In research, design, and engineering environments, product data sits at the heart of innovation. It contains intellectual property, technical specifications, and design insights that define competitive advantage. Protecting this data has therefore become a critical priority for IT departments across industries such as aerospace, automotive, and high-tech manufacturing.
However, organizations are facing an increasingly complex challenge. As design and engineering teams collaborate across multiple departments, regions, and external partners, the control of sensitive product data has grown far more difficult. The traditional boundaries of IT oversight are being stretched by overlapping information risks that span both technical systems and business processes.
Collaboration and Business Risk
As collaboration expands across global teams, supply chains, and digital platforms, new sources of business risk emerge at the core of growth and innovation. From accelerating product development to engaging external partners, these initiatives often push sensitive data beyond traditional boundaries where controls may not follow.
Significant sources of risk are therefore embedded within core business initiatives that involve extending or expanding collaboration models. The following areas highlight where collaboration introduces major exposure if information controls are not adaptive, automated, and scalable.
- Globalization and Growth – Scaling operations and products multiplies data across regions, systems, and variants. Without automated and scalable controls, sensitive information can become exposed.
- Multi-Tier Design Collaboration – Distributed design across internal teams, suppliers, and contractors spreads intellectual property across systems and networks, increasing the risk of unauthorized access and data leakage if visibility and access control are not maintained.
- Cross-Team and Cross-Organizational Sharing – Sharing product data across departments or with external partners can put information outside controlled environments, increasing the risk of unauthorized access or leakage.
- Compliance – Every new collaboration layer adds regulatory complexity. Organizations must enforce internal policies, industry, or government regulations such as ITAR, EAR, GDPR, HIPAA, SOX Act. Failure to maintain compliance can result in fines, operational disruption, and reputational damage.
Emerging Data Vulnerabilities in PLM Collaboration
Each area of business risk above comes with specific data vulnerabilities, which often depend on how an organization uses PLM application features. As PLM systems evolve into more complex ecosystems, design and engineering teams gain new ways to collaborate. At the same time, this increased agility and flexibility can introduce additional risks, as new technical capabilities expand the potential exposure of sensitive product data.
- Unmanaged Data – Agile product design enables engineers to repurpose components quickly, but without dynamic controls, new designs can be stored or shared improperly, increasing the risk of unauthorized access and data leakage.
- Visualizations – Sharing 2D and 3D product visualizations across teams and mobile devices accelerates production, but broad distribution introduces exposure if controls are missing or inconsistent.
- Data on the Move – Exporting, importing, or transforming design data across applications and formats creates additional risks. Without integrated, format-specific, and dynamic controls, organizations lack visibility and oversight over how sensitive data is used.
These vulnerabilities highlight the need for a platform-based approach that embeds security directly into collaborative PLM workflows, protecting product data across systems, teams, and processes.
A Platform-Based Approach to Secure Collaboration
Traditional approaches often rely on separate controls for different types of PLM data. Our whitepaper recommends a platform-based approach that leverages the same classifications and integrated controls consistently across the PLM ecosystem. As data moves across systems, devices, applications, and formats, this approach helps eliminate vulnerabilities in design organizations.
The paper highlights:
- Addressing collaboration risks tied to core business initiatives
- Managing risks from expanding PLM functionality
- Secure global collaboration for product designs, visualizations, and data-on-the-move
- Enabling platform-based, scalable collaboration and discover how NextLabs delivers the solution
A platform-based approach enables attribute-based access controls (ABAC) that consistently enforce data classification, segregation, access, rights protection, and communication policies across teams and product lines to ensure secure collaboration. It also provides data-centric monitoring for auditing and analytics, ensuring visibility and compliance wherever product data resides.
Download the whitepaper to explore how a unified zero-trust platform-based approach, along with Enterprise Digital Rights Management solution, achieves secure collaboration in PLM and end-to-end protection of sensitive product data across your organization
