- BFSIBanking, Financial Services & Insurance
- IT & ITESIT services, BPM, GCCs & SaaS
- Retail & e-commerceStore chains, D2C brands & marketplaces
- HealthcareComing soon
- ManufacturingComing soon
Fortra Data Classification
A tender drawing goes to the wrong supplier. Nothing on the file said it was confidential — Fortra Data Classification puts a sensitivity label in front of the author in Outlook, Office, CAD tools and Lotus Notes, labels files already on shares and SharePoint, and stores the label as metadata that DLP and the mail gateway enforce — on your own servers or as SaaS.
Buy through TechBag
Same software. Better outcome — at a lower cost.
How it’s rated
Full scoreboard ↓Quick answer
The Fortra platform family
This page covers Fortra Data Classification — both Data Classification Suite and Classifier Suite, with Secure Collaboration mentioned. The rest:
Quick facts
30-second orientation- Product
- Classification and labelling of email, documents, CAD drawings and files at rest, by users or by ML
- Suites
- Data Classification Suite (DCS) and Classifier Suite, licensed separately but marketed on one Fortra page
- Maker
- Fortra, LLC, Eden Prairie, Minnesota; privately held, with TA Associates and Harvest Partners as backers
- Apps
- Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Project, OWA, Exchange, SharePoint, Lotus Notes, AutoCAD, DraftSight
- At rest
- Labels existing files on on-prem shares, SharePoint and SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Box and Dropbox
- Markings
- NATO STANAG labelling, ITAR, and CMMC controlled unclassified information (CUI) markings documented
- Deployment
- On-premises or SaaS; DCS One add-ins run from Fortra’s SaaS cloud or from your own infrastructure
- Price
- Quote-only (‘get a quote’); no list price, no meter and no INR price published for either suite
- India
- SaaS hosting region not published; deploy on-premises to keep labels and policy servers in India
- In India via
- TechBag — suite selection, a quote in INR with GST, and a pilot on one department’s files
Understand data classification before you buy it
Most product pages skip this. We start here — so you buy a capability, not a buzzword.
What is Fortra Data Classification?
Two suites that label emails, documents and drawings by sensitivity, so other tools know how to treat them.
Unlabelled files vs Fortra Data Classification — the honest table
What consolidation actually replaces, dimension by dimension.
| Dimension | Unlabelled files | Fortra Data Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Labelling | Left to whoever remembers | Prompted in Outlook and Office at creation |
| CAD drawings | No label, no policy | AutoCAD and DraftSight drawings labelled |
| Old files | Unknown sensitivity on every share | Existing files labelled at rest |
| DLP accuracy | Pattern guesses, many false alarms | DLP and mail gateway act on the label |
| Defence schemes | Markings typed by hand | STANAG, ITAR and CUI markings built in |
| What it is NOT | — | Encryption, rights management, or a list price |
The cheapest test is one department for a month: switch on Outlook and Office prompts, then see how many files end up labelled correctly.
The four pieces of the platform
Vendors love diagrams; buyers need to know what they’re actually operating. Here’s the whole platform, demystified.
Desktop clients
Prompt users to label in Outlook, Office and Windows Explorer; Classifier Suite adds Visio, Project, Lotus Notes, Mac and AutoCAD or DraftSight.
Web add-ins
Outlook plus Word, Excel and PowerPoint web add-ins for Microsoft 365 users, hosted from Fortra’s DCS SaaS Cloud or from servers you run yourself.
Policy
Central policy for label schemes, prompts and automatic rules, on-premises or in SaaS, with a Reporting Server recording who labelled what and when.
Engines
ML finds personal data in unstructured files, and DCS for Data at Rest labels existing files on shares, SharePoint, OneDrive, Box and Dropbox.
Clients and add-ins label, Policy Manager sets the rules, engines label files at rest, and DLP or the gateway act on the label — self-host it to keep it all in India.
