Hi and thanks for the post. It's tough to comment well without actually being there/seeing what you've done but I'll do my best to respond!
Summary (read this only if you just want jist, more below if you're really into this stuff like me!):
- To be clear - are you trying to use SharePoint Online as your PRIMARY and SOLE fileshare for project work - docs, xls, dwg, rvt, pdf, etc - but with all files locally synced via OneDrive for Business sync client?
- Have you experienced with dwgs' x-refs? I.e., someone checks out a drawing/edits it that is an x-ref for another dwg which is found to be missing the first dwg/xref?
- Is your staff actually buying in to the check-in/check-out system? My understanding is that it's on/off FOR ALL FILES (which is annoying), and that you need to log into SharePoint Online to check in/out (which is even more annoying).
Look forward to hearing more....!
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The LONG response:
From what I've read/we've experienced you experience sounds like it's in line with our own. In short, workable but not really ideal and still some ways to go re: product development. We're lucky in that we're a small office so can "muddle our way" through the less-than-ideal to get the benefits of cloud. I doubt it'd work at all in mid to large sized office.
We're using basic teamsite functionality, accessing dwgs via OneDrive Sync Client-locally syncing files via Windows Explorer (this is what the team's used to, and the SharePoint (even the Online) version is overkill for our size, scope and SOP for workflows, etc). I looked into Check-in/out and tried it out, but in line with what I just wrote, it was untenable from a day-to-day workflow standpoint. My understanding is that you can turn it off or on; for all files, all the time. There's no choose which folders to run check in/off on as there is for locally syncing folders and files. Again, this is my understanding and where I left things.
You didn't say anything about it, but the fun really started when it came to x-refs. It'd often be the case that someone would be working on a drawing that is also an x-ref for another drawing (dwg b). Someone would open dwg b without seeing the x-ref (dwg a), the one the first person was working on. Have you experienced something different (or have you not even opened the door to that by using check-in/check-out)?
I believe you actually have buy-in from users/staff if I read your post correctly. Which is impressive to me! It has been challenging to garner sufficient buy-in. Specifically around adopting the kind of workflow that the technology requires (versus the other way around). So, willing to accept check-in/check-out and the headaches that entails.. FOR ALL FILES (i.e., "hey, who has 123 smith street checked-out? I need to work on it now... Anyone? S#*%!") versus being able to easily open/close files. Following on the previous paragraph, I've found current work practices are too comforting for the team. You know that all your x-refs are there beyond any doubt and that no one else can be working in the same drawing at the same time as you. In fact, it's become a de fact workflow "choke" point (getting the "read only" message) - it pens people in, especially during crunch times. Which is dumb... yet a de-stressor. Ugh.
To be clear - are you trying to use SharePoint Online as your main fileshare but with all files locally synced via OneDrive for Business sync client? That's what we're doing. To date, we've found it works well for Office, PDF and other Adobe files, and CAN work for dwgs. When there's a crunch or multiple people working on one project, the job captain will cut/copy the drawings onto our local shared drive, work from there (with comfort), and then move the finished or latest round of drawings back onto the Cloud to be synced. This presents issues in and of itself, however it's also a compromise I'm willing to make in order to continue to prime the team for cloud-based working; won't be long before this stuff is figured out! There's no way AutoDesk and Microsoft can continue to exist in silos - the vast majority of A/E/C firms work with these two standards. That, and easier to integrate these two than try to integrate with multitude of third party PM software, cloud services, storage providers, etc., that use all sorts of language, OSs, etc.
Finally, I really really really wanted to try out AutoDesk Desktop Connector but it's a no go. You need to subscribe to specific products to get it, for one, and from what it sounds like it's more of an "uploader" where you save submitted or final copes than a fileshare where you can actively work on dwgs (which would then be synced and accessed it from wherever, shared easily with clients, etc).
Hope this helps!
