This report discusses current file collaboration solutions for distributed IT environments while keeping an eye on following required characteristics:

Automatic distributed file replication. The software must automatically update and maintain a local copy of shared CAD files at each office to avoid the lost time and  frustration caused by a slow WAN.

Optimized WAN replication. Local copies of shared CAD files should be updated with only the bytes of data that are actually changed during editing, greatly reducing the amount of time users must wait for files to be replicated over the WAN.

Version tracking. Versioning eliminates the possibility of working on the wrong file. As the CAD project manager makes or permits changes to shared files, the history of the changes should be tracked so proper version control can be maintained. 

Easy to use. Users should simply be able to work in their CAD applications. They don’t want to learn and use another software package to retrieve the files they need. A solution that avoids this bottleneck will help eliminate user frustration and keep the focus on using CAD. 

Efficient to implement. Time is money, so the less IT time required to implement a solution, the better. 

Affordable. No company wants to spend more money than necessary, so an optimal solution would be as inexpensive as possible.