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CMMC compliance is a pressing concern for all U.S. defense and Defense Industrial Base (DIB) contractors. Organizations facing the need to comply with CMMC Level 2 and DFARS 7012 may struggle with the reality of meeting the deadline to transform their IT environment for new contracts.

Many companies facing these challenges have chosen a Secure Enclave strategy to reduce costs while completing their compliance assessments on time.

But what is a Secure Enclave? And how can it support your CMMC compliance journey?

CMMC Secure Enclave: What Defense Contractors Need to Know

In short, a CMMC Secure Enclave is a standalone IT environment specifically configured to house your CUI. Taking this approach enables you to isolate systems and users that handle CUI, the upshot of which is the ability to mitigate compliance concerns with minimal disruption to your day-to-day.

With a Secure Enclave in place, your non-CUI handling systems and users can continue to operate as usual without risk.

Systems that typically do not handle CUI include those related to internal HR, accounting, and more general business applications. These requirements may vary for each contractor, but after your initial audit and readiness assessment, you will have clarity on which systems can be excluded.

The Enclave itself becomes an isolated, secure environment with all the appropriate protections in place, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), full endpoint protection, and documentation that meets the requirements of NIST 800-171 as well as CMMC.

Why Choose Secure Enclave?

Achieving CMMC Level 2 compliance is a lengthy and often costly process that can potentially disrupt your business as usual. The decision to take this route is deeply individualized; some organizations may opt for a comprehensive migration if it makes more sense.

However, it will take significantly longer to achieve certification if every endpoint, server, and user across the organization’s scope needs to be secured and integrated. When contracts are at stake, time is of the essence, and a Secure Enclave may be a more viable alternative.

Here are a few of the reasons Secure Enclave might be the best choice for your business:

• Costs can be two to three times higher for a complete migration.
• Secure Enclave eliminates the need to abruptly force your entire workforce into a secure environment; you can ease into the change and isolate security for applicable users.
• Risk is much more manageable, as your CUI is fully contained in a secure environment.
• Proving compliance is greatly simplified as there are clear audit boundaries around where CUI is stored and processed.

Essendis provides a turnkey Secure Enclave solution, preconfigured to meet the requirements for virtually any framework and workload. Our team works closely with yours to understand your processes and determine the right tier of Microsoft Government services for your present and future needs.

What you’ll get is a seamless, streamlined user experience with minimal disruption to your productivity and workflows.

Speak to us today about how a Secure Enclave implementation can benefit your business.