BIM360 explained in full

[Anonymous]

Hello, can somoene explain what are complete capabilities of BIM360 and how it can be used as Common Data Environment tool (CDE) what are pros and cons from CDE tools available, and do we need to purchase addtional software? Can we create workflows to control the document updates etc? what type of documents it accepts? We currently have development project and we want this to be BIM level 2 compliant, is Revit and BIM360 enough to have to implement all processes and collaboration or do we need to purchase expensive CDE tools separately? Example how we control who is responsible for the document, can automated emails be set up , how to control the users are working on documents and meeting the deadlines?

[Alfredo_Medina · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous

I hope this information is useful to answer some of your questions:

• Define which BIM360 service you will use. If you are a Revit user, there are two platforms: basically, "BIM 360 Team" for users of Revit 2018, and "BIM 360 Docs", for users of Revit 2019. Which will be yours? 
• There are many differences between BIM360 Team and BIM 360 Docs. The latter has more and better features than the former. However, it takes time to understand how some things work in BIM 360 Docs for someone who has been using BIM 360 Team (like me). 
• Visit the forum that is dedicated to that topic, at: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/bim-360-document-management/bd-p/183
• Get a free trial version for 30 days if you still don't have an account. There is a Learning Panel with some short videos on the right side of the screen in BIM 360 Docs.
• Autodesk has videos in Youtube, and there are webinars announced here in the forums from time to time.
• Understand that there are 2 types of subscription that correspond to 2 types of usage: one is using BIM 360 (either one) as a repository of documents of a project, similar to using it as Box.com or similar, and the other one is using it as a repository and as a cloud server for collaboration, similar to Revit server but on the web.  The first usage has a monthly fee of approx 15 dollars, the second usage a monthly fee of approx 115 dollars. There is also the option of annual payments with savings. The first usage is for all team members who are not the active design team (administrative, managers, clients, reviewers, etc). The second usage is for the design team, those who produce the models and sheets.
• In relation to your specific questions: I think BIM 360 Docs should be enough to manage the following aspects of a project: sharing, collaborating, viewing, commenting, archiving,  publishing, communicating, and (new) doing RFIs (requests for information).
• I used BIM 360 Team for a year and a half in a huge project and I can say that BIM 360 Team performed very well for our needs. Now I see that most of the features that BIM Managers requested to Autodesk when we were using BIM 360 Team are now incorporated in BIM 360 Docs. 
• Do you need additional software? Optionally, you could add Blue Beam for large group review sessions, and you could add Newforma for keeping track of email and submittals related to the project. All that depends on your budget and the size and complexity of the project. For coordination, you could use BIM 360 Glue or Navisworks. 
• How does it compare to other similar software? I have not had the chance to use others. But there are several other options, yes. You will have to read lists of features of products. Search for BIM Collaboration and Project Management tools. If you can attend Autodesk University in November/December, that is a good place to see all these products together as all these companies have booths at the exhibition hall, and you can watch their presentations and get brochures to compare.
• What type of documents you can put in the BIM 360 Site? Many, I would say anything you usually need. Revit models, Navisworks models,  AutoCAD files, PDFs, Image files, Excel sheets, Word files, and all of them open for viewing without additional tools.

Well, I hope this gets you started so that you can find answers to the rest of your questions.

[PrathapSekar]

Hi @Anonymous, 

Please go through this Link, Hope this may help you.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Anonymous

I see that you are a new visitor. Welcome to the Autodesk community! 

Please see the BIM 360 forum for further feedback and you can post specific questions here.

Regards,

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for your responses it's really aprieciated!!!. We purchased from your approved AutoCAD partner and on a quote is stated as BIM360, but it doesnt say it's BIM 360 Team or BIM 360 Docs. I looked through my Revit which is 2017 , the only I can see is BIM 360 icon with Glue and some other two icons (screen shot below) , how to check do we have docs or team or do we have to purchase as additional features/modules?

Also we heard that Vault could be used as alternative of CDE , how this differ from docs and team and Glue? I just would like to better understand do what modules/features we need: Team, Docs, Vault, Glue and there is also Design, Build etc.

I am reading about them but still it's not everythign is clear about the difference between them . We are client team, so we are not engineers or designers, but we are talking with Architect company who will be designing the building and we will manage the contractors too. So ideally we would like to have one platform to share data / information between all parties involved - the End Client which are we users , who will use and maintain the building and we are interested in how / which tool is best to use to control and verify the information flow ,like for ex to receive correct and reliable data about the assets installed etc. and about the design of cause. Our architect company said they use BIM 360 but we didn't go into detail about which features/ modules they use, it seems v grey are and no one clearly understands what this tool does and what are full capabilities .

What about BIM 360 Glue, is it used with designers and engineers only or also with the clients of the project? is it like CDE as well?  So far i found it's features are:

Constructability Review Tools

• Review and annotate models
• Send notifications to project team
• Respond to markups

3D Model Access

• Anytime, anywhere access
• 50+ file formats
• Sync models for offline viewing

Design Tool Integration

• Upload directly to Glue
• Automatically manage model versions
• Access and isolate clashing elements

Navisworks Integration

• One-click publish to Glue
• Perform more detailed clash detection
• Send links and notifications to reviewer

Also I am looking at Vault, what's the difference between Vault and BIM 360 team and Docs??? Do we need this tool as well? Sorry for going round and about this.

[Alfredo_Medina]

The first paragraph of this second message of yours has already an answer in the first bullet point of my reply above. Please take a second look.

I would recommend to follow the suggestion of posting the question in the BIM 360 forum, where there are more users of the service who can help with your questions.