Sharing a file vs Teamwork

[Geof Gainer]

I'll probably be bringing on an employee, doubling my office population. In the past, I've simply had a drafter work off my computer, or we've traded files back and forth on a thumbdrive.

I'll probably do the same for now, since projects are small and there are lots of them. But at what point does Teamwork become worthwhile -- when do you make the switch?

Also, for a mac office, what's the best way to trade files? We'd both be running off the same router. Keep .pln files in a public folder? Other critical files? For telecommuting, could we use Dropbox?

Thanks!

[David Larrew]

Any project that has more than one person working on it should be shared (Teamworked). Even if you are the only one working on the file, if you work remotely (away from your file server) the project should be shared on the BIM Server... For easy remote access and added file security.

The BIM Server would store and manage the project and library data. Just be sure to install the BIM Server on a "server quality" computer.

[Karl Ottenstein]

David wrote:
Any project that has more than one person working on it should be shared (Teamworked).

Not sure if you meant this as generally as it might be read, David?

Personally, I do not recommend TW to anyone who does not expect more than one person to work at the same time. Many very small offices have a workflow that basically has one person work through schematic design and perhaps another person take the project through design development and construction documents. This pipelined, pass-the-file forward workflow does not warrant the huge complexity of BIM Server management by a 2 or 3 person firm IMHO. Working together, of course, does...

Cheers,
Karl