Design collaboration is one area of MCAD technology where the dreams and wishes of designers are actually coming to fruition. Designers have traditionally had a hard enough time collaborating with a partner in the next cubicle, let alone working with a sales rep across town or supplier across the Atlantic.

This month, I'll share with you a few exciting design collaboration solutions that can make your design cycle a little easier. I look at an online solution, CoCreate's OneSpace.net; a third-party solution, ImpactXoft IX SPeeD V5 Suite; and an integrated solution, Solid Edge Insight. Each option brings new and exciting pieces of the design collaboration puzzle together to the benefit of hardworking designers like you.

A special thank you to these developers for taking the time to share information about their design collaboration solutions. Without their innovative minds, the dreams of the past would simply be forgotten.

a lightweight tool for online project collaboration among members of product development teams. It combines familiar concepts such as organized projects, secure messaging, presence awareness, and real-time online meetings. OneSpace.net provides a rapidly deployable solution that enables design teams to share ideas and resolve problems across the Web no matter where they are located (figure 1).