1st Defense CMMC, a Shadowscape company
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§01 · READINESS & ADVISORY

Get CMMC-Ready Without the Guesswork

Work directly with the Certified Assessors who conduct real assessments, so you know exactly where you stand before it counts.

Readiness, mock assessments, Level 2 assessment support, and long-term compliance, built by Lead Assessors for Defense Industrial Base companies preparing for Level 1 self-assessments or Level 2 certification.

Talk to a Certified AssessorFind where you are
FILE 01-R · WHAT YOU WALK AWAY WITH
  • 01Less uncertainty about what CMMC actually requires of you, from people who assess it.
  • 02Clear, actionable guidance across readiness, assessment prep, and ongoing compliance.
  • 03An organization prepared to pass, and to stay compliant after.
  • 04A stronger security posture that still lines up with CMMC objectives.
EVERY ENGAGEMENT LED BY CERTIFIED ASSESSORS
§02
FIELD NOTE

Your controls are partly in place, your documentation doesn’t match how you operate, and the advice you’ve been given came from people who have never sat through an assessment. Guess at it, and you find out what’s missing in the one room where it’s too late to fix.

§03
FROM GAP TO CERTIFIED

Wherever you are on the path, start there.

Every organization’s compliance journey is different. Each service below opens with the situation it’s built for. Find yours.

03.1 · READINESS

A contract clause says CMMC, and nobody on your team signed up to be a compliance expert.

CMMC Readiness

Expert-led readiness delivered by experienced CMMC Certified Assessors (CCAs) to help you prepare for a CMMC Level 1 self-assessment or a Level 2 certification by a C3PAO (the accredited third-party organization that performs your official assessment). We apply real assessment rigor, so the plan you get is the one an assessor would expect.

IDENTIFY THE GAPS · BUILD & EXECUTE THE PLAN · PREPARE TO PASS

  1. 01

    Gap Analysis

    Find your compliance gaps, your CUI scope (where Controlled Unclassified Information lives in your environment), and security risks across every applicable CMMC objective.

  2. 02

    Strategy & Roadmap

    Get a clear, executable plan to reach certification efficiently and with confidence.

  3. 03

    Implementation Support

    Guidance as you put controls, documentation, and training in place, so progress is measurable.

  4. 04

    Assessment Readiness

    Evidence, teams, and processes prepared exactly the way assessors expect to see them.

03.2 · LEVEL 1

Your contracts only call for Level 1, and someone senior still has to affirm it every year.

CMMC Level 1 Self-Assessment

If your contracts involve Federal Contract Information (FCI, information the government provides or generates under a contract that isn’t meant for public release), you need CMMC Level 1. It’s a self-assessment against 15 basic safeguarding requirements, submitted in SPRS every year with an affirmation from your Affirming Official. Every requirement must be met; POA&Ms are not permitted. Our CCAs review your implementation and evidence the way an assessor would, so your results are accurate and your affirmation holds up.

SCOPE IT · MEET ALL 15 · AFFIRM WITH CONFIDENCE

The 15 Level 1 requirements, explained Not sure if it’s Level 1 or Level 2? Take the 3-question check
  1. 01

    FCI Scoping

    Identify where Federal Contract Information lives in your environment, so the assessment covers the right people, systems, and facilities.

  2. 02

    Requirement-by-Requirement Review

    Each of the 15 requirements checked against your implementation and evidence, the way an assessor would check it.

  3. 03

    Gap Closure Guidance

    Clear steps to close anything that isn’t fully met, since Level 1 doesn’t allow POA&Ms.

  4. 04

    SPRS Submission & Annual Affirmation

    Support entering your results in SPRS and preparing your Affirming Official to affirm, then repeating the review every year.

03.3 · MOCK ASSESSMENT

You think you’re ready, but you’ve never seen an assessment from the inside.

Mock Assessment

A mock assessment by experienced CCAs lets you validate readiness in a penalty-free setting before the real thing. It mirrors an actual assessment to surface gaps and missing documentation or evidence while there’s still time to fix them.

REVIEW THE EVIDENCE · VALIDATE THE ENVIRONMENT · INCREASE CONFIDENCE

  1. 01

    Documentation, Evidence & Asset Review

    Your policies, procedures, SSP (System Security Plan), artifacts, and asset categorization, checked against what assessors expect.

  2. 02

    Network Architecture & CUI Data Flows

    Validation of your system boundaries, enclaves, data handling, and protection of CUI.

  3. 03

    Assessor-Style Interviews

    Realistic interviews and objective validation exercises, so your team knows what it will be asked.

  4. 04

    Findings & Recommendations

    Clear, actionable guidance to close the gaps and strengthen your readiness.

03.4 · LEVEL 2 SUPPORT

Picking the wrong C3PAO can cost you time, money, and possibly a pass.

CMMC Level 2 Assessment Support

Independent guidance from experienced CCAs as you select a C3PAO and go through your Level 2 assessment: fair assessing practices, reasonable pricing, flexible scheduling, and support from engagement through certification. Want us to coordinate the assessment itself? See Assessments.

