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Windchill for federal and national-security programs

We implement, upgrade and move Windchill for defense manufacturers and national-security production programs. That covers ITAR-controlled technical data, government-cloud tenants, and MPMLink on the shop floor. Onshore U.S. team.

Three questions come first

A program office or a defense manufacturer usually asks us three things before anything else. Can you handle ITAR-controlled technical data? Can you work inside our government cloud? Are your people in the U.S.? The answer to all three is yes, and the rest of this page is how.

Most of our federal work happens in Windchill itself: the access model that keeps controlled data with authorized people, the move from on-premises servers into a government-cloud tenant, and the manufacturing side in MPMLink, where the engineering BOM becomes the build.

We don't host Windchill. It stays in your tenant, under your accounts and your security controls. For the wider aerospace and defense picture (AS9100, effectivity, decades of sustainment), see Aerospace & Defense.

What we've done

An MPMLink rollout for a major defense contractor, with one revision control across PLM and ERP. And for an aerospace and defense manufacturer (anonymized at its request), a move of production Windchill into its own Azure Government tenant, then a Windchill 12 to 13.1 upgrade in place a few weeks later: 40 of 40 upgrade phases, zero failures, zero production outage. How the move worked: Windchill on Azure Government Cloud.

How we handle controlled data

We build Windchill access control in three layers. Security labels mark the objects that carry ITAR- or EAR-controlled data and check them against each user's authorization, product and library teams decide who sees a context at all, and lifecycle state decides what they can do with it. Controlled data starts locked down, and access is granted on purpose.

The full model, and what we learned designing it, is in ITAR compliance in PLM.

Who you'll talk to

Senior consultants who have worked on federal and national-security programs, onshore in the U.S. Messages from the contact form go straight to the people who lead that work, not to a sales team. Keep controlled data out of the form: tell us it exists and we'll set up the right channel.

How we work

Three things our clients mention when they refer us:

Process-First Integration

We design around how work actually happens.

  • We start with real workflows (including spreadsheets and workarounds)
  • Integration matches human behavior, not ideal diagrams
  • Technology supports the process — not the other way around

Technology last. Reality first.

Partnership, not reports

We don't disappear after delivery.

  • We guide decisions instead of just presenting options
  • We stay until it's working in practice (not just “live”)
  • We build systems you can sustain without us

That's why clients call us partners, not vendors.

Adoption is the metric

Success = people actually using it.

  • OCM is built into every engagement
  • Adoption is measured, not assumed
  • We fix what’s blocking usage instead of “launch and hope”

Because unused systems don't create ROI.

FAQ

Do you work with ITAR-controlled data?

Yes. We configure Windchill so controlled technical data reaches only authorized U.S. persons: security labels on controlled objects, team membership by product and library, and access rules by lifecycle state, with audit logging behind all three. Don't send us controlled data to start a conversation. Tell us it exists and we'll agree the right channel first. More in ITAR compliance in PLM.

Do you host Windchill?

No. Windchill lives in your own environment, on-premises or in your Azure Government tenant, under your accounts and your security controls. We design the environment, move the data and stay through cutover. If you want a vendor-run service, ask PTC about Windchill+. See Windchill on Azure Government Cloud.

Can you upgrade Windchill inside a government cloud?

Yes. For one aerospace and defense client we moved Windchill 12 into Azure Government first, then upgraded it in place to 13.1 a few weeks later: 40 of 40 upgrade phases, zero failures, zero production outage. Each change had its own rehearsals and its own rollback. (Read the case study)

Related Knowledge

Federal & National Security resources

Working on a federal program?

Tell us what you run and where it has to land. Leave the controlled details out; we'll set up the right channel for those.

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