Maven downloads a dependency only one time and then caches it in your local repository (under ~/.m2/repository/), so it does that "preload the dependencies" out-of-the-box. There are advantages with fetching those dependencies over the network: - Easy to add a dependency or switch to a newer version of a dependency - The jars blobs aren't in subversion - You can put up an internal repository at your company, so the developers don't need to download from the internet. With kind regards, Geoffrey De Smet Reid Kaufmann schreef: