CMMC and NIST 800-171 Compliance Readiness Assessment
CMMC and NIST 800-171 Compliance Readiness Assessment helps organizations with applicable Department of Defense contract requirements define their CUI environment, evaluate implemented controls and evidence, and prepare a prioritized remediation plan. The 3-6 week engagement starts at $12,500 and is scoped by the required CMMC level, assessment boundary, locations, systems, cloud environment, and documentation maturity. It is a readiness engagement, not a C3PAO assessment, certification, legal opinion, or guarantee of outcome.
What this engagement is
CMMC applicability and assessment level are driven by contract and solicitation requirements, not simply by participation in the defense supply chain. IT Partner confirms the governing requirement and NIST SP 800-171 revision during kickoff, defines the CUI and security-protection-asset boundary, reviews policies, technical configurations, practices, and evidence, and maps gaps to accountable remediation work. Microsoft 365 GCC/GCC High or Azure Government may be part of the assessed architecture when appropriate, but this service does not assume that a particular cloud is required for every client.
Success criteria
What you receive
How the work unfolds
Confirm business objectives, target CMMC/NIST 800-171 readiness scope, applicable contracts or data types, key stakeholders, systems in scope, cloud tenants/subscriptions, and the agreed assessment boundary for Microsoft 365 GCC/GCC High, Azure Government, and related security/compliance services.
Collect available policies, procedures, diagrams, asset inventories, identity and device information, prior assessments, current SSP/POA&M materials if any, and relevant Microsoft configuration exports or screenshots. Establish secure evidence handling and confirm access paths for discovery.
Review NIST SP 800-171 control coverage through stakeholder interviews, documentation review, and Microsoft environment inspection. Identify whether each control appears implemented, partially implemented, not implemented, not applicable, or requires further validation.
Map technical control implementation across Microsoft 365 GCC/GCC High, Azure Government, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Defender, and related Microsoft compliance tooling where applicable. Identify evidence sources that can support assessor-readiness.
Validate preliminary findings with client stakeholders, resolve open questions, and draft the control-by-control gap report, SSP, POA&M, and prioritized remediation roadmap based on the agreed scope and observed evidence.
Review findings, risk themes, recommended remediation sequence, dependency items, and next steps. Provide assessment-readiness guidance so the client understands what should be completed before a formal CMMC assessment or further compliance review.
Prerequisites
Who does what
IT Partner
- Assess control coverage.
- Prepare the organization to meet the CMMC and NIST 800-171 requirement.
- Perform scoping and boundary definition.
- Perform gap assessment against NIST 800-171 controls.
- Perform control-implementation mapping across Microsoft 365 GCC/GCC High, Azure Government, Purview, Entra, Intune, and Defender.
- Provide documentation.
- Leverage Microsoft compliance tooling to evidence controls.
Your team
- Provide timely access to in-scope Microsoft tenants, Azure subscriptions, security portals, configuration data, and documentation required for the assessment.
- Assign an executive sponsor, project owner, and subject-matter experts for security, IT operations, endpoint management, identity, cloud, contracts, and business process areas.
- Validate the assessment boundary, system inventory, data flows, and whether specific systems or processes are in scope for CMMC/NIST 800-171 readiness.
- Participate in interviews and workshops and respond to evidence requests, clarification questions, and findings-validation items.
- Review draft deliverables for factual accuracy and provide feedback within the agreed review window.
- Own final risk acceptance, remediation prioritization decisions, internal policy approval, and implementation of remediation activities unless separately contracted.
- Coordinate any required involvement from third-party vendors, managed service providers, legal counsel, C3PAOs, or contract stakeholders.
- Ensure sensitive data, CUI, export-controlled information, and contract information are shared only through approved secure channels.
What's not included
Limitations & technical notes
Frequently asked questions
What is IT Partner’s CMMC and NIST 800-171 Compliance Readiness Assessment?
IT Partner’s CMMC and NIST 800-171 Compliance Readiness Assessment is a 3-6 week service for defense-supply-chain organizations preparing for CMMC and NIST SP 800-171 compliance on Microsoft 365 GCC/GCC High and Azure Government. IT Partner assesses control coverage, defines compliance scope and boundaries, maps control implementation across Microsoft cloud security and compliance services, and delivers readiness documentation such as a gap report, SSP, POA&M, remediation roadmap, and assessment-readiness guidance.
Who is this CMMC and NIST 800-171 readiness service designed for?
It is designed for organizations whose contracts, solicitations, or flow-down requirements require safeguarding CUI and a specific CMMC assessment level. Applicability and the governing requirement set are confirmed during kickoff.
Does this service provide CMMC certification?
No. This is readiness and documentation support, not an official C3PAO assessment, certification, legal opinion, or guarantee of outcome.
What deliverables are included in the assessment?
The assessment deliverables include a control-by-control gap report, a System Security Plan (SSP), a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M), a prioritized remediation roadmap, and assessment-readiness guidance. These deliverables are intended to give the organization a clear documented path toward CMMC and NIST 800-171 readiness.
Which compliance frameworks and controls does the assessment cover?
