Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro vs. NoteVault

Autodesk Bim 360 is well suited to the majority of construction projects in my opinion. On the construction side I could see how the straightforward nature of the platform would be well liked. The new update with the widgets is a great touch and allows for ease of site visits by showcasing good to know info like project location on a map and the local weather. You can also customize the "widgets" as you see fit to add more information if necessary to the home screen. From my experience as a LEED consultant, Bim 360 does not differ much from other platforms used for submittal review like Procore. It is easy enough to search for what you want but searches do take a while and you need to move the cursor over every time you search and do not find what you're looking for, which seems very unnecessary. Overall it is fine for reviewing documentation but isn't anything extraordinary.

Incentivized

It's is absolutely well suited for all daily reporting/documentation needs, also since it essentially 'self archives' you can revisit past projects by logging into the admin panel faster than going to my own archived job files. It saved our skin by documenting where a bad GC Superintendent had been giving false information to the office, and we were able to prove our conditions/progress and alleviate the issue. It's very well suited for large projects, and ongoing projects. A bit less suited for small fast service type projects. We keep one 'service' job open to document the fast turn over stuff to alleviate that issue.

• It helps to collaborate on different components of projects that work according to different specifications in one place.
• With this the client can have all date at once where they can review all things.
• The place where an architect and other Engineers coordinate to get a full-fledged model.

Incentivized

• As a delay has occurred in the field, the foremen are able to report it immediately. The project manager now gets this information as it happened, not just trying to remember the next time they talk or see each other.
• As an RFI arises, the foremen can ask their questions immediately so that the PM can address it right away.
• We input our manpower on a daily basis, which helps us project where we are as it pertains to hours on a job.

• Bim360 is extremely unintuitive and frequently confusing to end users.
• There are multiple avenues of sharing and collaboration for models and information. The advantages/disadvantages of each and how to perform even the most basic of tasks requires extensive training and mentoring for even the most advanced of users.
• There are many enormous limitations and constraints to BIM 360 that are not immediately obvious and even contrary to published marketing materials and even product naming.
• Development cycles of the product are seemingly monthly, but incredibly minor. This makes the desperately-needed and glaringly obvious massive usability, capability, and performance improvements into deal-breakers and hair pulling events. Change cannot come fast enough.
• There are no integrations into Microsoft's Azure AD SSO or other 3rd party SSOs available for SMBs. This makes the provided MFA a huge headache for all SMBs.
• There are no integrations into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem for SharePoint/OneDrive or Outlook. This is desperately needed for most organizations using Bim360.

Incentivized

• Difficult to bring back reports from the archives. I don't archive any more; I just sequentially date my projects and keep them all live.
• Notevault is set up for normal work shifts. But I mostly work night shifts from about 10 pm to 6 am. You then have to sort and filter the notes from two separate "days" in the system to get a coherent report from a single night shift. I live with it, but I don't like it.

Incentivized

It flat works and has paid for itself quickly.

It's not very difficult to use for majority of all our users. We really like storing and managing all our project data in one location so users have only one option to access the requested information. Managing our architectural engineering projects with two workflows in one system is really a good asset

Incentivized

Simple use of functions. Majority of people can become familiar with this product fairly quick

Incentivized

AutoDesk support is slow and if you are not an enterprise customer they will likely tell you to go to forums and post for help pushing the support on the high-level end-users (some of which are AutoDesk employees). I haven't actually had issues requiring support with docs altough there are some features I wish it had

Incentivized

The saving in reduced field changes/mistakes quickly paid for the license plus some. The software allows for easy data collection, especially at project completion for field software by checklist creation. Furthermore, the internal punch-list tracking, tracking completion lists and punch lists created for us by others is optimal compared to the competition. We chose Bim360 over other options due to its ability to import out of other software programs directly into the system, adding reports in one location and then distributing it to subcontractors and internally from there to fix deficiencies. It does the tracking, importing, markups of pictures and document viewing well and fulfills our needs.

Incentivized

I have used both Raken and NoteVault. It is my preference to use NoteVault due to the simplicity of it. Raken tended to be a bit cumbersome. I did not like the photo features used with Raken as opposed to the very simple straight forward approach with NoteVault

Incentivized

• We are able to complete a design quicker.
• The fact that your files are not on your servers. Anytime that the Autodesk servers go down you are down; it does not happen very often but when it does there is nothing you can do about it except wait.
• Because of how BIM360 licensing is setup it does force you to manage the personnel on a project closer. This can at times be viewed as a negative but in the long run is positive because with better management comes better profit.

Incentivized

• Daily reports get published the following day after downloaded to NoteVault.
• From an executive standpoint, I am able to track the progress of each project on a daily basis and to be able to focus my efforts to the project that needs help.