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Your value lives in CAD models, BIM files and drawing sets that are huge, constantly changing and shared with half a dozen partners. You get IT that keeps them fast, backed up and protected, from an architect with years in manufacturing and advanced software development.
Design firms have needs most small businesses don’t: workstations with serious graphics cards, multi-gigabyte models, software licenses that cost more than the computers, and project files shared constantly with clients, consultants and contractors.
Those files are the business. Lose access for a week and every deadline slips at once. Lose control of them and a client’s design, or a public building’s layout, ends up somewhere it shouldn’t.
Government and defense design work adds formal requirements. Drawings for defense programs and federal facilities are often Controlled Unclassified Information, which brings NIST SP 800-171 and the systems to match.
Most of these come from your clients’ contracts. Read the data and security sections before the kickoff meeting.
Design and construction firms tend to underestimate how exposed they are, and how long they could work without their files. Here’s what the research shows and what I do about each gap.
Architects, engineers and contractors share files with dozens of outside parties on every project. Each shared link, guest account and consultant laptop is a way in.
What I doSecure file sharing with expiring links, guest access reviewed per project, multi-factor sign-in for staff and partners, and one place where project files officially live.
Source: Dodge Construction Network and Egnyte survey, via Construction Dive (2023)
Ransomware, a failed server or a cloud sync gone wrong can take models and drawing sets offline across every active project at once.
What I doA recovery target in hours, not days: versioned cloud storage, backups ransomware can’t reach, and a restore you’ve actually tested on a real project.
Source: Dodge Construction Network and Egnyte survey, via BD+C (2023)
Data resilience here means reaching project and business data at any time, from any device. Huge models, slow connections and scattered storage make that hard, so people copy files to wherever works, which is how they get lost.
What I doStorage and sync designed for large design files, fast and secure remote access, and backups sized for multi-gigabyte models.
Source: Dodge Construction Network and Egnyte survey, via BD+C (2023)
Drawings for defense programs are often CUI, and a design subcontract can carry the same DFARS clauses as the prime contract. Without a current score in SPRS, you can’t be awarded the work.
What I doScope the CUI you receive, keep it in an environment that meets the requirements, and build a NIST SP 800-171 assessment and score that hold up.
Related services: Managed IT services · Cloud, Microsoft 365 & Google Workspace · Network security & cybersecurity · Hardware & software · Secure AI
AI is showing up inside design tools and all around them: specs, proposals, code research and model checks. Client designs and controlled data need clear rules about where they can go.
Design firms sit on years of drawings, specs and project history that nobody can search. AI can make that knowledge usable and take the tedium out of QA.
Your past projects, standards and specs made searchable, and drawing sets checked before they go out.
Best forFirms that keep redrawing details they’ve already solved.
Photo and drone imagery from site visits triaged automatically, so engineers review findings instead of every frame.
Best forCivil, structural and inspection practices.
It depends on file sizes, your internet connection and how your design software handles shared files. Many firms land on a hybrid: cloud storage with local caching in the office. I’ll look at how you actually work before recommending either.
Check the contract first; some clients now restrict it. Where it’s allowed, use AI features covered by your design software agreement or business-tier tools that don’t train on your data, and keep a licensed professional in charge of every engineering decision.
If you receive CUI under a defense contract or subcontract, NIST SP 800-171 and the DFARS clauses apply now, and CMMC requirements apply when your contract includes them. Third-party certification is currently suspended, but self-assessments and SPRS scores are not.
Yes. I’ll spec workstations for the software you run, keep drivers and updates under control, and track licenses so renewals don’t sneak up on you.
Figures and rules on this page were checked against these sources on October 27, 2026, using the latest edition available. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Tell me how your firm stores and shares project files today. You’ll get a clear plan to keep them fast, backed up and in the right hands.