CMMC Compliance Readiness Services for DoD Contractors

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program sets the cybersecurity requirements a contractor must meet to be eligible for a Department of Defense award. IT Solutions Technology Partners helps organizations in the defense industrial base find out which level applies to them, measure where they stand against it, and close the gaps in a defensible order.

ITS advises, facilitates, and validates alignment. The contractor owns and implements the technical and policy controls, and submits its own status. That division matters, because CMMC holds the contractor accountable regardless of who helped.

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What Contractors Ask Us First

Most organizations arrive here after a prime asks a question they cannot answer, or after a solicitation lands with a clause they have not seen before. These five come up first.

Which CMMC level do we actually need?

The level is set by the information a contract involves, not by company size. Federal Contract Information points to Level 1. Controlled Unclassified Information points to Level 2, either self-assessed or certified by a third party. The solicitation itself states the required status, and IT Solutions Technology Partners starts by reading it with you.

How do we know whether we handle CUI at all?

Scoping comes before assessment. ITS works through where regulated data actually enters, moves through, and rests in an environment: email, file shares, engineering systems, backups, and the systems administrators use to manage all of it. That produces a defined assessment boundary, which is what everything else is measured against.

A contract came up and we are not ready. What happens?

Contracting officers check the Supplier Performance Risk System before award. Without a current CMMC status at the required level, and a current affirmation of continuous compliance, an offeror is not eligible. ITS builds readiness plans around that reality rather than around a general improvement timeline.

We have gaps we cannot close yet. Is a POA&M enough?

Sometimes, within limits. At Levels 2 and 3, a conditional CMMC status is available with a plan of action and milestones, and it runs for a period not exceeding 180 days from the conditional status date. ITS tracks remediation against that clock and aligns closure activity to it.

A POA&M is a commitment with a deadline attached, not a way of deferring the work. Level 1 does not offer one at all.

Our prime is asking for proof. What do we owe them?

Flow-down is real and it is not satisfied by assurances. Subcontractors submit their own affirmations and self-assessment results into SPRS. Primes cannot view a subcontractor’s CMMC information directly, so they verify independently, which is why the questionnaires arrive. ITS helps organizations produce evidence that survives that scrutiny.

Our CMMC Compliance Services

CMMC Gap Assessment

A gap assessment measures an organization against the requirements that apply to its level and produces the evidence trail an assessor or a prime will ask for. ITS evaluates technical and administrative controls against NIST SP 800-171 for Level 2 or FAR 52.204-21 for Level 1, identifies missing documentation and unimplemented controls, and prioritizes remediation.

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What’s Included:

Evaluation of technical and administrative controls against the applicable requirement set
Identification of missing documentation, unimplemented controls, and evidence gaps
Prioritized remediation recommendations

Readiness report with compliance score, assessment results, and next steps
Support in preparing a self-assessment submission to SPRS

vCISO-Led Cybersecurity and Compliance Governance

Closing gaps requires someone accountable for sequencing the work. A designated vCISO from ITS provides that structure: security leadership, a maturity backlog that consolidates assessment findings into one prioritized view, a roadmap tied to the compliance framework, and executive reporting that keeps progress visible between assessments.

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What’s Included:

Designated virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO)
Security maturity backlog consolidating findings into one prioritized view
Security roadmap aligned to the applicable framework

Quarterly executive strategy reviews
Executive reporting on risk status, roadmap progress, and policy tracking
Support responding to security questionnaires from primes, auditors, and insurers

Policy Guidance and POA&M Oversight

Documentation is where most assessments stall. ITS runs structured, framework-aligned workshops covering the policies CMMC expects, reviews existing documentation against what is required, and tracks remediation items against their deadlines. ITS supplies templates, examples, prioritized edits, and quality review; the contractor authors and approves the final content.

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What’s Included:

Policy workshops covering System Security Plan, Incident Response, Access Control, and related policies
Documentation review against framework requirements
Templates, examples, and prioritized edits

POA&M tracking against remediation deadlines
Advisory support aligning closure activity to CMMC timelines
Preparation for future C3PAO or DIBCAC review

Security Controls Delivered as Managed Services

Many CMMC requirements describe operational practices rather than documents: multi-factor authentication, audit logging and retention, vulnerability management, patching, endpoint protection, and security awareness training. ITS delivers these as ongoing managed services, so the control is running and producing evidence rather than being described in a policy nobody operates.

