Proper Procedures for Upgrading Your Data Management Software

Over the past few years, things have changed so that many, if not most, of our CAD customers are now managing their files in a data management system such as Autodesk Vault, BlueCielo Meridian/TeamWork or Synergis Adept rather than managing their files in Windows folders. Originally, most of this growth came via the implementation of the free version of Autodesk Vault that is included with Autodesk Inventor, and now, most other Autodesk CAD software products. More recently, the more powerful Workgroup, Collaboration and Professional versions of Vault have become more prominent. At Hagerman & Company, our sales and implementations of Meridian, TeamWork and Adept have stayed strong and grown as well.

The important thing to remember about all of the above data management systems, including even the free version of Vault, is that (as opposed to your CAD software) they are client-server based, enterprise type software. For the most part, your CAD software would be classified as “desktop-based”. All of these solutions run on a database backend (in most cases is Microsoft SQL Server) and generally require a web server. In addition, a whole host of company-wide security requirements, software requirements and other settings are required in order to install or update these systems.

Unfortunately, we find more and more of our customers who don’t take this into account and treat the data management upgrade as part of their CAD upgrade process. The data management upgrade really represents an undertaking far larger and more critical and requires much more preparation, precaution and generally the involvement of, and coordination with, additional personnel.

Below is what we feel are some general, minimal guidelines that must be followed in all cases in order to make data management upgrades a success:

IT personnel with the proper administrative rights for all servers and the network must be involved in the process of performing the upgrade. As opposed to CAD-only upgrades, the process cannot involve engineering alone. IT should be involved in reviewing the requirements for the new version of the software to ensure that your company has the proper versions of SQL, client and server OS’s and the proper hardware configurations in place. (Hagerman & Company can assist with this review as well.)
Develop a project task list detailing all of the steps that need to be performed, and in what order, before proceeding with the upgrade.
A backup of your current database and files needs to be performed and validated so that it can be restored back into production if necessary.
A test migration of your database needs to be performed in a test environment before doing it in a live environment.
Don’t upgrade your CAD software without first making sure that the new version is compatible with your data management software and vice versa.
If you have minimal IT knowledge or IT authorization, don’t expect to be able to be talked through this upgrade process over the phone by Hagerman or Autodesk support personnel if issues arise. Issues surrounding this type of upgrade are very often beyond the scope of phone support.

The above listing is by no means a complete list of recommendations and steps. More detailed information is available within your Autodesk product documentation.

At Hagerman & Company, most of our customers generally end up hiring us to come on site to assist with performing upgrades. If you are uncertain that you or your company has the ability, knowledge or time to perform all of these steps on your own or you are concerned about downtime and loss of productivity, please don’t hesitate to ask for our assistance.

This page last edited on Friday, September 09, 2011