How CMMC Automation Delivers a Competitive Advantage to the DIB

Automate CMMC Compliance and Gain a Competitive Advantage with the DoD

On November 10, 2025, the DoD officially instituted its new CMMC rule requiring Level 1 and Level 2 prime and subcontractors to perform self-assessments of their cybersecurity practices to ensure they are in compliance. Level 1 companies are those who store and manage Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Level 2 companies are those who store and manage Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).

It is estimated that nearly 338,000 contractors in the DIB will be impacted by the new CMMC requirements. Of those, 68% are small businesses.

No matter how big your business is, however, complying with CMMC requirements can be overwhelming, especially if you are manually implementing the 110 NIST 800-171 controls required for Level 2.

Why manual CMMC Level 2 compliance may not be sustainable for your organization

CMMC goes beyond the old NIST self-attestation model to require annual affirmation of compliance and a verified self-assessment for new contracts moving forward. In Phase 2, going into effect on November 10, 2026, some Level 2 organizations will need third-party assessments from a certified third-party assessor organization (C3PAO) every three years.

There is no point in the CMMC timeline when things get easy for those who implement manually. Compliance is not a destination. It’s a never-ending journey. And manual compliance is filled with dangers and roadblocks. It’s:

• Time consuming, requiring a significant commitment of human effort year-round
• Costly in terms of time spent manually scanning and remediating NIST’s 110 controls, not to mention comprehensive updates
• Inconsistent and error-prone due to human error, version drift and, sometimes, siloed-efforts
• Slow in terms of remediation and reporting cycles
• Omnipresent because you are expected to remain audit-readiness at all times
• Risky, putting your contracts, reputation and budgets on the line if you don’t comply

All of these drawbacks from manual implementations impact your ability to get and keep your DoD contracts. As you may have already discovered, manual efforts are not sustainable in the long run. In order to achieve CMMC excellence, other areas of your cybersecurity organization may need to suffer. With automation, those areas will get the attention they deserve.

How automation delivers a competitive advantage for DoD contracts

With new rules, mandatory audits and a contractual obligation, manual CMMC Level 2 compliance can be challenging. But automation changes all that.

Leveraging a unified automation solution—one that has scanning, remediation and reporting integrated into a single tool—can deliver a competitive advantage. You’ll pass all your audits without incident. You’ll preserve your good standing with your contracts. And your clients will have more confidence in you.

Here are some of the benefits of unified automation:

• Speed. There is no faster way to get—and stay—compliant. A unified automation solution can eliminate weeks and months of manual work. Contractors who can certify faster gain a business edge in contract eligibility and renewal.
• Cost. Less labor and less effort translate to lower costs. Automation delivers ROI from its first use. You’ll also avoid penalties and from failed audits.
• Consistency. Automation makes enterprise-wide consistency easy. And, when properly configured, removes all chance of error (and fines).
• Real-time Compliance. Unified automation ensures you’ll be continually compliant and audit-ready, from compliance to reporting.
• Scalability. Once policy is set, it can be applied across any number of endpoints in any environment and across any systems. You’ll move from the test environment to production in hours, not weeks.

As you can see, automation is a game-changer that not only makes you look smart, but it shows your customer you’re serious about protecting their data.

Learn how to simplify NIST 800-171 and ensure CMMC compliance

Currently, there is only one unified automation solution that maps to NIST SP 800-171 controls, remediate endpoints, report in real time and provide continuous validation from a single solution—SteelCloud’s ConfigOS. If you are using STIG or CIS Benchmark standards to achieve compliance, ConfigOS is proven across those frameworks, too (both of which are based on 800-171.)

ConfigOS is your CMMC force multiplier, keeping you constantly compliant with little human interaction. It’s proven over countless DoD and DIB implementations and improves your overall cybersecurity by making 800-171 alignment effortless, freeing up your resources for other initiatives like Zero Trust.

When you see ConfigOS in action, you’ll see why it is far superior to manual efforts or piecemeal tools. While it’s probably more affordable than the solution you’re using today, its real value lies in the trust and confidence it engenders with your clients.

With just a two-hour demo, you’ll see how ConfigOS gives you back months of your time and effort. Schedule today.