FAQ
Q: How does Vuuch compare with product data management (PDM) offerings?
A: Vuuch does not compete with PDM. Vuuch co-exists beautifully with PDM because Vuuch does not dictate how or where an enterprise manages its data files. Vuuch does two things which deliver PDM independence. First, it understands common file types, such as Office documents and CAD formats. Second, it “fingerprints” those files so that Vuuch can maintain the social relationship between the file, the metadata the team associates with the file and the people invited to the Vuuch page that represents the file. By using representation instead requiring management of the actual file, Vuuch adds a social capability to PDM that PDM would otherwise not be able to achieve. Files can optionally be stored in Vuuch, but the real power of the social system is the way it keeps track of data files without needing to actually manage those files.
Q: Vuuch runs in the cloud. Is that secure? Can I run Vuuch behind my firewall?
A: Good security is a combination of application architecture, network design and operational procedures in the data center. We believe Vuuch offers state-of-the-art approaches to all these issues. By doing so, we believe Vuuch is actually more secure than you might need. A full description of all Vuuch security capabilities is beyond the scope of this FAQ. To read more about this topic, please visit our white paper page. There you will find two documents. One is a description of security from Vuuch’s perspective; the other is a description of Amazon EC2 operational procedures, which Vuuch takes advantage of. Even after you read that material, you might still have additional questions. If so, please contact us. Security is one of our favorite topics; we believe that one of the best ways to become even more secure is to have our decisions questioned so we can make improvements.
Since we believe we have designed and implemented Vuuch to be secure, we feel confident in recommending using Vuuch in the cloud in all but the most exceptional cases. If your deployment is one of those cases — for whatever reason — we have a variety of deployment options you can choose from. But, please, do not assume you would never deploy in the cloud until you have talked in detail with us about this issue. We may be able to satisfy your requirements and deliver the cost and reliability of the cloud for you when you deploy Vuuch.
Q: How does Vuuch avoid the problem of making people change how they work today? Our users do not want to have “yet another place” to have to look for information.
A: Vuuch has been designed precisely with this requirement in mind. To make using Vuuch productive and fun, the system delivers a web portal and plugins for specific CAD products and Microsoft Office (see “working in everyday tools“). In this way, Vuuch can be implemented to comply with the teams’ current preferences. Many organizations are especially dependent on email. Vuuch enhances the way email works. See a detailed description of Vuuch email capabilities in this blog post.
Q: We already have SharePoint installed. Is there any reason to use Vuuch?
A: Absolutely. SharePoint is a collaboration system that is file based. Vuuch is a social system that is interaction based. These are two very different, complementary ideas. With SharePoint, programming, setup and access control are usually required to allow a team to effectively use the system. In addition, SharePoint workflows are typically pre-coded and therefore limited to what the developer predetermined the team could do. Vuuch can leverage SharePoint storage, as it does for PDM systems, to permit the team to interact dynamically using social techniques such as invitation and event notification. Because Vuuch understands Office file types, the product team may use the Vuuch plug-in for Microsoft Office to manage tasks, issues, FAQs, discussions and more while including file-based content stored in SharePoint.
Q: We track our projects in Microsoft Project. Why would I need Vuuch in that case?
A: At first glance, Vuuch may look like a project management tool. But the two tools are very different things, used for different purposes. Vuuch develops the current state of the project through the sum total of the social activity on items the team cares about. Project management tools are used for determining length and, classically, for management reporting. Project management systems are static; they are up-to-date when the project manager updates the file. Vuuch is always up-to-date because everyone participating in the system has 100% awareness of their issues and tasks. In short, while Vuuch can deliver management reporting and status, the way that information is developed and used by Vuuch is completely different. Instead of a project manager seeking status and updating the file, Vuuch collates and sorts the social activity of a product development team to deliver a true, accurate and timely view of the product development effort.
Q: Can I use Vuuch with my enterprise resource planning system (ERP)?
A: Yes. Currently, Vuuch does not provide any direct plug-ins for ERP systems. However, the social capabilities of Vuuch are available to ERP users in two ways. First, Vuuch offers a “universal client” in the form of RSS feeds by user for Vuuch events and for Vuuch pages. Second, Vuuch offers an open API that allows users to integrate the social capabilities of Vuuch into their ERP applications. In this way, social technology can extend from the very earliest design activity on the product all the way through manufacturing and on into customer service and support.
Q: What do I have to install to use Vuuch?
A: Vuuch is delivered via a software-as-a-service model. So there’s nothing to install. The Vuuch web portal supports all common browsers. If you wish to use Vuuch inside common desktop productivity and design applications, you can install a Vuuch plug-in free of charge. Vuuch plug-ins are very lightweight and make it convenient for users who wish to interact with the social system from within their favorite tools.
Q: Oh, come on — despite everything you say Vuuch is a collaboration system, isn’t it? You just don’t want to use the word “collaboration” because the term has been woefully over-hyped in product development.
A: Vuuch is not a collaboration system, as those tools are classically understood. We believe legacy collaboration systems have two characteristics that have made them underwhelming.
- Collaboration systems are file based. Files are only part of what a team works together on. But the concept of a file saved on a disk somewhere is so central to users’ computing experiences, it is completely understandable why users would associate collaboration with the sharing of files. But if you think about it, in real life, working with a team is not just silently passing file folders to each other across a table. In the real world, discussion, lists and connections among people are an inseparable part of the working world. File based collaboration systems are a lowest-common-denominator technology which reduces collaboration to what the computer can easily do, not what product development teams need.
- File based collaboration systems enforce a permission, or access control, regimen that, once again, is based on what computers are good at. Access control specifications rarely mirror the connections among people in a product development team accurately. We have all seen systems with hierarchies like “author,” “contributor,” “editor” and “admin.” These are necessary to protect files. But an access control regimen squeezes flexibility and adaptability out of the collaboration system. This is because connections between and among team members are based on the specific items they are working on together. Roles may change; members may come and go. In Vuuch, we say people are connected through the items they are working on. Access control that simply manages permissions in a file system ignores this social aspect of teamwork.
For these reasons — and others we are happy to detail to you, just contact us — we reject labeling Vuuch as a collaboration system. It suffers none of these problems. However, collaboration is what most people call the thing a team does to produce work. So, at the end of the day, as long you do not lump Vuuch into the failed collaboration software category, we do not mind being labeled as a collaboration system. If you have ever used a legacy collaboration system, you understand our sensitivity on this point. If we allow ourselves to be categorized incorrectly, we get tarred with the failure of legacy systems in many minds before they even have the chance to investigate Vuuch.
