74% of businesses working within the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) are small-medium sized businesses. This means that a large number of contractors will be utilizing a managed service provider (MSP) to help secure their organization and handle their IT concerns. However, not every MSP is created equal, and many organizations may find themselves in trouble come audit time. When choosing an MSP, you should only work with providers that are committed to CMMC Level 2 (C3PAO) compliance. While MSPs are no longer required to be CMMC certified, choosing one that is will reduce overall cost and ensure the safety of CUI and other sensitive data.
MSPs (referred to as ESPs under CMMC documentation) will play an important role in the protection of CUI. When an MSPs services come in contact with CUI or deal with the security protection data related to it, they are now in scope of a contractor's third-party audit. This means that for every contract, your C3PAO audit will have to include an audit of your MSP as well, making the process much more complex and expensive. Due to the fact that MSPs are no longer required to be compliant, the cost of this audit will be pushed onto the organization seeking certification (OSC). With a C3PAO certified MSP, many of the required controls are passed down to your organization. This makes the auditing process much simpler.
Additionally, the intention behind the CMMC rule is to protect controlled unclassified information, or "CUI". In many cases, an ESP/MSP may be directly given CUI to protect or the administrative privileges needed to access it. Let's say your organization is perfectly compliant with the CMMC requirements, but your ESP/MSP is not. This one weak link defeats the entire purpose of CMMC compliance in the first place. Suddenly, the service provider you trusted to protect your sensitive data is now your greatest vulnerability.
However, these CMMC requirements go beyond just access to CUI. ESP/MSPs are tasked with storing, creating, and transmitting large amounts of diverse data that includes more than CUI. Security protection data, i.e. things like log data and configuration data need just as much protection. In the event that attackers access these types of data protection, CUI and other business assets could be at a severe risk of being compromised. MSPs also need to be wary of what tools they use within a contractor's environment. RMM platforms or PSA tools must also be FedRAMP compliant to ensure that external applications that touch CUI are secure.
There are Several Key Benefits of Partnering with a CMMC Level 2 (C3PAO) Certified MSP -
Streamlined Audit Process: Engaging a C3PAO-certified MSP means that the flow-down controls managed by the provider are pre-certified, eliminating the need for reassessment during your own audit. For example, CorpInfoTech flows down over 200 of the 320 required objectives, meaning only your internal controls remain in scope. This structure simplifies and accelerates the audit, helping you achieve compliance faster.
Higher Assurance: When a substantial portion of your audit requirements is pre-certified, the likelihood of a successful audit outcome increases. With CorpInfoTech, approximately two-thirds of your CMMC requirements are pre-audited and certified, which reduces audit risk and avoids the complications that can arise when partnering with uncertified or self-certified MSPs.
Reduced Liability: A certified MSP assumes compliance responsibility for the controls they manage, reducing your organization’s direct liability. By contrast, uncertified or self-certified MSPs can leave you accountable for their compliance gaps, which increases both your liability and administrative burden.
As a contractor, your organization may already be partnered with an MSP. As you continue to pursue contracts it's important that you make sure your MSP is prepared to support your compliance efforts.
CorpInfoTech is a managed service provider location in Charlotte, NC that offers IT and security solutions to SMBs across the country. We've spent years keeping track of and refining our CMMC processes to provide CMMC compliant solutions to DoD contractors. We will be one of the very first MSPs to achieve CMMC Level 2 certification (C3PAO), setting us apart from the rest.
Through our TAS for CMMC Compliance, your organization will automatically inherit 200+ of the required objectives. Our CMMC compliance product enhances compliance efficiency and reduces overall cyber risk so that you feel confident going into your next audit!
CorpInfoTech is committed to become CMMC level 2 (C3PAO) compliant to better serve your organization. Our audit is aligned early in the programs roll out, making us likely among the first MSPs to achieve certification.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can prepare your organization for CMMC compliance!