Working with files outside of vault

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have a good way of working with files outside of vault?  We would like to outsource some files to another company so they can clean up the assemblies and create the drawings.  

We tried using pack and go to send out the files but when they were returned we have issues getting them back into vault.  When the files were out being cleaned up I had them checked out so when we go them back I copied the files to my local workspace and went to open them so they could be checked in.  Inventor took about 2 hours to open an assembly with less than 500 parts and was using about 16Gb of memory.  I assume this is because it was trying to find all file references and was searching the entire project.  

Is there a better way to handle files that are modified outside of the workspace or is this what I can expect when outsourcing files.

Thanks for the help.

Steve

[olearya · Accepted solution]

Hi Steve,

One of the options to look at here is Autodesk Buzzsaw.  This is a secure cloud based project management tool which controls file access external to your firewall and can be integrated with Vault to manually sync data back and forth.

More details can be found here: http://usa.autodesk.com/buzzsaw/

[Anonymous]

We would love to use buzzsaw with Vault, but our company policy doesn't allow the use of the 'cloud'.  It would be great if buzzsaw could be setup on an 'internal' server, inside the companies firewall.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick response.  I didn't know Buzzsaw had that capibility, I will have to look into the workflow more closely and see if that is something we would want to invest in.

Also, could you use Buzzsaw to upload drawings so various machine shops could access the most current drawings?  In the past we have had an issue with old prints being set to vendors.  

Thanks for the help.

[olearya]

Yes you could.  

@ jclaidler - As you mention we do not have an "on premise" Buzzsaw server but the intent is really to provide an collaborative project management tool largely for external parties meaning the same security concerns / vulnerabilities would exist and likely made worse in such a case (opening up firewall or VPN connections to external parties).

At the end of the day you could open up your Vault Server to third parties but Buzzsaw provides a more controlled staging point where you can decide what data is posted, track notifications and monitor user activity.