CMMC certification requires a substantial investment of time, money, and effort to achieve.

But it doesn’t have to be so costly and time-consuming.

Automation can slash the time and money needed to achieve compliance by making the entire process more efficient.

How long does CMMC certification take without automation?

The duration of obtaining a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) without automation can vary widely based on several factors, including the:

• required level of CMMC certification 
• size of the organization
• current level of cybersecurity maturity
• resources dedicated to the process
• availability of the C3PAO to perform the certification assessment (if required)

Generally, the CMMC certification process can take anywhere from several months to two years. According to Coalfire, companies typically spend 6 to 18 months preparing for the official CMMC certification assessment.

Below is a breakdown of the overall CMMC certification process if taking a manual approach, with ranges based on estimates for Level 1 and 2 certifications. For a more detailed breakdown of certification timelines by level, check out this hub article. 

Gap analysis (1-6 months)

• Level 1: 1-3 months
• Level 2 Self-assessment: 1-5 months
• Level 2 Certification assessment: 2-6 months

During the gap analysis phase, the organization evaluates its current cybersecurity practices to identify discrepancies between its existing processes and the practices required by the desired CMMC level. This analysis highlights areas where the organization falls short and provides a clear picture of what needs to be done to meet compliance.

Following this assessment, the organization formulates a response plan. The response plan is designed to address the identified deficiencies, outlining specific steps and actions to close the gaps and ensure alignment with CMMC requirements.

Remediation (1-6 months)

• Level 1: 1-3 months
• Level 2 Self-assessment: 1-5 months
• Level 2 Certification assessment: 3-6 months

The remediation phase focuses on implementing the necessary security controls and practices identified in the gap analysis and response plan. The time required for this phase varies significantly based on the extent of the gaps identified. Organizations with significant deficiencies or larger operations may take more time to implement the needed changes.

In addition to implementation, staff must be trained on new processes to ensure they understand and follow the updated procedures. Documentation is another critical aspect, requiring the organization to develop and maintain comprehensive documentation of policies, procedures, and security controls. 

Pre-assessment (1-6 weeks)

• Level 1: 1-2 weeks
• Level 2 Self-assessment: 2-4 weeks
• Level 2 Certification assessment: 3-6 weeks

Once remediation is complete, the organization typically conducts a readiness assessment. This step can be performed by an internal team or a third party. The goal of the readiness assessment is to identify any remaining gaps or issues that could prevent successful certification. Addressing these final details helps ensure that the organization is fully prepared for the formal certification assessment.

Certification assessment (2 weeks - 4 months)

• Level 1: 2-3 weeks
• Level 2 Self-assessment: 2-4 weeks
• Level 2 Certification assessment: 3-4 months

The certification assessment is the final step in the process. This formal assessment is carried out by either a self-assessment team or a Certified Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO), depending on the CMMC level. The duration of the assessment varies based on the organization’s size and operational complexity.

After the assessment, the findings are reviewed. For lower levels, such as CMMC Level 1 or Non-critical Level 2, the review is typically conducted by a senior executive. For higher levels, the CMMC Accreditation Body (CMMC-AB) reviews the findings. If any issues are identified during this phase, additional remediation may be necessary, followed by a reassessment, which could extend the certification timeline.

How much does CMMC certification cost without automation?

Like the certification timeline, CMMC compliance costs vary depending on several factors, such as the size of the organization, the required CMMC level, and the extent of existing cybersecurity measures.

To help organizations gauge how much compliance might cost, the DoD provided cost estimates for assessments for each level in its proposed rule for CMMC 2.0. 

*Note: The cost of a Level 3 certification assessment includes the costs of a Level 2 certification assessment since the latter is a prerequisite for undergoing a Level 3 assessment. In addition to Level 2 certification and affirmation costs, it includes an additional $10,000 - $41,000 for the triennial Level 3 government-led assessment and affirmation and two additional annual affirmations.

The table above reflects cost estimates for the following activities:

• Pre-assessment preparations: Includes gathering and/or developing evidence that the assessment objectives for each requirement have been satisfied
• The actual assessment: Conducting and/or participating in the actual assessment
• Post-assessment work: The completion of any post-assessment work, including reporting of assessment results.
• Affirmations: Submitting an initial and, as applicable, any subsequent affirmations of compliance to Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS)

You may notice the cost of implementing the security requirements themselves has not been included in these estimates. For CMMC Levels 1 and 2, the DoD did not estimate the cost of implementing the cybersecurity requirements under FAR clause 52.204-21 or associated with implementing NIST SP 800-171 requirements in accordance with DFARS clause 252.204-7012. That’s because implementation was already required by FAR clause 52.204–21, effective June 15, 2016, and by DFARS clause 252.204–7012 by Dec. 31, 2017, respectively, so it assumes the costs of have already been incurred and cannot be attributed to the CMMC 2.0 rule. 

