The vault is much more than just 'version control'.
- centralized storage for symbols,footprints,projects and all other data.( all version controlled of course)
- centralized library created from symbols,footprints and textual data. (again all version controlled)
- interactive supply chain datapull from Ciiva / octopart
- interconnection with company database to pull real time information ( for example corporate pricing , preferred parts etc , stock info)
- centralized control over documents and settings. you can force the altium configuration form the vault so all users use the correct templates, scripts ,output settings etc.
- centralized deploy of the software. you can control what version users run
- view of what is used where in what project. if you need to edit a footprint because of an issue in fabrication or solderability you immediately know what projects are using it. if a part becomes obsolete or has long lead times you immediately know what projects are affected. part swaps become simple.
The vault is a VERY powerful system as it ties in all the other information that you normally need to muck around with manually.