PDMWorks Workgroup Vs Enterprise

Has anyone done a feature by feature difference between PDMWorks
workgroup vs enterprise. COuldn't find such a chart on the solidworks
site the only difference cited on the net/literature is that workgroup
is targetted towards small groups <10 that are geographically in one
location and enterprise is for large distributed groups. That's hardly
enough to go by for a buy decision.

One specific feature difference I am interested in is:
* Does PDMWorks Workgroup allow the use of Windows Explorer interface
to access the vault as Enterprise does or is that feature exclusive to
Enterprise? This is valuable because the valut can then be used to
revision control all types of files not only Solidworks (e.g. word,
excel etc).

Any thoughts?

 

Workgroup requires a special client interface to access the vault, but
it still allows you to rev control any type of file, not just SW. n my
opinion, the Windows Explorer interface in Conisio (Enterprise) is
highly overrated, not to say that it's bad, just that it isn't much if
any better than having a separate client software interface. They both
require learning new stuff.

The main differences are going to be that Enterprise has a real database
(which has benefits and detriments), it can do things like workflow for
routing ECNs through a sign off loop, and it has multi-site
capabilities. And price. They are two completely different products.

 

PDMWorks - No database structure (messes with file names and

We've been using this for almost 4 years. It's a great little system! Well
integrated with Solidworks, maybe the best-in-class imo.

We lost interest in this after the Solidworks acquisition. We want to go
with a dedicated vendor.

Interface seems dated/funky. Reminds me of DOS 6.22/ Win 3.1. Integration
with Solidworks seems to be lacking a little.

We are leaning heavily toward this one. Configurations can be managed. One
big downside when compared to PDMW, option (Local Checkout Mode) to work
locally only exists in Enterprise Version. ;(

 

PDMWorks Enterprise is Conisio with an increase in price of $400.0 US.
Not a single thing has changed except for the name.

The problem is that the real PDMWorks vault and the vault in PDMWorks
"Enterprise"
are totally incompatible and there is no migration tool.

The only plus side is that Conisio has a robust API.

 

As an added bonus with DBWorks there is a migration tool between
PDMWorks and DBWorks. Existing PDMWorks clients are also eligible for a
25% discount on the same number of new DBWorks seats. Check with your
VAR for details.

Len

 

PDMWorks is pretty good for small to middling offices. It is reasonably
fast, intuitive for the most part and simple to set up. Just make sure
the vault is locked down. Is limited in some of the SW functionality it
supports.

dbWorks can work with most SW functionality and can be either simple to
setup or extremely complicated. It expands to meet the task as
necessary because it is so open. There is a workgroup and enterprise
version as well and it can interface to many ERP systems if you like.

We went with dbWorks because of configuration support.

 

$400 more?....how much is it?

 

for more info on PDMW Enterprise see,
http://www.conisio.com/en/feat_interface.asp
click through the features on right side

 

$2500.00 USD per seat.

In fairness to the MLC-CAD and other resellers, this has put them in a
really bad spot.

MLC-CAD was already selling Conisio to fill the void between PDMWorks
and SmartTeam,
They already have existing customers of Conisio.
I sure hope SW rethinks the pricing.

 

Yeah...that sounds steep....an old coworker of mine siad he went to a
VAR demo and was told it was $3000 for 5 seats. Was that a promotion or
did he mishear? I told him check on DBWorks....it may be cheaper and
may get more functionality.

 

$2500.00 USD per seat.

We received the following pricing,
PDMWorks Enterprise for SolidWorks 2006 - $1795
Subscription - $495

PDMWorks Enterprise Contributor - $1295 (non-CAD users)
Subscription - $395

$1500/day for consulting. No indication of how many days would be required.

Bear in mind we already own SW Office Professional. So I'm guessing there
is a
discount because of this.

 

DBWorks added local checkout mode to its workgroup version - (express)

 

nice!

 

Paul...did you receive my email?...not sure if this google thing sent
it correctly when I chose to reply to your email address.

Jason