A first look at HALOCAD

SECUDE, a global data-centric security provider, announced availability of its CAD/product lifecycle management (PLM) data protection application HALOCAD in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.
For a manufacturer, CAD files (the models, drawings, sketches, etc.) are their intellectual property (IP). These files supply the basis for manufacturing components, generating bills of materials, building the equipment, setting the purchased part requirements, and performing countless other functions. Of course, this IP cannot fall into the hands of an outsider or competitor.
But inside the corporate IT perimeter, like a file server (Azure Active Directory), product data management (PDM) or PLM, established security policies protect the CAD files. These “vaults” grant access only to those who should have access and an administrator manages the types of individual access. When shared with external parties, such as vendors or customers, wouldn’t it be great if these files could maintain the same security profile? That is where HALOCAD comes in.
“The manufacturing industry is specifically targeted for its intellectual property, theft of trade secrets, technology, and business processes. Therefore, these industries need to up their ante to address challenges such as data privacy and security to safeguard information as well as meet regulatory compliance. Building on the security and scalability of Azure, SECUDE’s HALOCAD will provide a secure, seamless digital experience for our customers,” says Holger Huegel, VP Technology at SECUDE.
With HALOCAD, engineers collaborate on drawings and models in real time. It can be used within your CAD application or it can be integrated with a PDM or PLM system. Embedded into the engineering platform (like AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor), HALOCAD enables users to work with an interface and tools they are already familiar with. HALOCAD is also available as a stand-alone application.
HALOCAD applies Microsoft Purview Information Protection automatically during check-out in a PLM or PDM system. Microsoft Purview Information Protection (formerly Microsoft Information Protection, MIP) allows only authorized users to open and modify protected files. Without Microsoft Purview, unauthorized users cannot copy, print, export or use embedded snipping tools—even if outside the local firewall. HALOCAD provides a free reader plug-in, which allows the granting of read-only permissions to outside collaborators.
HALOCAD “enables CIOs to have a 360° view of holistic encryption strategy using Microsoft Information Protection and integrating it into CAD & Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) environments,” says the product description in the Azure Marketplace.
HALOCAD is not new to the Autodesk world. It has been available for use with both AutoCAD and Inventor. What’s new is the availability of the product in the Azure Marketplace. Azure is Microsoft’s public cloud computing platform used by corporations for a variety of cloud services. As Azure is a prerequisite for running HALOCAD, being available in the marketplace not only means that it is now available to run in the cloud but that it is also Microsoft Certified to run on Azure.