However, if you have not already implemented the requirements in FAR clause 52.204–21 or DFARS clause 252.204–7012, then you’ll have to consider the costs associated with meeting those requirements for the CMMC level you’re pursuing. This may involve purchasing government cloud services, upgrading systems, training staff, and implementing other controls. Costs can range from tens to several hundred thousand dollars for larger organizations.

Since Level 3 includes implementation of selected security requirements from NIST SP 800-172 not required in prior rules, the DoD did offer estimates of recurring and nonrecurring engineering costs associated with meeting these requirements. Recurring and nonrecurring engineering cost estimates were $490,000 and $2.7 million, respectively, for a small organization and $4.1 million and $21.1 million, respectively, for a larger organization. 

While these cost ranges are high, Level 3 requirements are expected to apply only to a small subset of defense contractors and subcontractors with the most sensitive information.

Why automation is a game-changer for CMMC audits

Secureframe’s compliance automation streamlines the CMMC compliance process, saving teams hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars spent writing policies, performing readiness assessments, and hiring security consultants — but the benefits of automation go beyond time and cost savings.

In a survey conducted by UserEvidence, Secureframe users reported a range of benefits, including:

• 97% strengthened their security and compliance posture 
• 95% saved time and resources obtaining and maintaining compliance
• 89% sped up time-to-compliance for multiple frameworks 
• 85% unlocked annual cost savings
• 71% improved visibility into security and compliance posture

Let's take a closer look at these benefits of Secureframe's compliance automation solution below.

Strengthens your security and compliance posture

Using Secureframe, you can understand exactly what you need to do to meet CMMC requirements and track your progress towards being audit-ready. You’ll get a real-time view of what’s in place and what you can do to improve before bringing in your assessor.

You can also leverage our team of in-house compliance experts and their decades of  CMMC, FISMA, and FedRAMP audit and consulting experience. They can work with you to understand your company’s specific requirements, provide tailored advice for an ironclad security posture, and guide you through a successful assessment.

Saves time and resources

If your organization relies on a manual approach to compliance, you’ll need to:

• Collect screenshots and documentation for evidence over and over for each CMMC assessment
• Track dozens of tasks in spreadsheets, some of which need to be performed annually, quarterly, or on another recurring basis to maintain compliance
• Complete thorough risk assessments and gap analyses regularly as your business grows and industry standards evolve
• Create a risk register and asset inventory in spreadsheets and keep those up-to-date
• Write a System Security Plan, Plan of Action and Milestones, and other policies from scratch and ensure they stay updated and that employees review them as they onboard and at least annually after that
• Monitor your CMMC controls and infrastructure to identify any issues and remediate them as quickly as possible

As your organization spends more resources on repetitive manual tasks like these, the complexity and costs of CMMC compliance rise sharply. Secureframe automates these manual tasks, reducing the time and resources it takes for your organization to achieve and maintain compliance.

Speeds up time-to-compliance for multiple frameworks

As your compliance program expands beyond CMMC, Secureframe can help reduce the time and effort required to comply with multiple federal standards, such as NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, TX-RAMP, and CJIS. 

Instead of starting from scratch, Secureframe automatically maps the control set and underlying tests of the CMMC framework to the requirements of another framework. By doing so, you don’t have to waste valuable time and resources creating independent sets of controls, performing redundant tests, gathering the same evidence, and repeating other activities to comply with other federal frameworks.

That means, if you add a new framework like NIST 800-53 to your Secureframe instance, you will automatically see where you stand with that framework and how it overlaps with CMMC. Due to such common overlap across frameworks, existing Secureframe customers adding new frameworks never start at 0% when adding a new framework to their instance. 

Unlocks cost savings

CMMC compliance is an extremely cross-functional practice, where the assets under scope span multiple teams, including engineering, security, compliance, leadership, risk, IT, and HR. As a result, many compliance activities are performed by various teams that actually own the assets in question. This is why typical compliance automation software has focused on automating workflow aspects around cross-functional collaboration, such as ticket lifecycle management, cross-functional control ownership, alerting, and reporting.

However, Secureframe acts as an all-in-one solution and removes the need for many of these compliance activities to be human exercises at all. By reducing the amount of manual work that teams need to perform, Secureframe drastically lowers workflow and collaboration requirements, which leads to massive cost savings across the entire compliance function.

Improves visibility into your security and compliance posture

From your cloud infrastructure to your vendor ecosystem, we continuously scan and monitor your tech stack and alert you of vulnerabilities. This can help you get CMMC compliant faster and stay compliant.

This automated continuous monitoring, combined with deep integrations and dashboards, provides your organization with a holistic view of your compliance management program so you can see how your CMMC controls are performing over time and if there are any non-conformities or compliance issues across your tech stack.

Thousands of companies trust Secureframe to streamline compliance. If you’re ready to get started, schedule a demo with one of our product experts.

About the UserEvidence Survey

The data about Secureframe users was obtained through an online survey conducted by UserEvidence in February 2024. The survey included responses from 44 Secureframe users (the majority of whom were manager-level or above) across the information technology, consumer discretionary, industrials, financial, and healthcare industries.