Business-Fit CMMC
SecuriThink focuses on CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) as a series of business decisions, starting with facilitating your decision whether to do CMMC at all.
If the decision is to move forward, then Business-Fit CMMC is a game changer. In the months ahead, some organizations will find they’re underprepared for this pivot. When CMMC is mission-critical, business fit is essential and we’re the perfect partner.
Our journey satisfying these requirements is the story of how “we know what done looks like” for cybersecurity as we feature on our homepage.
Let us making getting there easier for you.
- How CMMC is Changing the Marketplace
- The Costs of CMMC and how they’re managed
- Business-First CMMC
- CMMC Project Outline
- Why SecuriThink for CMMC?
- Acronyms and Links
How CMMC is Changing the Marketplace
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)/ Department of War is putting more emphasis on existing cybersecurity requirements to safeguard Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
Effective November 10, 2028, all new DoD contracts and solicitations will specify a CMMC Status Level (1, 2, or 3) to be in place and verified by the Contract Officer before award. This includes extensions, even task orders and work orders under existing IDIQ (Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity) contracts.
Between November 10, 2025, and 2028, the DoD has a phased rollout of the requirements, yet many prime and higher-tier contractors are front-running that schedule. A typical example is this statement on September 11th from Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), “HII encourages all suppliers to obtain the appropriate CMMC level for your organization as soon as possible, if not already complete.” Or this from Lockheed Martin to their supply chain June 30th, ”By now, all DIB companies managing CUI should have fully implemented – and be confidently meeting – NIST SP 800-171 (r2) requirements.”
This is changing the game for the entire DIB (Defense Industrial Base). While some companies are seeing rapid certification as an edge against competitors, other leadership teams are deciding the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
In the months ahead, some organizations will find they’re underprepared for this pivot, making CMMC mission-critical in some cases. The marketplace scramble is widely expected to drive further consolidation of the DIB.
The Costs of CMMC and how they’re managed
The costs of CMMC are substantial, with a 6 to 7-figure price tag in most cases. However, the costs are about more than money. CMMC intensifies contractual penalties and escalates legal risk. CMMC drives business change, starting with an “Affirming Official: the senior representative from within each organization” who “must affirm the continuing compliance…after every assessment…and annually thereafter”.
Since the first C in CMMC stands for “cybersecurity”, business leaders often mistake it as an IT problem. This gets the conversation off on the wrong foot. Technology satisfies less than half the requirements. CMMC requires active involvement from many parts of the business, including contract managers, HR, physical security and more. Cybersecurity can lead the initiative, but it’s imperative most business areas have skin in the game.
Senior leaders think about it as shown in the table below. The first two columns are the business need: accomplish a result while being good stewards of all resources. The far-right column shows how SecuriThink supports our clients with pragmatic strategy and practical tactics.
Most project teams that do the actual work think in terms of sequential phases. The “CMMC Project Outline” tab is organized to that mindset. Show that version to your team for faster understanding.
SecuriThink focuses on CMMC business decisions. That starts with whether to pursue CMMC at all. If yes, then business-fit CMMC is a game changer. When CMMC is mission-critical, business fit is essential and we’re the perfect partner.
Business-First CMMC
While CMMC is often misunderstood as a purely technical issue, it’s true impact lies in business strategy and cost management against a landscape of intensified contractual penalties and escalated legal risk.
Describing the business case to executive leaders, our work revealed the underlying logic in authoritative sources.
Business-First CMMC: Actionable strategy for what’s now and what’s next
Is a live virtual workshop designed to quickly review those original sources and allow leadership teams to reach their own conclusions.
We cover:
- Budget benchmarks and cost drivers
- Legal risks and contract penalties
- Timeline and decision points
- M&A implications and future contract shifts
What Workshop Attendees say
- A COO, initially skeptical of CMMC, booked a private session for his senior leadership team based solely on the workshop’s reputation. By the end, he concluded: “We’re going to do it. We see doing it now as giving us an edge in the market.”
- Several COOs and CFOs said they wouldn’t change a thing; said the clarity they got was totally worth the nearly 3 hours they typically spend with us including Q&A
- A VP of Manufacturing said, “I’m glad I sat in on this session. I need to take this more seriously than I have been.”
- A VP of operations stopped advocating for a COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) strategy workaround
- An owner who had resisted investment came around after hearing the rationale secondhand
- Technical leaders describe a shift in tone—more open dialogue, and stronger alignment on priorities
Jump start your CMMC strategy – see more at https://securithink.com/workshops/
CMMC Project Outline
The 5 phases of CMMC certification are:
- Making the initial business decision
- Execution (includes scoping, gap analysis and gap mitigation)
- Pre-assessment
- Assessment
- Continuous evolution
The table below lists the business decisions and key activities in each phase.
