CMMC

Getting Your CMMC Strategy Off the Ground

Lisa Remsa

Lisa Remsa

Director of Marketing, Coalfire Federal

August 7, 2025
Adobe Stock 942270557

Start Smart, Not Fast

Too many contractors kick off their CMMC efforts with only a tool purchase or a policy template pack. That’s not a strategy, it’s a shortcut. And shortcuts in compliance usually cost more in the long run.

If you're trying to “get compliant” without a plan, pause. A solid strategy doesn’t just make your life easier. It keeps you from redoing work, overspending, or getting stuck later.

Step 1: Know Why You're Doing This

Not every contractor is facing the same requirements. What kind of contracts are you chasing? Are you handling FCI, CUI, or both? Who’s asking about your readiness - Primes, the DoD, or your CEO?

These answers will shape everything from your project scope to your internal timeline. Skip this, and you'll waste time chasing the wrong things.

Step 2: Design a Model That Actually Works for Your Business

Compliance doesn’t live in a vacuum. You need to decide:

  • Who owns what?
  • Do you centralize this or embed it in business units?
  • Are you building something sustainable—or duct taping it for now?

This is the part where trusted advisory services pay off. It’s a lot easier to make good decisions when you’ve seen the movie before.

Step 3: Map Your Boundaries Before They Become Your Problem

Your data footprint, your tech stack, and your vendors all affect compliance scope. If you’re not crystal clear on where CUI lives, who touches it, and what systems support it—you’re not ready.

Boundary analysis isn’t just a formality. It drives your cost, your control decisions, and your audit experience. Get it right.

Step 4: Use a Gap Analysis to Build a Plan, Not a Panic List

A gap analysis is more than just “red, yellow, green.” It should tell you:

  • What needs fixing
  • Why it matters
  • Who’s going to do it
  • When it needs to be done

This is where your CMMC strategy turns into an actual roadmap. And it needs to reflect reality—not just a project manager’s checklist.

Step 5: Stop Treating Documentation Like a Checkbox

We see it all the time: policies that sound great but don’t match what anyone does. Or worse, policies that were copy-pasted from another company.

If your policies aren’t tied to your controls, and if they don’t have clear owners, you’re going to run into trouble. Advisory teams can help here, especially in mapping documentation to actual behavior.

Step 6: Don’t Let the Tool Drive the Strategy

Buying a GRC platform won’t make you CMMC compliant. Buying one too early might actually make it harder.

Choose tools that support your plan—not tools that try to become your plan. And make sure your advisory partner knows how to work within whatever system you choose.

Step 7: Know When It’s Time to Call in a Third Party

Eventually, you’ll reach the point where it’s time to move from planning to validation. When that happens, you’ll need an independent, certified assessor to evaluate what you’ve built.

Here’s what that process looks like when you’re ready to take that step.

The Bottom Line

Getting compliant takes more than checklists and good intentions. If you’re serious about meeting CMMC requirements—without burning out your team or wasting your budget—you need a strategy that fits your business.

Start there. Build smart. And when you're ready to take the next step, you’ll be prepared to move forward with confidence.