The assessment covers the CMMC level and NIST SP 800-171 revision applicable to the client's contract and assessment timeline. Any additional mappings are included only when named in the statement of work.
Which Microsoft platforms are included in the control mapping?
The assessment maps only the Microsoft environments actually inside the CUI boundary, which may include Microsoft 365 Commercial, GCC, GCC High, Azure Commercial, or Azure Government together with Entra, Intune, Defender, and Purview capabilities. It does not assume every client needs every government cloud.
How long does the CMMC and NIST 800-171 readiness assessment take?
The stated duration is 3-6 weeks. The exact timeline depends on the assessment scope, target compliance level, environment complexity, and how quickly required information and stakeholder input are available.
How much does the service cost?
The service is priced from $12,500, with final pricing scoped by compliance scope and level. Prospective buyers should confirm the final price with IT Partner because the published starting price does not define every possible environment size, boundary, or assessment depth.
What happens during the engagement?
During the engagement, IT Partner performs scoping and boundary definition, assesses gaps against NIST 800-171 controls, maps control implementation across Microsoft 365 GCC/GCC High, Azure Government, Purview, Entra, Intune, and Defender, and prepares documentation. IT Partner also leverages Microsoft compliance tooling to help evidence controls where applicable.
What does scoping and boundary definition mean in this service?
Scoping and boundary definition identifies which systems, users, workloads, cloud services, and environments are considered part of the compliance assessment. This is important because CMMC and NIST 800-171 readiness depends on understanding where covered data and applicable control responsibilities reside.
Does IT Partner use Microsoft compliance tooling during the assessment?
Yes, IT Partner leverages Microsoft compliance tooling to evidence controls as part of the readiness assessment. The service content does not name a specific tool configuration or automation package, so any exact tooling setup should be confirmed with IT Partner during scoping.
Will the assessment tell us exactly which controls are implemented and which are missing?
Yes, the service includes a control-by-control gap report against NIST 800-171 controls. That report is intended to show assessed control coverage and identify gaps that need remediation before an organization proceeds toward formal assessment readiness.
What is the role of the SSP in this service?
The System Security Plan, or SSP, documents the organization’s system environment and how relevant security controls are implemented or planned. In this service, IT Partner provides an SSP as one of the core readiness deliverables for CMMC and NIST 800-171 preparation.
What is the role of the POA&M in this service?
The Plan of Action & Milestones, or POA&M, documents identified gaps and planned remediation activities. IT Partner includes a POA&M so the organization has a structured way to track unresolved items and prioritize work after the readiness assessment.
Is remediation included in the readiness assessment?
The stated scope includes assessment, control mapping, documentation, a prioritized remediation roadmap, and assessment-readiness guidance. Implementation of remediation actions, configuration changes, migrations, engineering work, or operational runbooks is not included unless separately scoped.
What is not included in this service?
This service does not include CMMC certification, an official CMMC or C3PAO assessment, assessor fees, a guarantee of certification outcome, remediation implementation unless separately scoped, Microsoft licensing or Azure consumption, migrations to GCC/GCC High/Azure Government, ongoing managed compliance operations, 24/7 support, continuous monitoring, ongoing maintenance, SOC services, managed detection and response, or recurring evidence collection after the assessment by default. 24/7 support, continuous monitoring, ongoing maintenance, and related managed operations are available as optional extra-cost add-ons delivered through IT Partner's NOC, third-party support partnerships, and a Microsoft Premier Support agreement where applicable.
What prerequisites are required before starting the assessment?
Typical prerequisites include an identified executive sponsor and client point of contact, confirmed assessment scope and boundary, system and data-flow inventory, access to relevant Microsoft 365 GCC/GCC High and Azure Government environments, available security and compliance documentation, stakeholder availability, and an approved secure method for exchanging assessment evidence.
What responsibilities does IT Partner take on during the engagement?
IT Partner is responsible for assessing control coverage, preparing the organization for CMMC and NIST 800-171 readiness, defining scope and boundaries, performing the NIST 800-171 gap assessment, mapping control implementation across Microsoft platforms, providing documentation, and leveraging Microsoft compliance tooling to evidence controls. These responsibilities align with the service’s assessment and readiness focus rather than a certification guarantee.
What responsibilities does the client have during the engagement?
The client is responsible for providing timely access to in-scope environments and documentation, assigning an executive sponsor and subject-matter experts, validating the assessment boundary and inventory, participating in interviews and findings validation, reviewing draft deliverables for factual accuracy, and owning remediation decisions or implementation unless separately contracted.
Will this assessment cause downtime or business disruption?
The service is described as an assessment, mapping, documentation, and readiness guidance engagement, so downtime is not stated as an expected component. However, because the service details do not explicitly address business impact, any access requirements, tooling changes, or production-environment considerations should be confirmed with IT Partner before kickoff.
What happens after the assessment is complete?
After completion, the organization receives the control-by-control gap report, SSP, POA&M, prioritized remediation roadmap, and assessment-readiness guidance. These outputs provide the documented path for addressing gaps and preparing for the next stage of CMMC or NIST 800-171 readiness, but any follow-on remediation or formal assessment activity should be scoped separately if needed.