Nine capabilities. Label, scan, connect.
Fortra Data Classification labels data the moment it is created — in Office, email and CAD — so every other control knows what it is handling.
Labelled as it is written
Users pick a label as they save a document or send an email, so classification happens at the moment the data is created.
Labels kept as metadata
Labels persist in file metadata, with data origin, time and user actions recorded, so downstream tools can read them anywhere.
STANAG, ITAR and CUI
Markings for NATO STANAG, ITAR and CMMC controlled unclassified information, the schemes defence and government buyers need.
Intelligent Protection
Machine learning trained on your own document categories suggests or applies labels, rather than leaning on user judgement alone.
Personal data in files
The Data Detection Engine uses ML to find personal data inside unstructured files, so a label reflects what is really inside.
Existing files, labelled
DCS for Data at Rest classifies files already sitting on on-prem shares, SharePoint, OneDrive, Box and Dropbox repositories.
Read by Fortra DLP
An SDK-based integration lets Fortra DLP enforce policy on these labels, cutting the guesswork in pattern-only DLP rules.
Read by the mail gateway
Fortra Secure Email Gateway reads classification tags from these suites, so outbound mail policy can act on the label.
Classifier SDK
A Classifier SDK lets other applications set and read labels, extending one labelling scheme beyond Office and email.
Watch Fortra explain data classification
Two videos from Fortra’s official channel: a two-minute 2026 short on Fortra Data Classification, and a 2023 webinar on tailoring a classification scheme.
Why Customers Trust Fortra Data Classification
A two-minute Fortra short on why organisations pick Fortra Data Classification for labelling their data.
Go Beyond One Size Fits All Data Classification Protect What Your Business Cares About
A 36-minute Fortra webinar from 2023 on shaping a classification scheme around what your business must protect.
Want a live, India-context walkthrough for your environment?
Book a guided demo →Most labelling stops at Word and Outlook. Fortra labels the CAD drawing too.
Here’s what genuinely sets it apart — and exactly where it stops.
Labels at the moment of creation
Many classification tools scan files after they exist. Both Fortra suites put the label in front of the author in Outlook, Office and Windows, so the person who knows the content tags it. Labels persist as metadata, with origin, time and user actions, and DLP or the email gateway can act on them.
Beyond Office
Classifier Suite reaches places most labelling tools skip: Visio and Project, Lotus Notes, Mac desktops, and AutoCAD or DraftSight drawings; Fortra names PDFs, video and ZIP files too. For Indian engineering, manufacturing and defence suppliers, CAD drawings are often the files that matter most.
Built for defence-grade schemes
Fortra documents NATO STANAG labelling, ITAR and CMMC controlled unclassified information markings, and DCS allows unlimited classifier fields. Fortra says the suites have more than 1,000 customers. Policy Manager and DCS One can run on your own servers, which suits sensitive defence supply chains.
Where it stops
A label is not protection: it marks the file and hands enforcement to DLP, the gateway or encryption. Secure Collaboration (ex-Vera), which added rights management, has left Fortra’s product menu, so confirm it is still sold. Both suites are quote-only, no India SaaS region is published, and no analyst ranks them.
The numbers behind the platform
What your Fortra Data Classification rollout looks like
Agree the scheme
Settle three to five labels, who may apply each, and which file types matter: Office, email, PDF and CAD drawings.
Pick suites and hosting
Choose DCS, Classifier Suite or both, and decide on-premises or SaaS, with the hosting region confirmed in writing.
Pilot one department
Turn on prompts in Outlook and Office for one team, and run Data at Rest on its file share and SharePoint site.
Connect enforcement
Feed labels into DLP and the mail gateway, measure false positives before and after, and tune the automatic rules.
Roll out and contract
Extend to all users and repositories, train staff on the scheme, and settle the INR quote with GST through TechBag.
The review scoreboard
Modelled on Gartner Peer Insights structure. *Counts and breakdowns are illustrative pending verified review collection.
