CMMC Compliance: A Necessity For Businesses to Bid For and Win Contracts

The United States Department of Defense developed the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) to ensure proper cybersecurity within their networks. CMMC compliance is not optional, and only those businesses with valid certification may place bids and then win contracts with the U.S. government.

If a Defense Industrial Base (DIB) firm fails to possess, store, or even transmit Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), but does possess Federal Contract Information (FCI), it is vital to ensure it meets the requirements of the FAR clause 52.204-21. The company must be minimally certified at the CMMC Level 1. Companies that produce Commercial off-the-Shelf (COTS) items will not need CMMC certification; however, learning about these options is important before taking the next business step.

More Value to the Business

Many of the over 220,000 contractors and subcontractors that have conducted business with DOD heard probably heard about the big changes associated with the CMMC. However, what they might not realize is that the requirements are increasing over the next five years. Contractors without a CMMC certificate will be deemed ineligible to compete for any of the DOD contracts.

Start With a Readiness Assessment

If you are currently making plans to use CMMC compliance in your business, then you must start with a readiness assessment, which in turn starts with planning. Proper development and execution of a compliance plan might take around six months or more. Therefore, a readiness assessment needs to be the first step:

· Be aware of and learn about areas that will be impacted by cybersecurity threats.

· Focus on the proper IT tools and mandatory policies that deal with those requirements. Your business may need to have additional internal resources or vendor and consultant support.

· Develop a budget to assess the current situation, complete the audits, and remediate when as needed.

Learn more about these points first when you are addressing CMMC for the first time. You also need to be prepared to address the gaps. The requirements are built on the NIST SP 800-171 and have five compliance levels. Get help from experts to strategically remediate when necessary.

When you have a thorough understanding of the gaps, your business can start planning how to implement workstation and server configurations, software and hardware installations, and more. Choose to work with the best team to ensure you have a complete understanding of the requirements.

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Created on Jan 24th 2021 22:25. Viewed 262 times.

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