Standardized CAD (computer-aided design) data is a persistent pipe dream for many engineering organizations, as different proprietary CAD systems proliferate across company divisions and supply chains. Worse, engineers and nonengineers alike must often grapple with design data in incompatible native, neutral, and visualization formats — raising user frustration even further. By clarifying the difference between CAD interoperability and CAD collaboration, product development IT professionals can better partner with the business to sort through myriad technology options, convert the right data forms for the right uses, and enable multi-CAD data to become manageable.