Remember that feeling you get when you’re standing on the platform and you see your train pulling away without you? That’s the feeling a lot of defense contractors are going to have in the very near future if they don’t get serious about CMMC.

The CMMC train isn’t just coming; it’s on a strict schedule, and it’s about to pull into the station. The choice is simple: get on board or get left behind, holding a bag full of worthless, non-compliant contracts.

The Final Countdown: What’s Happening Now

For a while there, CMMC felt like a distant threat. Something to worry about… eventually. But “eventually” is here. The DoD has sent the final language for the CMMC rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. This is one of the last steps before CMMC 2.0 becomes the law of the land for DoD contractors.

What does this mean in plain English? The CMMC requirements are expected to start showing up in DoD contracts by the end of this year. That’s not a drill. We’re talking a matter of months.

“But I Have Plenty of Time, Right?” Wrong.

The DoD has said there will be a three-year rollout for CMMC. That might sound like a lot of time, but it’s a trap. Here’s a reality check on how long it *actually* takes to get ready for a CMMC assessment:

   For mature organizations: Even if you’ve got your security ducks in a row, you’re still looking at 6 months to assess yourself against the 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls, fix any issues, and get all your documentation (like your System Security Plan) in order.

   For everyone else: If you’re starting from scratch or have a less mature security program, you could be looking at 12 to 18 months of work.

And that’s just to get ready. Then you have to actually get audited by a C3PAO (CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization). There are currently fewer than 80 of these auditing bodies for the ~70,000 companies in the Defense Industrial Base. That’s a lot of companies competing for very few auditing slots. If you wait too long, you might not be able to get an audit in time, even if you’re ready.

The Cost of Waiting

Failing your first CMMC audit will cost you time and money you don’t have. But even worse, if a contract comes up that requires CMMC certification and you don’t have it, you can’t even bid. You’re just out of the running. Can your business afford to miss out on that revenue?

The CMMC train is leaving the station. It’s time to stop procrastinating, buy your ticket, and get on board. The future of your business depends on it.