Our server administrator is the person who advised us against vbDrupal. Something about a "nightmare" of issues because we have such a large database.
We're exploring the vB idea because we would like the connection and member accounts to carry over with privileges, yes. But it's not the final decision-maker in selecting a system. A nice side. We have to achieve the look and fell and functionality we want above all else. If vB and vBAdvanced can do it - great! We'll certainly go that direction. If not, we'll now look at Wordpress instead of Drupal.
I did get something from our designer today about integrating wordpress with vB. I have to look at that too.