CMMC Compliance Managed Services for Defense Industrial Base Contractors

CMMC Compliance Managed Services for Defense Industrial Base Contractors
Mission-Critical IT. Battle-Tested Operations.
Mission-Critical IT. Battle-Tested Operations.

Since 2017, VSO has served defense contractors operating in some of the most sensitive, compliance-intensive environments in the industry. We understand the stakes. Your IT infrastructure isn’t just supporting business operations, it’s protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), enabling cleared personnel, and maintaining the operational security that keeps defense programs moving forward.

We’ve built our managed services specifically for organizations navigating CMMC 2.0, NIST SP 800-171, and the complex security architectures required by DoW contracts. As a Registered Provider Organization (RPO) with the Cyber AB, we’re recognized within the CMMC ecosystem for helping contractors prepare for assessment, not just talking about it. Our team brings real-world experience operating in SCIF environments, managing enclaves with strict access controls, and maintaining the documentation and operational discipline that auditors expect to see.

Since 2017, VSO has served defense contractors operating in some of the most sensitive, compliance-intensive environments in the industry. We understand the stakes. Your IT infrastructure isn’t just supporting business operations — it’s protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), enabling cleared personnel, and maintaining the operational security that keeps defense programs moving forward.

We’ve built our managed services specifically for organizations navigating CMMC 2.0, NIST SP 800-171, and the complex security architectures required by DoW contracts. Our team brings real-world experience operating in SCIF environments, managing enclaves with strict access controls, and maintaining the documentation and operational discipline that auditors expect to see.

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What CMMC 2.0 Actually Requires and What’s at Stake

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 is the Department of Defense’s framework for ensuring that any company in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) handling Federal Contract Information (FCI) or Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) has the cybersecurity controls in place to protect it.

CMMC Level 1

Applies to organizations handling FCI and requires annual self-assessment against 15 basic safeguarding requirements.

CMMC Level 2

Applies to any organization handling CUI — which is the threshold for the vast majority of DoD prime and sub-contractors working on programs of any sensitivity. Level 2 requires compliance with all 110 security practices in NIST SP 800-171 and, for most contracts, a triennial third-party assessment by a Certified Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO).

CMMC Level 3

Applies to organizations working on the most critical programs — typically prime contractors managing CUI related to advanced weapons systems. Level 3 adds additional controls beyond NIST 800-171.

What’s at Stake

The consequence of non-compliance isn’t just audit failure. Starting in 2026, CMMC certification is a contract requirement. Contractors who cannot demonstrate compliance will be unable to bid on new DoD contracts — and may be at risk of losing existing ones.

Where We Start: CUI Data Flow Gap Analysis

Before any managed services engagement begins, VSO conducts a structured CUI Data Flow Gap Analysis. This is the foundation of everything that follows and it’s where most compliance programs fail when skipped or rushed.

Why CUI Data Flows Matter

CUI doesn’t live in one place. It moves. It arrives in email attachments, gets stored in SharePoint, shared via Teams, downloaded to endpoints, and occasionally forwarded to subcontractors. Every point where CUI is created, received, stored, processed, or transmitted is a point of potential exposure — and a point that must be protected, documented, and controlled under CMMC.

The scope of your CMMC assessment is defined by where your CUI lives and how it flows. Organizations that haven’t mapped this accurately consistently find themselves over-scoped (paying to protect systems that don’t touch CUI) or under-scoped (leaving CUI touchpoints outside their System Security Plan — a critical audit failure).

Select any system to see how it affects your assessment scope.

CMMC ASSESSMENT BOUNDARY Inbound CUI Contracts, CO email, drawings Email Exchange attachments SharePoint Document libraries Teams Chat & channel files Endpoints Laptops, local copies Subcontractors Flow-down obligations Shadow IT Personal email, consumer cloud
Start here

Every touchpoint is a scoping decision

CUI doesn't sit still. Each hop above is a place where it is created, received, stored, processed, or transmitted — and each one either falls inside your assessment boundary or has to be deliberately kept out of it. Select a system to see which.

What the Gap Analysis Covers

Our gap analysis is a hands-on technical and operational review that answers four questions:

1

Where does CUI enter your environment? We identify every inbound channel — contract vehicles, contracting officer communications, engineering data packages, technical drawings, program documentation — and map the systems that receive it.

2

Where does CUI live? We inventory every system, endpoint, cloud service, shared drive, and communication platform where CUI is stored or accessed. This includes shadow IT — file sharing tools, personal email, and consumer cloud storage that employees may have introduced without IT authorization.

