Upgrading from Pro/I 3.3... Advice?

[empgoalie]

Hello all. We've approached the time for upgrading from WF2 and Pro/I 3.3. We're a smaller company with 19 users. We currently are fine with only vaulting the CAD files and managing revisions and iterations of files. We will be upgrading to WF4.

Does it make sense to make the leap to PDMLink? We wouldn't use change management right away, but would probably configure it later on.

Would we be better off upgrading to Pro/I 9? Is this going to be phased out and we'd have to go to PDMLink anyway adding additional cost down the road?

Just looking for thoughts and opinions on this based on past experiences. Thanks for the help!

 

[kdmgooner]

Having gone from Pro/I to PDMLink 8 at this site, added a common database in Germany at PDMLink 9 serving France, Germany,UK and India and soon to install PDM Link 9 in the US here iis my advise for what it is worth.


To migrate to PDMLink you must first upgrade Pro/I to 3.4. Once that is done I strongly advise that you go straight to PDMLink 9 (or even 9.1). Forget about Pro/I 9 and go to PDMLink.


The main problem you face is the migration of the existing data which is an expensive excercise. Then there is training, PDMLink is very different to Pro/I

 

[bcooper]

We went from Pro/I3.3 to Pro/I8.0 and it is a totaly different environment. The installation is differnt, the day to day operations are differnt. There are some advantages with the newer releases but it is more complicated.


The two pieces of advice I would give before anyone made this change is prepare, prepare, prepare and practice, practice, practice. Sit down with your team and go over all the protocols, roles, vault configurations ect. knowing this information up front is a huge help. The other advantage, is getting team buy in, this is going to be a big change for the users, getting them involved as early as possible will help make the transition smoother.


We went through all the training and we had a separate server set up to practice on and we still had a lot of issues with the installation. We spent a lot of time on the phone with ptc resolving issues. I'm sure a lot of the issues we ran into are worked out by now, but go in prepared for a long installation process and if everything goes smooth, you are ahead.


Good luck