CMMC Enclave vs. Enterprise: Which CMMC Environment Is Right for Your Business?

If your organization handles Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), one of the biggest decisions you’ll make when preparing for CMMC compliance is how much of your IT environment should fall within CMMC scope.

• A CMMC Enclave Creates Different Challenges
• Don’t Build Your CMMC Strategy Around Workarounds
• Enterprise or Enclave: Which CMMC Environment Should You Choose?
• How CMMC Managed IT Services Can Help
• Build a Sustainable CMMC Environment

Both approaches can work. Both also come with costs and operational challenges that aren’t always obvious at first.

An enterprise approach brings most or all of your organization’s users, devices, applications, and systems into the CMMC-compliant environment.

Many executives like the idea of saying, “Our entire company is secure.” Having one environment can also eliminate some of the complications associated with maintaining separate CUI and non-CUI environments.

But there’s a tradeoff: everyone inside that environment has to follow the same rules.

Consider your sales team finding a new SaaS application. Normally, IT might evaluate a few options and deploy the best one.

Inside a CMMC environment, that process can become more complicated. Your team’s first several choices may not meet your compliance requirements. An acceptable application could require additional documentation, security reviews, and architecture planning before being introduced into the environment.

Licensing can also become more expensive. Even a part-time employee with relatively basic technology needs may require additional licensing because their account and device are operating within the CMMC environment.

If most of your organization handles CUI, these requirements may make sense. If only a small group works with CUI, applying the same requirements to everyone could create unnecessary costs and restrictions.

A CMMC enclave, sometimes called a segmented or dedicated CMMC environment, takes a different approach.

Instead of bringing everyone into scope, you establish a separate environment for the users, devices, applications, and systems that interact with CUI.

Imagine a 100-person company where only 15 employees work on DoD contracts involving CUI. Rather than bringing all 100 employees into the CMMC environment, the company could establish an enclave for those 15 employees.

That can significantly reduce your CMMC footprint.

But smaller doesn’t necessarily mean simpler.

With an enterprise environment, more users and technology are subject to CMMC requirements.

With an enclave, you can reduce that scope, but now you’re managing two distinct environments.

Operating an enclave can mean your organization is effectively maintaining two IT environments.

If CUI and non-CUI employees operate in separate domains, the CUI domain must restrict what can be shared with users in the non-CUI domain. Employees who need access to both environments may have additional steps in their everyday workflows.

Software can create another complication. If employees inside and outside the enclave need the same SaaS application, you may need separate subscriptions or instances depending on the application’s requirements and your environment’s architecture.

Once organizations realize the challenges associated with both options, someone inevitably starts looking for a shortcut.

Can we connect these systems another way? Can we make an exception for certain employees? Can our MSP find a workaround?

Don’t make that the foundation of your CMMC strategy; you’re not going to outsmart government, and your MSP isn’t either.

CMMC is designed to protect sensitive government information. Organizations should expect meaningful restrictions around the people, processes, and technology that interact with CUI.

Instead, understand the requirements and determine how to build the most practical business environment within them.

There’s no universal answer.

In general, enterprise CMMC environment makes more sense if CUI touches a significant percentage of your organization, while a CMMC enclave is more practical when only a small group of employees needs access to CUI.

However, there are several other factors to consider before making that decisions, including:

• How many employees need access to CUI?
• Which devices and applications interact with CUI?
• Where will CUI be stored and transmitted?
• If you stand up a CMMC enclave:
• Who needs to work in both environments?
• What will each approach cost to license and manage?
• How will each option affect employee workflows?
• Could your DoD work expand in the future?

Whatever path you choose should be configured to pass a CMMC assessment and also be an environment your company can realistically operate and maintain afterward.

Choosing your CMMC architecture requires understanding compliance requirements and how those requirements affect everyday IT operations.

WingSwept is both a Managed Service Provider serving defense contractors and a defense contractor itself. We’ve successfully completed a CMMC Level 2 assessment, giving us firsthand experience with the technical, operational, and documentation challenges organizations face when protecting CUI. WingSwept is also a Cyber AB Registered Practitioner Organization (RPO).

WingSwept’s CMMC Services can help your organization evaluate enterprise and enclave options, develop a realistic roadmap, implement technical controls, and support your environment before and after assessment.

Talk to WingSwept About CMMC Managed IT Services

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