3

How does CUI move? We trace the data flows: who accesses it, from where, on what devices, and whether those transfers cross security boundaries or leave your controlled environment.

4

What's the gap between current state and CMMC Level 2? We map your current environment against all 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls across 14 control families and produce a clear gap report showing exactly what needs to be remediated, in what order, and at what cost before a C3PAO assessment.

The output isn't a generic questionnaire. It's a prioritized remediation roadmap grounded in your actual environment, your actual contracts, and your actual risk exposure.

Managing Your CUI Enclave. The Right Architecture for CMMC Level 2

One of the most consequential decisions a defense contractor makes in their CMMC journey is where CUI will live and what architecture will protect it. This is what an enclave is: a defined, isolated, access-controlled environment that contains all CUI and the systems authorized to process it.

Getting enclave architecture right reduces your CMMC assessment scope, simplifies your System Security Plan, and dramatically lowers the cost of ongoing compliance. Getting it wrong means trying to apply 110 security controls across your entire business; an expensive, operationally disruptive approach that most contractors cannot sustain.

As both a Microsoft partner and an AWS partner, VSO designs, deploys, and manages CUI enclaves on the platform that fits your organization’s existing infrastructure, contract requirements, and operational preferences with deep expertise in both environments.

Select any layer to see what it covers and why it matters at assessment.

CUSTOMER-OWNED ENCLAVE Everything outside stays out of assessment scope All 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls apply inside this boundary — and only inside it CUI PROTECTED CORE CUI Boundary Control Data tagging, DLP, scoping Identity & Access MFA, least privilege, Entra ID SOC / SIEM Monitoring 24/7 detection & response Secure CUI Storage GCC High | AWS GovCloud Endpoint Protection EDR, STIG baselines, patching Compliance Reporting SPRS, audit evidence, RMF
The idea

An enclave is a boundary, not a product

Everything above wraps a single protected core. The point isn't the six capabilities on their own — it's that they define a perimeter small enough to defend, so the 110 controls apply to a bounded environment instead of your whole business. Select a layer to see what it covers.

Microsoft GCC High. Purpose-Built for Defense Contractors

  • FedRAMP High authorized

  • ITAR and EAR compliant

  • Isolated from commercial cloud environments

  • Meets DFARS 252.204-7012 requirements

Ideal for email, collaboration, file storage, and productivity workloads within a compliant boundary.

AWS GovCloud. High-Security Enclave for Workload-Heavy Environments

  • FedRAMP High authorized

  • U.S.-only infrastructure and personnel

  • ITAR Compliant

  • Supports DoD IL2 and IL4 requirements

Ideal for application hosting, infrastructure, and data processing environments that require advanced compute and scalability.

What VSO Manages Inside Your Enclave

Multi-factor authentication enforcement, privileged access controls, conditional access policies, and regular access reviews to ensure only authorized users can reach CUI

Microsoft Intune-based device compliance policies ensuring endpoints that access the enclave meet configuration baselines — encryption, EDR, patch status, and screen lock requirements

Continuous collection and monitoring of audit logs from your enclave environment, correlated against threat indicators, with alerts for anomalous access or potential data exfiltration

Regular patching of operating systems and applications within scope, tracked against your POAM (Plan of Action and Milestones) with documented closure timelines

Documented IR procedures aligned to CMMC requirements, with 72-hour reporting capabilities for incidents involving CUI as required under DFARS 252.204-7012

Baseline configurations documented and enforced, with change management processes that maintain your System Security Plan accuracy between assessments

Frequently Asked Questions about CMMC and CUI Enclaves

CUI is government-created or government-related information that requires safeguarding per law, regulation, or government-wide policy — but is not classified. Examples include technical drawings, engineering specifications, contract performance data, export-controlled technical data, and personally identifiable information on cleared personnel. If your DoD contract includes a DFARS 252.204-7012 clause, you almost certainly handle CUI.

For a small to mid-sized contractor (50–250 employees), a thorough gap analysis typically takes two to four weeks depending on the complexity of your environment and contract portfolio. The output is a written report you can use with your C3PAO and share with your prime contractor if required.

Continuous collection and monitoring of audit logs from your enclave environment, correlated against threat indicators, with alerts for anomalous access or potential data exfiltration

Prime contractors are responsible for flowing CMMC requirements down to subcontractors who handle CUI. If a sub doesn’t have CMMC, you may be contractually liable. VSO works with prime contractors to assess their supply chain and can support subcontractor readiness programs.

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