Key Points
- CMMC compliance platforms help MSPs implement and maintain Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirements through centralized compliance management and audit-ready reporting.
- The best CMMC compliance tools provide continuous compliance monitoring and automated evidence collection to support DoD contractor security requirements and certification readiness.
- MSPs benefit from CMMC compliance automation by reducing manual workloads and delivering compliant managed services more efficiently.
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliance platforms take a lot of the legwork out of achieving full compliance by providing oversight that helps you implement CMMC without gaps and with an assessment-ready posture. With automation and visibility provided by centralized control enforcement, monitoring, and reporting, managed service providers (MSPs) can offer CMMC-compliant IT services to a growing customer base, while remaining scalable and effective.
This guide explains what CMMC-compliant platforms do from a practical standpoint, and what you should look for when choosing a platform that fits how you and your clients operate.
What are CMMC compliance platforms?
A CMMC compliance platform supports the implementation, maintenance, and ongoing validation of CMMC control measures (and will usually also support other compliance frameworks). An effective CMMC compliance platform should centralize the management of compliance technologies and processes, assisting your organization in maintaining alignment with regulatory frameworks. Key to this is the automation of control enforcement, and the continuous generation of evidence for auditing.
MSPs working with DoD contractors and subcontractors must facilitate CMMC compliance for their clients by providing compliant infrastructure and support services, and in some cases, achieve CMMC compliance themselves. This is benefited by integration with existing systems and IT tools, allowing tech teams to offer CMMC compliance services without inducing additional manual work.
When assessing which CMMC compliance platform is the best fit for you and your clients, you need to factor in the core capabilities that define CMMC compliance tools, and the additional use case-specific features that support your clients’ day-to-day activities. You should also refer to the officially published CMMC standards to confirm your implementation meets the current requirements.
Core capability #1: Centralized management and oversight
Avoiding and closing gaps in CMMC compliance requires constant oversight over the technologies and processes used to implement it. Without complete visibility, you cannot know whether you’re adequately covered.
CMMC compliance platforms should centralize the management and enforcement of controls, including documenting them. Your chosen platform should also consolidate evidence of compliance, including controls, configurations, policies, and data generated from ongoing compliance activities, and make it exportable in a format ready for audit. This is vital for MSPs who need to offer compliant services (and help ensure their clients’ compliance) while maintaining flexibility and scalability.
Core capability #2: Automated compliance controls
Automating the design, deployment, and enforcement of the controls stipulated by CMMC is foundational for CMMC compliance tools. The standardization and consistent enforcement of configurations and policies across systems and environments, including identity and access to prevent unauthorized changes, is an almost insurmountable task to be achieved manually by MSPs.
Automation helps ensure that controls are not only implemented but continuously enforced, without affecting the daily load on your team.
Core capability #3: Compliance monitoring for managed services
Configuration drift, new user and device arrivals (including BYOD), and devices that have fallen out of management or ‘gone dark’ are all common ways hard-fought compliance is lost.
Compliance monitoring platforms should provide real-time tracking of compliance alignment, and proactively detect deviations from configuration baselines. They should monitor behavior and alert on policy violations or control failures, providing ongoing validation of control effectiveness. A reactive stance does not satisfy compliance requirements.
Core capability #4: Compliance reporting for MSPs
Compliance must be able to be proven with evidence. This is necessary for certification and audits for CMMC, but is also critical for MSPs who need to be able to demonstrate the implementation, maintenance, and ongoing utility of compliance measures. If an incident does occur, evidence should also be collected from remediation efforts.
Compliance platforms should provide:
- Standardized reports aligned with compliance requirements
- Historical data for validation and evidence
- Automated generation of audit-ready documentation
- Visibility into compliance status across systems
Not only does automation reduce the effort required to produce reports, but it also helps ensure their timeliness and accuracy.
Avoiding common mistakes when choosing a CMMC compliance platform
Common misconceptions about CMMC compliance and the technologies that support it can lead to poor tool choice, governance gaps, or ineffective implementation. Tools alone do not provide compliance – they support and confirm compliance, but do not replace the implementation and governance of the controls and policies that CMMC requires. Similarly, automation and continuous monitoring do not replace the need for oversight and ownership, but make it more efficient.
Mistaking compliance for a once-off process is also a common error. Compliance must be maintained with the active involvement of IT and business stakeholders who understand each of the components involved and their importance.
Regular reviews using data from your CMMC compliance platform assist in both strengthening compliance for existing clients, and proving competence for future CMMC opportunities.
Integrating and unifying CMMC compliance tools with MSP workflows
CMMC compliance platforms are only a part of the infrastructure required to support the operations of DoD contractors and subcontractors.
NinjaOne provides a unified MSP toolchain that provides the controls and other tools required to implement CMMC compliance, with a platform that readily integrates with compliance tools via APIs and automation. You can build and support your clients’ compliant IT infrastructure with remote monitoring and management (RMM), helpdesk and remote support, and direct integration with security platforms, while attaining CMMC compliance in your own organization – without impacting efficiency and service delivery.
