Let's get some terms straight.
Windchill is the base code behind PDMLink, ProductPoint, ProjectLink, MPMLink, etc. It is a programming toolkit to build applications on. It requires a database (Oracle, SQLServer, SharePoint) behind it to store the data.
ProductPoint is the PTC Implementation of Windchill on a SharePoint database. It does simple CAD vaulting.
Intralink is a Windchill customization on Oracle or SQLServer that does CAD vaulting plus some workflow.
PDMLink is a Windchill customization on Oracle or SQLServer that does full PDM functionality from initial problem reports through change notification. Included in there is CAD vaulting with workflow.
ProductPoint was released to meet the needs of the small company that needed CAD vaulting. With the changes in Windchill10, PTC felt that the need for a redundent product was not in their best interest so they killed it. Intralink10 should be able to do everything that ProductPoint1 did and possibly easier. The extra workflow tools in Intralink should have some benefit, though I can see where some companies still don't need that. You can do Cad vaulting only in Intralink and even PDMlink. I worked for a company that used PDMLink for CAD vaulting only. They had no desire to do anything else with it as that was all handled by TeamCenter.
As far as cost is concerned, the hardware is about the same. You need 2 servers, database and application, though it can be done on a single server. Software costs may be a little higher as you move from ProductPoint to Intralink to PDMLink, but I don't know how much. Maintenance is always a function of the software cost as a percentage. Prices are negotiable with PTC especially in the late summer as they want to close their fiscal year with lots of good news. End of quarter sales and negotiations are also possible.
Thank you,
Ben H. Loosli
USEC, INC.