What Atlantec does—and what we do not do
Atlantec provides readiness, implementation and operational support. We help organizations understand requirements, determine what systems are in scope, implement appropriate technology controls, develop repeatable IT procedures and organize evidence.
Atlantec is not a C3PAO and does not perform an independent CMMC certification assessment. If your contract requires a Level 2 C3PAO assessment, the assessment must be performed by an authorized CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization. Keeping readiness support separate from the independent assessor also helps preserve the integrity of the assessment process.
Program details above are summarized from the current Department of War CMMC program materials and DFARS framework. Contract-specific requirements control.
Where CMMC readiness projects usually get difficult
The hardest work is often not understanding the wording of a requirement. It is proving that the requirement is implemented consistently across real systems and real business processes.
Scope creep
CUI exists in more places than expected—email, endpoints, file shares, cloud storage, backups, remote access and vendor workflows.
Policy vs. reality
A written policy may say one thing while configurations, support processes or user behavior say something different.
Evidence gaps
The control may exist, but the organization cannot produce clean evidence showing how it is configured and maintained.
External providers
MSPs, cloud services and other external providers may affect scope, shared responsibility and evidence requirements.
A practical CMMC readiness process
Review the applicable contract, solicitation, DFARS clauses, CUI expectations and required CMMC status. Do not assume every defense-related contract has the same requirement.
Identify people, devices, servers, networks, cloud services, security protection assets and external providers relevant to FCI/CUI.
Compare technical and operational practices against the applicable NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 requirements and assessment objectives.
Prioritize gaps, assign ownership, identify dependencies and separate technical work from policy/process work.
Configure controls, update procedures and ensure the written environment accurately reflects how the organization operates.
Organize screenshots, reports, logs, tickets, exports, training records and other artifacts that support the assessment objectives.
Conduct internal review, validate evidence, identify weak explanations and coordinate with the C3PAO if an independent assessment is required.
Technology areas Atlantec can help address
- Identity, MFA and privileged-access controls
- Endpoint configuration, protection and monitoring
- Network segmentation, firewalls and remote access
- Microsoft 365 commercial, GCC and GCC High planning where appropriate
- SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams data-flow decisions
- Logging, alerting and audit review
- Patch and vulnerability management
- Backup, recovery and media protection
- Security awareness and user procedures
- Asset inventories, documentation and evidence organization
GCC High is a design decision, not a CMMC shortcut
Microsoft describes GCC High as a government cloud environment designed for eligible U.S. organizations with elevated requirements such as DFARS, ITAR and DoD CUI use cases. But moving to GCC High does not make an organization automatically CMMC compliant.
The surrounding endpoints, identities, administration, backups, policies, network controls and operational practices still matter. The decision should be based on actual data types, contractual requirements, integrations and the target architecture—not simply on the assumption that every Level 2 organization must buy the same cloud.
Microsoft GCC High service description →
Why work with an MSP that understands the environment?
CMMC controls often overlap with normal managed IT responsibilities: user accounts, endpoint configuration, patching, backup, log review, remote access, cloud administration and incident procedures. When the MSP understands both the operational environment and the compliance objectives, it is easier to make controls repeatable instead of creating one-time evidence just before an assessment.