Vault is a data management software package that comes bundled with the Autodesk manufacturing products.  The Vault Basic package offers basic data management functionality.  Adding to this functionality is as easy as upgrading to the two bigger siblings of Vault – Vault Workgroup and Vault Professional.

Now you might be wondering, what are the differences between these two packages besides the price.  (Pro having the most functionality is more expensive).

The official Autodesk comparison can be found here.

Looking at the table what does it mean in a practical sense.  If you have worked on Vault Professional and then move over to Vault Workgroup you will quickly see the differences.

Even though the interfaces are the same, the visual workflows are vastly different and this is all due to the fact that Items are not available to Workgroup.  Yes you can do lifecycles in both versions but where is the nice graphic to indicate where in the lifecycle the file/item is?  I like that visual and it is non existent in Workgroup.

You want an email sent to the next person in the lifecycle in Workgroup…no can do.  You need to upgrade to Professional.  I am not complaining but it is a bit of a letdown when “downgrading” from the Professional package.

The second function that I also miss is the worklist.  It is a good visual reminder of what I am expected to do.  (I can be a little scatter brained at times)

Bill of Materials is also non existent and if you are used to having complete BOM’s coming out of your Vault it will be sorely missed.

These gripes I have are merely visual.  Vault Workgroup is still very much a fantastic data managment software addin for both Inventor and AutoCAD.