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What’s Included:

Multi-factor authentication
Audit log collection and retention through managed SIEM
Continuous vulnerability management

Infrastructure and endpoint patch management
Managed endpoint detection and response
Security awareness training with completion and simulation reporting

Which CMMC level applies to your contracts?

The level follows the information a contract involves. A solicitation states the required status explicitly, so this table is an orientation rather than a substitute for reading the clause.

Feature	Level 1	Level 2 (Self-Assessment)	Level 2 (C3PAO)	Level 3
Information handled	Federal Contract Information (FCI)	Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)	Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)	CUI on the highest-priority programs
Requirements	15 requirements from FAR 52.204-21	110 requirements from NIST SP 800-171	110 requirements from NIST SP 800-171	NIST SP 800-171 plus selected requirements from NIST SP 800-172
Who assesses	The contractor	The contractor	An accredited third-party assessment organization (C3PAO)	An accredited third-party assessment organization (C3PAO)
Prerequisite	None	None	None	Level 2 certification first
Affirmation in SPRS	Required	Required	Required	Required
Conditional status with a POA&M	Not available	Available, up to 180 days	Available, up to 180 days	Available, up to 180 days
Where ITS helps	Gap assessment, control implementation, self-assessment preparation	Gap assessment, vCISO governance, control implementation, documentation	The same, plus preparation for third-party assessment	The same, plus preparation for DIBCAC review

Credentials and Expertise

What ITS is, and what ITS is not.

Not a C3PAO

Certification assessments are performed by accredited third-party assessment organizations. ITS does not certify its own clients, and no advisory firm can. What ITS provides is the readiness work that happens before an assessment and the governance that sustains compliance after one.

Framework-Based Assessment Practice

ITS assessments measure against published requirement sets rather than internal checklists: NIST SP 800-171, FAR 52.204-21, and the CIS Critical Security Controls.

SOC 2 Type II

ITS maintains SOC 2 Type II compliance, an audited assessment of how its own security, availability, and confidentiality controls operate over time. Contractors evaluating an external service provider generally ask for this.

SSAE 18 Type II

ITS is SSAE 18 Type II compliant, the attestation standard a contractor’s auditors use when reviewing a service provider’s controls.

CMMC Services FAQ

Q: Can IT Solutions Technology Partners certify our organization for CMMC?

A: No, and no advisory firm can. Level 2 certification assessments are performed by accredited third-party assessment organizations, and Level 3 assessments are performed by the Defense Contract Management Agency’s DIBCAC. ITS provides gap assessments, remediation guidance, documentation support, vCISO-led governance, and the managed security services that operate many of the required controls.

Q: When does CMMC actually start applying to our contracts?

A: It already does, and ITS builds readiness timelines around the rule’s own schedule. The DFARS acquisition rule took effect on November 10, 2025, which began a three-year phased rollout. Requirements appear contract by contract, so the practical answer depends on the solicitations an organization bids on. Phase 2, when third-party certification becomes the standard for Level 2, begins November 10, 2026.

Q: Can we win an award with an open plan of action and milestones?

Q: Do our subcontractors need CMMC too?

A: Yes, where they handle FCI or CUI, and ITS supports suppliers at that tier as well as primes. Requirements flow down, and subcontractors submit their own affirmations and self-assessment results into SPRS. Prime contractors cannot view a subcontractor’s CMMC information directly, which is why primes send their own verification requests rather than relying on the system.

Q: Does working with a managed service provider change our CMMC scope?

Q: How long does readiness take?

A: For most organizations, months rather than weeks, and an ITS gap assessment is what produces a real answer. The variables are how much documentation already exists, how many technical controls are running today, and how tightly the environment can be scoped. Organizations that begin only after a solicitation appears generally do not finish in time.

CMMC Compliance Services for Defense Contractors

What Contractors Ask Us First

Which CMMC level applies to your contracts?

Credentials and Expertise

Ready to Streamline CMMC Compliance?

CMMC Services FAQ