Normally I don't comment on press releases or demo videos, but the SharePoint integration is different. I was personally involved in this project, so I'd like to share some of the technical details.
The Project:
This integration was a joint effort between Autodesk and Microsoft. Overall, I loved working with the Microsoft team. After all, my last name is Redmond. They helped develop some of the features and were great at getting me up to speed on SharePoint development.
The Architecture:
The Vault integration is built on a SharePoint API piece called Business Connectivity Services (BCS). The quick definition is that BCS makes data from an outside system look like SharePoint data so that the SharePoint framework can work with it. In this case, Vault is the outside system.
The Vault integration contains no web parts. Everything is done through BCS and standard SharePoint components. This means that the Vault data can hook into existing SharePoint features. As shown in the videos, this feature hooks into the list and workflow features. The end users may not even realize that they are working with Vault data.
Making it Your Own:
Autodesk Vault for SharePoint 2010 comes with some basic functionality out of the box. But the real power will probably come from customizations. SharePoint has a dizzying amount of customization features from simple to complex. By using BCS technology, Vault data can hook into many types of customizations, from basic lists to complex web parts.
I personally can't wait to see the type of things people do with the Vault integration. I'll probably create some sample apps of my own just for fun. So check back often.
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