Calculating the Costs of CMMC Certification

When it comes to Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification in the defense industrial base, the DoD estimates it will cost the private sector $4B to implement CMMC 2.0 to protect the government’s FCI and CUI. This includes nonrecurring engineering costs, recurring engineering costs, assessment costs and affirmation costs.

But what everyone REALLY wants to know is how much will it cost ME? That question is wrapped in a lot of uncertainty. But there are ways to approximate how much CMMC 2.0 will cost to implement in terms of time and money.

First, let’s look at a few variables impacting CMMC 2.0 costs.

Before you can start estimating costs, you have to take a look at a few variables that will impact your bottom line significantly:

• Existing Cybersecurity Posture. Most of the costs of CMMC 2.0 will go toward establishing and maintaining a compliant security posture. And that will depend on the CMMC level you’re seeking to attain. Most will seek CMMC Level 2 certification. In that instance, if you are already in compliance with NIST SP 800-171 your costs will be lower than if you are a new contractor and haven’t done that work yet. Your costs here will include implementation of the required security controls, developing new policies and procedures, employee training and time.
• CMMC 2.0 Level. The CMMC 2.0 level your organization seeks to achieve is also a critical consideration. The level you pursue is dependent on the contracts you want to pursue, and each level has different requirements. Level 1 includes 17 practices derived from the Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.204-21. Level 2 encompasses all 110 NIST SP 800-171 security requirements. Level 3 adds to Level 2 with additional practices specified by NIST SP 800-172.
• Organization Complexity and Size. There are many considerations that can influence costs for your organization. Do you have remote workers and geographically distributed sites you need to implement consistent security across? How many users and devices do you have that can make implementation more complex? Do diverse systems and applications cause vulnerabilities at integration points? Are your subcontractors CMMC compliant or not?

The primary costs related to CMMC 2.0 certification.

Most of the costs toward your CMMC 2.0 program will fit in these five buckets:

• Remediation. Unless you have already done the work of meeting the requirements for the CMMC 2.0 levels described above, this will be your biggest area of cost. It takes time and expert manpower (which is in short supply) to develop the secure baseline required by the program. The number of specialists you have working on it impacts the time. Consider if you need to hire and support new talent, pay consultants or utilize automation for remediation and maintenance. Automation is the most affordable way to save time, effort and money on remediation.
• Planning and administration. These are the costs of planning, budgeting, training, documentation, audit preparation and other logistical concerns. Depending on your organization’s size and planning needs for the project, consultants may be a way to save money here.
• Time. Consider the time it will take to plan and implement the program and what that takes people away from in your organization.
• Assessment. The DoD has put out some estimates for assessment costs. At Level 1, companies can self-assess, but should consider the annual costs of planning, conducting the assessment, and reporting results. At Level 2, it depends on whether you can self-assess or need a third-party assessment every three years. And Level 3 includes all the costs of Level 2, plus the cost of a government assessment every three years.
• Maintenance. Compliance with government mandates is a living, breathing organism that needs attention when you install updates, add new users or otherwise change your system. This can require continual work from your team, or it can be a breeze with automation.

Seeing where you stand in your compliance timeline.

Now that the DoD has published its final rule for CMMC 2.0, the requirement is expected to reach contracts and be enforced by mid-2025. Depending on the variables listed above, you should be in the planning phase right now.

As mentioned, remediation and compliance with 800-171 will take the most time, effort and money of the whole project. Automation can significantly reduce the burden using the staff you already have. And with automation and your policies in place, maintenance is effortless.

A recent study indicated that “the majority of contractors do not have the people, processes and technologies in place to meet the minimum cybersecurity requirements for doing business with the DoD.” It also indicated a sort of denial about what’s ahead among study participants. And that is a dangerous place to be for both compliance and deadlines.

Taking the easiest, fastest and most cost-effective route to CMMC 2.0 certification.

Automation is an approach the DoD recommends and seeks for itself. When it comes to automating the implementation of the NIST 800-171 controls required for CMMC Levels 2 and 3, the clear leader is SteelCloud’s ConfigOS. For more than a decade, ConfigOS has been the leading automation solution for the DoD’s own compliance efforts.

Some businesses are getting down to the wire for starting the CMMC journey. For others, automating policy and controls would relieve a big burden when it comes to ongoing maintenance. Either way, you can schedule a free, no obligation demo of ConfigOS to see how it suits your CMMC compliance needs.

CMMC is going to cost your business time, money and effort for as long as you stay with the program. How much is up to you. Automation is the most cost-effective and error-free way to satisfy your obligation with minimal disruption to your core business.