CHOOSE WELL · PREPARE FULLY · FINISH STRONG

  1. 01

    Cost-Effective & Trusted C3PAO Selection

    We identify 3–4 vetted C3PAOs, give you pricing guidance, and set up exploratory calls to find the best fit for your schedule, scope, and budget.

  2. 02

    Pre-Assessment Preparation

    Guided evidence collection, scope validation, and a complete, organized assessment package.

  3. 03

    Assessment Execution Guidance

    Support during the assessment, so it stays fair, consistent, and aligned with CMMC requirements.

  4. 04

    POA&M Resolution Support

    Help resolving findings during or after the assessment, including your POA&M (Plan of Action & Milestones, the documented plan for closing open items) within required timelines.

03.5 · ONGOING COMPLIANCE & SECURITY

Passing the assessment didn’t end the work. It started the clock.

Ongoing Compliance & Security

Annual affirmations come due, your environment keeps changing, and the evidence that proved you compliant quietly drifts from how you operate. We stay on as your compliance partner: quarterly control reviews, evidence kept current, affirmations on time, and support through every reassessment (every year for Level 1, every three years for Level 2, with annual affirmations in between). Want security operations bundled in with your compliance work? See Continuous Compliance (APS).

MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE · STRENGTHEN SECURITY · STAY CONFIDENT

  1. 01

    Governance & Change Advisory

    How organizational, system, and process changes affect your compliance, and how to stay aligned.

  2. 02

    Annual Self-Assessments & Recertification

    Facilitated annual Level 1 self-assessments and Level 2 reassessment preparation, including mock assessments led by experienced CCAs.

  3. 03

    Documentation & Evidence Upkeep

    Your SSP, policies, procedures, asset inventories, and evidence kept current and assessment-ready.

  4. 04

    Risk, Controls & Training Guidance

    Advice on control effectiveness, emerging risks, and security maturity, so you get harder to breach, not just better documented.

§04
BEYOND CMMC

Beyond CMMC: ISO 27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP, Privacy/GDPR & adjacent frameworks.

Same evidence discipline, same assessors, different framework.

A contract, a customer, or an insurer wants ISO 27001, HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP, Privacy/GDPR, or AI governance, and nobody internally owns it. The controls probably exist in some form; the evidence doesn’t, and the audit date does.

The discipline that gets a company through a CMMC assessment is the same discipline that gets you through these. Start with a readiness conversation, close the gaps we find, and walk into the audit already knowing what the auditor will ask for.

ISO 27001HIPAASOC 2FEDRAMPPRIVACY/GDPRAI GOVERNANCE
Certified Information Systems Auditor (ISACA) (CISA) badgePECB ISO/IEC 27001 Master (ISO/IEC 27001 Master) badgePECB ISO/IEC 27001 Senior Lead Auditor (ISO/IEC 27001 Senior Lead Auditor) badgePECB ISO/IEC 27001 Senior Lead Implementer (ISO/IEC 27001 Senior Lead Implementer) badge

Beyond-CMMC credentials held by our team: ISACA CISA and PECB ISO/IEC 27001 Master, Senior Lead Auditor & Senior Lead Implementer.

Talk to us about your audit
§05
THE PLAN

Three steps from first call to certified.

01

Schedule a free consultation

Tell us where you are today. No pitch, no pressure, just a conversation with a working assessor.

02

Get a clear readiness roadmap

Receive a prioritized plan built by someone who conducts real Level 2 assessments every day.

03

Certify with confidence

Walk into your assessment knowing exactly where you stand and what to expect.

§06
THE LEDGER

That experience is what’s now working for your certification.

AS OF SEPTEMBER 2026
SWORN STATEMENT · 01 / 04

1st Defense CMMC has been an excellent partner to work with. Their assessors bring the experience, knowledge, and professionalism we look for when building our assessment teams, and we have a high degree of confidence in the people they provide. We’ve also seen firsthand the value their team brings to organizations preparing for CMMC, helping them understand the path forward and focus their efforts in the right direction. Their leadership team operates with honesty and transparency, and they’ve consistently demonstrated that they are a partner we can trust.

Anders EricksonPARTNER · EIDE BAILLY ADVISORY LLC
200+
ASSESSMENTS
20+
OSCs GUIDED TO READINESS
25+
CCAs
75+
CCPs/CCAs TRAINED
All insights
COST & READINESS PLANNING

What a Mock CMMC Assessment Covers, and How to Get the Most From One

A mock CMMC assessment rehearses your Level 2 assessment before anything is recorded. The two kinds of mock and the independence rule that separates them, what a mock covers, and how to prepare so it pays off.

OCTOBER 19, 2026 · 5 MIN READCOST & READINESS PLANNING

How to Use Brilliant at the Basics in Your CMMC Level 2 Program

The DoW CIO's Brilliant at the Basics campaign lists ten IT and ten OT practices. How they map to CMMC Level 2, which ones go beyond it, and how to use the OT list to document your Specialized Assets.

OCTOBER 15, 2026 · 9 MIN READ
§07
NEXT STEP

Accelerate your CMMC journey now.

Every organization’s compliance journey is different. We meet you where you are, with clear guidance and dependable support from preparation through certification.

Thirty minutes. No obligation.

CONSULTATION REQUEST · FORM 01A