These occur in all organizations, regardless of who does the work.
The right most column describes what SecuriThink offers for each phase of the journey to CMMC certification.
Why SecuriThink
SecuriThink advisors have:
- Earned CMMC Status of Level 2 (C3PAO) equivalent with a perfect score
- Sustained consistent “Superior” rating annually for 8 years from DoD DCMA
- 30+ years combined experience communicating the business case to owners, boards of directors and C-suite
- 50+ years combined experience on Fortune 500 mission-critical technology projects
- 35+ years combined experience in cybersecurity and network engineering
- Credentials you would expect from accomplished, senior resources including:
- Lead CMMC Certified Assessor (LCCA)
- CMMC Provisional Instructor (CMMC-PI)
- CMMC Professional (CCP)
- CMMC Registered Practitioner (RP)
- Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP)
- Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
- Cisco Certified Network Engineer (CCNP)
- ISO/IEC 20000 – Lead Auditor (LA)
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Degrees in engineering and relevant areas
- Professional Engineer (PE) license in Mechanical Engineering
Acronyms and Links
CMMC = Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification
COTS = Commercial-Off-The-Shelf
CUI = Controlled Unclassified Information
C3PAO = CMMC 3rd Party Assessment Organization
DCMA = Defense Contract Management Agency
DIB = Defense Industrial Base
DoD = U.S. Department of Defense
IDIQ = Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity
ROM = Rough Order of Magnitude
OSC = Organization Seeking Certification
SecuriThink Business-First CMMC workshops – https://securithink.com/workshops/
SecuriThink top-down estimates with verified accuracy – https://securithink.com/step-zero-for-cui/
SecuriThink Business-Fit CMMC consulting – https://securithink.com/cmmc-readiness/
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Memo Sept. 11, 2025
https://hii.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/HII-CMMC-Supplier-Letter-09112025.pdf
Lockheed Martin memo to suppliers June 30, 2025
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/suppliers/news/features/2025/cybersecurity-program-rule.html
What Else We Do
Step Zero™ Rapid Cybersecurity Cost Estimates
This unique approach, with a known range of verified accuracy, was first field-tested on 12 Fortune 500 Merger and Acquisition (M&A) deals yet it also supports data-driven investment decisions for cybersecurity compliance.
Managing Up and Out™ Security Strategy and Education
Tap the 30+ years combined experience of our team to align stakeholders from Boards of Directors and C-suite to critical asset owners or front-line team members. Whether it’s a business case, strategy roadmap, or key presentation, we can cross-train, ghostwrite, or deliver on your behalf.
SecuriThink Field-Tested Data Classification Solution
Get higher returns on your project investment with a field-tested data classification solution based on two Fortune 500 projects involving 12,000 and 50,000 team members, respectively.
Our Data Classification Solution integrates technology with business transformation methods to manage factors too often left out of a security project. We leverage what’s already going well in your organization, while shifting to higher potential.
SecuriThink Field-Tested OT / IT Integration
Readily create dollars from Operational Technology (OT) data using our field-tested approach to Information Technology (IT) integration based on success at 42 facilities across 15 different business divisions
Cultural Armour™
Optimizing your company’s information security
Takes more than the latest technology
Or a staff trained to use it.
It takes a shift in thinking.
A shift in acting.
Hearth Security™ – Personal Security Strategy
Securing your crown jewel assets, one household at a time.
Field-Tested Proactive Insider Threat Program
Over 90% of most companies’ value now comes from intangible assets. In addition to Intellectual Property (IP), brand reputation, competitive advantage, supplier network, employee retention, and customer loyalty are measurably affected by cyberattacks. Research shows some of the most damaging losses coming from trusted insiders with malicious intent, also called Insider Threat.
The biggest gains come from proactive attention to Insider Threat, that is, don’t chase after the horse that’s gotten away, keep it from leaving the stable.
Supply Chain Cybersecurity
Threat actors are increasingly exploiting the path of least resistance in the supply chain to attack their real targets. While more large companies have built a reasonable cybersecurity posture, malicious actors still find easy ingress through abundant open doors in smaller suppliers.
Supply chain attacks have skyrocketed to the point where targeted companies are motivated to manage their own risk by managing the risk hiding in their supply chain.
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