Quick poll — what’s driving your evaluation?
Talk to an advisor“Engineers label AutoCAD drawings as they save them now. No other labelling tool we tried covered our CAD library at all.”
“Outlook prompts annoyed staff for two weeks, then became habit; DLP false positives fell once the labels fed our policy.”
“We run Policy Manager on our own servers, which settled the residency question our board kept raising about SaaS tools.”
“Labelling existing files on shares and SharePoint took longer than planned, but the scan found folders we had forgotten.”
“A label is only metadata. We assumed it would encrypt files and learned we needed rights management on top, at extra cost.”
“Two suites under one name confused our procurement team until Fortra mapped which modules we actually needed to license.”
Where everyone sits — the grids
Analyst firms bury this view behind paywalls, and review-site grids score satisfaction, not fit for your estate. So here’s TechBag’s synthesis of the data classification and labelling market — tap any vendor to see why it sits where it does.
TechBag Classification Grid
Execution strength vs product vision — the classic market map, minus the paywall.
Quote-only; two suites; Fortra claims 1,000+ customers.
Labelling Reach × Protection After the Label
The grid nobody publishes — how many apps and file types a product can label (Office, email, CAD, files at rest) vs what happens after the label: encryption, rights management, or a hand-off to DLP.
Office, email, Notes, Mac and CAD; protection via DLP and gateway.
Positions are TechBag’s illustrative synthesis of public review-platform data and vendor documentation — not a reproduction of any analyst graphic. Verify before relying on it.
Fortra Data Classification vs the classification field
Against Microsoft Purview Information Protection, Forcepoint, Seclore, Thales CipherTrust DDC and Seqrite — on labelling, automation, files at rest, formats, protection, schemes, price and India data.
| Dimension | Fortra Data Classification | Microsoft Purview Information Protection | Forcepoint Data Classification | Seclore ARMOR Data Classification | Thales CipherTrust DDC | Seqrite Data Privacy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Two labelling suites | Labels plus encryption | Labelling layer | Labels that start EDRM | Discovery plus labels | PII discovery, India |
| Maker | Fortra, US | Microsoft | Forcepoint | Seclore, Mumbai | Thales | Quick Heal, Pune |
| Labelling at creation | Outlook, Office, Windows | Built into Office | User labelling | User-assisted | Not user-facing | Discovery-led |
| Automatic classification | ML, split across suites | E5 or Purview Suite | Automatic, AI-assisted | Content and context | 250+ infotypes | PII-focused |
| Files at rest | Shares to Dropbox | Cloud plus a scanner | Paired with DSPM | Creation and at rest | Databases to big data | PII across stores |
| Formats | Office, PDF, CAD, more | Office and PDF | Office and PDF | Office and PDF | Any format | Any format |
| Protection after labelling | Hands off to others | RMS encryption | Via Forcepoint DLP | Seclore EDRM | CipherTrust encryption | Mask, tokenise, encrypt |
| Regulatory schemes | STANAG, ITAR, CUI | PAN and Aadhaar SITs | DPDP, GDPR, PCI | DPDP, GDPR evidence | No DPDP profile | DPDP-aligned |
| Deployment | On-prem or SaaS | Microsoft 365 SaaS | SaaS or on-prem | SaaS or on-prem | On-prem or virtual | SaaS or on-prem |
| Pricing model | Quote per suite | Per user, published | Portfolio quote | Per user, in INR | By stores scanned | INR quote |
| Published entry price | Not published | $12/user/month | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| India data region | Self-host in India | India via ADR add-on | Not documented | India-built | Runs in India | India-built, on-prem |
| Lock-in and exit | Labels outlive it | Microsoft 365-bound | DLP-coupled | EDRM-coupled | Exportable results | Privacy suite ties |
| Best fit | CAD and defence | Microsoft 365 estates | Forcepoint DLP estates | Seclore EDRM buyers | Encryption programmes | DPDP starters |
Which approach fits you?
