Do ALL my employees need to use the enclave?

No. Only the people who actually handle CUI need enclave access. If you have 40 employees but only 8 of them work with controlled technical data, those 8 are the only ones who need to be inside the enclave. Everyone else keeps working the way they always have.

Does my shop floor equipment need to be in scope?

Almost never. Unless CUI is actually being processed on those machines, your CNC equipment, PLCs, and manufacturing systems stay outside the enclave boundary. We see this concern a lot, and in the vast majority of shops, the floor equipment has nothing to do with CUI.

Can people still use their regular email for non-CUI work?

Yes. Enclave users typically have two environments. They use GCC High for anything involving CUI -- emails with technical data, storing controlled drawings, Teams conversations about contract specs. For everything else, they use your regular systems just like before.

What happens when we get new contracts with CUI?

The enclave scales. Adding new users to an existing enclave is significantly easier and cheaper than building one from scratch. The infrastructure, policies, and controls are already in place. We just extend access to the people who need it.

CMMC Services

CMMC Enclave Solutions Built for Small Manufacturers

If you're a small manufacturer with 10 to 50 people, the idea of making your entire network CMMC Level 2 compliant probably sounds impossible. And expensive. You're not wrong -- doing it that way is both.

An enclave changes the math entirely. Instead of securing every laptop, every printer, every Wi-Fi access point in your building, you secure a defined boundary where CUI actually gets handled. The rest of your operation keeps running the way it always has. No disruption to the shop floor. No retraining 40 people because 8 of them touch controlled data.

This is how most small manufacturers in the defense supply chain are going to get through CMMC Level 2. Not by boiling the ocean, but by drawing a smart boundary around the work that matters.

What Is a CMMC Enclave?

A CMMC enclave is a segmented portion of your network that is specifically designed to handle Controlled Unclassified Information. It has its own security controls, its own access policies, and its own clearly defined boundary. Everything inside the enclave meets CMMC Level 2 requirements. Everything outside it doesn't need to.

That distinction is what makes enclaves so practical. CMMC Level 2 maps to 110 security controls from NIST 800-171. Applying all 110 controls across your entire company -- every workstation, every server, every network segment -- is a massive undertaking. Applying them to a focused enclave where 5 to 15 people work with CUI is a completely different project. Smaller scope, fewer systems, lower cost, faster timeline.

Think of it this way: instead of turning your entire building into a vault, you build a vault room inside your building. The vault has everything it needs. The rest of the building works the way it always has.

Why Enclaves Make Sense for Small Manufacturers

Here's the practical reality of most small manufacturing shops we work with. You've got CNC machines on the floor. You've got an office network with shared printers and regular business email. You've got shop floor Wi-Fi, maybe some IoT sensors, a couple of old desktops running legacy software. None of that needs to be in scope for CMMC.

The people who actually touch CUI -- your engineers reviewing technical data packages, your contracts manager handling controlled drawings, your quality team working with specs that carry CUI markings -- that's usually 5 to 15 people. Maybe fewer. Those people work inside the enclave. Everyone else keeps working normally and never notices a difference.

That's the difference between a $200K compliance project and a $50-80K one. Same certification. Same CMMC Level 2 assessment outcome. Dramatically different cost and disruption.

What Goes Inside the Enclave

The enclave contains every system your team uses to create, store, process, or transmit CUI. For most small manufacturers, that includes:

Microsoft 365 GCC High

Email, SharePoint, and Teams -- all running in Microsoft's government cloud. This is where CUI lives when your team is collaborating. GCC High migration is a core part of every enclave we build.

Managed Endpoints

Hardened laptops or desktops configured to meet CMMC requirements. Full disk encryption, endpoint detection, enforced patching, and controlled application policies.

Secure File Storage

Controlled repositories for technical data packages, drawings, and specifications. Role-based access so only the right people see the right files.

Remote Access

VPN or Zero Trust Network Access for enclave users who work remotely or travel. Secure connections back to enclave resources without opening up your entire network.

Depending on your setup, enclave users may work on dedicated devices or access the enclave through virtual desktop infrastructure. We design this around your team's actual workflow -- not the other way around.

What an Enclave Deployment Looks Like

We're going to walk through this in plain English because most of the explanations out there are written for IT departments, not shop owners. Here's what actually happens when we build an enclave for you:

Scope Assessment

We figure out who in your company actually touches CUI, how they handle it, and what systems are involved. This is the most important step -- it defines the entire boundary of your enclave and determines what's in scope and what's not.

Network Design

We architect the enclave boundary -- how it connects to (and stays separate from) your existing network. Firewall rules, network segmentation, access controls. Your IT team or MSP stays in the loop on this.

GCC High Migration

We set up Microsoft 365 GCC High for your enclave users. This gives them government-compliant email, file storage, and collaboration tools. It's the backbone of most enclaves we build.

Endpoint Deployment and Hardening

We configure and lock down the devices enclave users will work on. Encryption, monitoring, patching, application controls -- everything needed to meet the technical controls in NIST 800-171.

Policy and Procedure Development

We write your System Security Plan, incident response procedures, access control policies, and all the other documentation CMMC requires. These aren't generic templates -- they describe your actual enclave and how your people use it.

User Training

Enclave users need to understand the rules. What goes into the enclave and what doesn't. How to handle CUI properly. What to do if something goes wrong. We train your team so they're confident, not confused.

Validation and Readiness Review

Before you go into a formal CMMC assessment, we run through everything. Controls, documentation, evidence collection, interview prep. We make sure there are no surprises when the assessor shows up.

Typical timeline: 3 to 6 months from kickoff to assessment-ready, depending on your starting point and how many people need to be in the enclave. Shops that already have some IT maturity move faster. Shops starting from scratch take a bit longer, but we handle the heavy lifting either way.

Common Questions About CMMC Enclaves

Want to Know if an Enclave Is Right for Your Shop?

We do a free scoping call to figure out who touches CUI, how much of your environment needs to be in scope, and what an enclave would look like for your specific operation.

Schedule a Scoping Call

30-minute call. We'll map your CUI boundary.

Not ready to talk? Read our CMMC gap assessment guide to learn what's involved.