For companies within the federal sector, especially small to mid-sized businesses, the push toward compliance is not just a regulatory burden but an operational necessity. CMMC is one of these challenging frameworks, and these businesses are finding that alignment with CMMC is a tricky proposition.
Meeting the stringent demands of CMMC requires a robust and proactive security infrastructure. However, the complexity of the framework, particularly at Levels 2 and 3, poses significant challenges for many organizations. This is where automation plays a pivotal role.
The Role of Automation in CMMC Compliance
CMMC 2.0 simplifies some aspects of the original framework by consolidating five levels down to three. Still, each level, especially Levels 2 and 3, demands a structured, risk-based cybersecurity program aligned with NIST SP 800-171 and NIST SP 800-172. Without automation, maintaining compliance is not only resource-intensive but prone to error.
Automation tools such as those offered by Continuum GRC address this challenge by helping organizations automate many of the time-consuming aspects of compliance, including documentation, monitoring, and reporting.
- Automated Control Mapping: Control mapping is one of the most laborious aspects of compliance. Automation platforms can now “automap” security controls across multiple frameworks. For companies working with CMMC, this means that controls aligned with NIST 800-171 may also be matched with ISO 27001, HIPAA, SOC 2, or FedRAMP, streamlining efforts across frameworks.
- Policy and Documentation Management: Policies are foundational for any cybersecurity program, and CMMC requires extensive documentation to demonstrate compliance. Automation platforms generate prebuilt templates tailored to CMMC controls and can automatically update these documents as your systems or organizational needs change. This ensures that you’re not just compliant during audits but continuously aligned with changing requirements, an essential aspect of CMMC’s demand for continuous monitoring and improvement.
- Continuous Monitoring and Alerting: One of the biggest changes from older compliance approaches is moving away from periodic check-ups to continuous monitoring. CMMC frameworks push for ongoing vigilance, and automated platforms deliver this through real-time tracking of your systems, user access, and configurations. These platforms can catch things like expired access permissions, misconfigured systems, or unauthorized changes that stray from your compliance standards, all before they turn into audit problems or security breaches.
- Audit Readiness and Evidence Collection: Perhaps the most stressful part of any certification process is the audit. Automation tools streamline audit preparation by maintaining real-time compliance dashboards and collecting evidence throughout the compliance lifecycle. Instead of struggling to produce screenshots, logs, or policy documents, these systems compile and organize your compliance evidence in a central repository.
- Vendor and Supply Chain Management: For organizations managing a network of vendors, automation platforms can extend compliance monitoring across the supply chain. With increasing scrutiny on third-party risks, CMMC compliance isn’t just about internal posture… it requires visibility into subcontractors and partners as well.
Automated tools enable onboarding checks, risk assessments, and policy enforcement across vendors, ensuring a unified approach to security throughout the supply chain.
What to Look for in an Automated CMMC Compliance Solution
Not all automation platforms are created equal. At the same time, many tools promise efficiency, but only a few deliver depth, flexibility, and transparency. When evaluating an automated solution, consider these critical capabilities:
- Robust Control Mapping and Framework Alignment: Your automation tool should support native alignment with CMMC controls and offer automapping across other frameworks such as NIST SP 800-171, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and FedRAMP. This ensures you’re not duplicating efforts when managing compliance across multiple standards and can streamline evidence gathering and control validation. Look for platforms that provide built-in templates, crosswalks, and integrations that auto-map and adjust as your requirements evolve.
- Integrations with Core IT Systems: Automation is only as good as its ability to connect with your existing technology stack. An ideal platform will support integrations with your identity providers, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, endpoint protection platforms, and more. These integrations should enable the automatic collection of evidence and real-time compliance tracking, not manual uploads or static assessments.
- Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts: A good solution needs to do more than just run through static checklists. It should provide real-time dashboards that display your compliance status and alert you to settings drift or emerging risks. Continuous monitoring helps you avoid audit surprises and lets you stay ahead of security issues.
- Scalable Policy and Documentation Management: Documentation is central to CMMC, and often one of the most burdensome parts. The right automation platform will offer dynamic document generation for policies, procedures, and system security plans (SSPs), tailored to CMMC requirements. More importantly, these documents should update automatically as your environment changes or when new evidence is collected, saving hours of manual revision and ensuring audit readiness at all times.
- Built-In Readiness Assessment Tools: Before you start an audit, your platform should help you get ready. Look for features like gap analysis tools, readiness checklists, and maturity level scorings that provide insight into where you stand and what’s needed to reach full compliance. The ability to run self-assessments and simulate audit conditions can make all the difference in preventing surprises and failures during official audits.
- Vendor and Third-Party Risk Management: If you rely on subcontractors or third-party vendors, your automation tool should extend compliance checks to them. This might include secure onboarding workflows, third-party assessments, and automated tracking of vendor compliance documentation. CMMC requires strict oversight over who handles CUI, and a strong automation platform will help enforce these controls without creating bottlenecks.
- Audit-Friendly Evidence Collection and Reporting: One of the biggest pain points in any compliance audit is organizing and submitting evidence. An ideal platform will maintain a centralized repository of control evidence, audit logs, and change records. It should allow you to export audit-ready reports or even invite assessors directly into a read-only environment to streamline the audit process.
- Support and Expertise: Finally, look beyond the platform itself. Make sure the provider offers responsive support and access to compliance experts who understand CMMC requirements. The best vendors go beyond tool delivery. They become partners in your compliance journey.
Integrating CMMC Automation with Broader Security Strategy
While CMMC is designed specifically for DoD contractors, its core principles align well with current best practices in cybersecurity. The automation tools that help with CMMC compliance also work for other major frameworks like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and NIST CSF. When organizations invest in automation, they’re not just setting themselves up for CMMC success… they’re building the flexibility to handle whatever regulatory requirements come their way.
Automated Compliance with Continuum GRC
For organizations serious about staying in the DoD supply chain and doing so efficiently, automation isn’t just a convenience. It’s a necessity.
Continuum GRC is a cloud platform that stays ahead of the curve, including support for all certifications (along with our sister company and assessors, Lazarus Alliance).
- FedRAMP
- StateRAMP
- NIST 800-53
- FARS NIST 800-171 & 172
- CMMC
- SOC 1 & SOC 2
- HIPAA
- PCI DSS 4.0
- IRS 1075 & 4812
- COSO SOX
- ISO 27001 + other ISO standards
- NIAP Common Criteria
- And dozens more!
We are the only FedRAMP and StateRAMP-authorized compliance and risk management solution worldwide.
Continuum GRC is a proactive cybersecurity® and the only FedRAMP and StateRAMP-authorized cybersecurity audit platform worldwide. Call 1-888-896-6207 to discuss your organization’s cybersecurity needs and learn how we can help protect its systems and ensure compliance.
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