitor progress

towards those milestones and run what-if analysis on strategies for completing work more

efficiently. Then, at each milestone, it can give the government agency validating financial

and project information—and get paid faster.

In a manufacturing organization, the robust BI functionality in SharePoint provides insights

that facilitate better decision making. For example, manufacturers can monitor the cost of

a commodity, such as steel, so that it can buy when prices fall, and analyze supplier

contracts at a deep level to identify the suppliers providing the best prices and terms.

Workflows

The workflow feature in SharePoint 2010 help automate AEC and manufacturing business

processes, improving collaboration, consistency, and productivity. Organizations can

create specific workflows for those business processes that require active participation

from workers to complete tasks. For example, a company might build a workflow for

change orders—which may require the engineer to alter the design and a contractor to

reschedule and reassign work.

Technical Solution Overview

The integration between Autodesk Vault and Microsoft SharePoint connects SharePoint to

live Vault data—data is never copied and always up to date with what’s in Vault.

The following versions of the software products are supported:

• Autodesk Vault Collaboration 2012

• Autodesk Vault Collaboration AEC 2012

• Autodesk Vault Professional 2012

• Microsoft SharePoint 2010 standard or higher

Deploying and Configuring the Solution

A SharePoint administrator can deploy the solution on a SharePoint 2010 Server—with no

additional skills required unless the organization wants further customization. (System

integrators and SharePoint consultants will find the solution highly customizable.)

The administrator simply installs Vault for SharePoint 2010 on the SharePoint Server and

logs into Vault as a client. Because the integration supports a dynamic connection, it

never presents stale data.

SharePoint lists can be configured by object type to support Vault files, items, and change

orders. Lists of Vault files can be scoped by Vault category, state, or folder. Items can be

scoped by Vault category or state. Vault change orders can be scoped by state.

The integration supports an infinite number of unique lists. Each list can be mapped to a

Vault folder and scoped by a lifecycle state and Vault category, allowing site

administrators to control any Vault data that appears on the SharePoint site.

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Whitepaper_Autodesk_Vault_Integration_with_Microsoft_Sharepointx Wp Msd Vault And Sharepoint Integration

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