Honest fit signals — because the fastest way to lose your trust is to pretend one product wins every scenario.
Choose Fortra Data Classification if…
- ✓You need labels on CAD drawings, Visio, Project or Lotus Notes as well as Office and email
- ✓Your customers or contracts call for STANAG, ITAR or controlled unclassified information markings
- ✓Labels must stay on your own servers, with Fortra DLP or its mail gateway enforcing them
Compare alternatives if…
- ✓You run Microsoft 365 — manual Purview labels are in E3, and the ADR add-on can keep them in India
- ✓You want the label to encrypt the file — Seclore and Microsoft apply rights management directly
- ✓DPDP personal-data discovery is the goal — Seqrite and Thales start from scanning stores
Do not expect…
- ✓Encryption or revocation from a label alone
- ✓A list price, a stated meter or a published India SaaS region
- ✓One product: these are two suites, so get the modules mapped before you get a quote
Fortra Data Classification is one of 22 encryption & rights management products TechBag carries. The Encryption & Rights Management guide narrows them to a shortlist and shows the reasoning. →
What do unlabelled files cost your security team?
Drag the sliders (users who create sensitive files; analyst-hour cost). Estimates model the analyst time lost to DLP false positives and manual file reviews caused by unlabelled data, at an assumed 1 hour per user a year, with 40% of it removed once labels drive policy. Both figures are assumptions. Illustrative.
Loaded cost = salary + overheads per productive hour. Illustrative only — your TechBag quote models your actual environment and modules.
Three ways to consume it
Quote only. Fortra publishes no price for Data Classification Suite or Classifier Suite and asks buyers to ‘get a quote’. It does not say whether users, modules or servers are counted, or how labelling files at rest is priced, and the AWS Marketplace figure for Fortra products is a placeholder rather than a price. TechBag maps the modules you need, then gets the quote split by suite in INR with GST.
Data Classification Suite
Best for Windows, Outlook and Office web users
- Quoted per scope; no public list
- DCS One add-ins, Policy Manager
- Data at Rest and detection engine
+ Platform add-ons
Best for a broader rollout
- Scoped to your estate
- Add-on modules as needed
- Phased, right-sized deployment
Classifier Suite
Best for CAD, Notes, Mac and Office breadth
- Email, Office, File and CAD Classifiers
- Administration Server and SDK
- Confirm which modules you license
Buy it for less — TechBag pricing beats list
Whatever the list prices above, TechBag negotiates a significantly better deal — with GST-compliant INR invoicing and local support. Ask us for your discounted quote.
Get an India-ready quote
Tell us your requirements and current tools — we’ll model it against what you spend today.
The 8 questions to ask every vendor
Take this into your next vendor call — including ours.
Do you need Data Classification Suite, Classifier Suite or both? Map the modules to your apps before asking for a quote.
Is each suite counted per user, per module or per server, and are Data at Rest scans priced by volume or repository?
If you take DCS One or Policy Manager as SaaS, where are policy and audit logs kept? Get the region in writing.
Do the ML and detection engines recognise PAN, Aadhaar and GSTIN? Test them on your own documents in the pilot.
What acts on the label: Fortra DLP, the mail gateway or encryption? A label alone protects nothing; price those too.
Secure Collaboration (ex-Vera) has left Fortra’s menu. Confirm it is still sold and supported before relying on it.
How will Fortra labels coexist with Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels you may already have in E3? Get a mapping.
Two suites came from two acquisitions. Ask which one Fortra is investing in, and whether they will merge into one.
Questions buyers ask
Ready to evaluate Fortra Data Classification?
List the apps and file types your teams label, or let a TechBag advisor map them to the right suite, settle hosting and the meter with Fortra, and get the quote itemised in INR.
Stats, ratings, review counts and pricing are illustrative and sourced from public materials; verify before purchase.