DEFENSE CONTRACTORS
Let me cure your CMMC migraines
CMMC is a Team Sport and Requires a Perfect Score.
Your contracts are on the line.
How well is your team trained?
CMMC requires a lot more than a skilled internal IT department and/or an outsourced IT Managed Service Provider (MSP).
CMMC requires input from HR, facilities management, and machine maintenance, not just IT.
Your Company Owner or Senior Executive must legally attest to your organization's compliance under penalty of the federal False Claims Act.
Assessments cost $ 20,000 - $ 100,000 and failure results in paying for another assessment and being ineligible for defense contracts until you pass.
Millions of dollars, reputations, and careers are at risk.
And CMMC is unlike any other assessment process, is unforgiving, and has 320 ways to fail.
Don't take CMMC assessments for granted.
CMMC requires a business owner or senior executive to legally attest to their organization's compliance each year under penalty of the federal False Claims Act.
Whether a CMMC Level 1 self assessment, a CMMC Level 2 self-assessment, or a CMMC independent certification assessment, you are always subject to Department of War audit and enforcements under the False Claims Act if you misrepresented your cybersecurity.
Smart IT professionals fail assessments every day. They are great at IT but are not certified or experienced assessors.
I know because I have assessed hundreds of regulated organizations after managing IT as CIO for a regulated hospital and a regulated K-12 school district and as an MSP supporting hundreds of regulated clients across multiple industries.
Many IT professionals miss the tricky scoping of a CMMC assessment and all their efforts are wasted.
Many IT professionals think that what they do is 'good enough' to pass assessment.
Many IT professionals think that they can just demonstrate a process to an assessor.
Many IT professionals have updated their processes but not their documentation.
Many IT professionals think that because they have passed previous assessments that they can pass the strict and unforgivable requirements in CMMC.
Many IT professionals have built-in biases and job concerns that an independent certified assessor doesn't have.
Many IT professionals think that, because they are smart, they fully understand the hundreds of nuances in the CMMC scoping, assessment criteria, and assessment processes.
You're smart. Why not just figure out compliance yourself?
Time.
Getting everyone up to where they need to be
could easily take 6 - 18 months and cost over $ 25,000.
Time is money. Big money.
Not meeting the CMMC requirements can cost millions of dollars in lost opportunities. Failing an audit can result in penalties plus lost opportunities.
CMMC is so new and complex that smart and experienced IT professionals have caused their companies to experience expensive delays.
You want to learn CMMC from
a CMMC Certified Assessor
with experience as a CIO for regulated organizations,
former Managed Service Provider (MSP) supporting regulated clients,
and over 25 years of assessment experience.
I have passed assessments and audits,
helped many clients pass assessments and survive audits,
because I maintain current certifications based on formal training.
CMMC is a new assessment process for cybersecurity that has been in your defense contracts since 2017.
While the government has announced a multi-year phase-in period, it can add CMMC requirements to any contract NOW and prime contractors are telling their subcontractors to quickly get independently certified or they will be de-listed.
CMMC is confusing, complicated, unlike any other assessment process, and requires a perfect score.
CMMC Level 1 has 15 practices and 59 specific assessment objectives that all must be met. Don't underestimate the small number of practices or the self assessment. You are subject to audit at any time and having your assessment invalidated can result in expensive penalties under the False Claims Act.
CMMC Level 2 has 110 practices and 320 specific assessment objectives that all must be met. During the phase-in period, some contractors will be allowed to self-assess. Ultimately, almost all will require independent validation by an assessor organization.
Failing an assessment or an audit will result in your loss of eligibility for defense contracts.
CONTRACTOR CMMC Level 1 MIGRAINE
How can I QUICKLY get my team up to speed with CMMC Level 1's 15 practices and 59 assessment objectives so we can properly conduct our self-assessment and post our legal compliance attestation to qualify for contracts?
CONTRACTOR CMMC Level 1 MIGRAINE
How can I QUICKLY get my team up to speed with CMMC Level 2's 110 practices and 320 assessment objectives so we can properly conduct our self-assessment or pass an independent certification assessment to qualify for contracts?
ATTENTION MSPs
Let me cure your msp compliance migraines IN JUST FOUR STEPS (OR JUST TWO)
Every one of your clients expects you to keep them compliant.
A client cybersecurity audit means your services are scrutinized.
If you can’t prove compliance - even if you did the right things - you’ll be the one they blame.
Don’t Lose Clients due to Compliance Failures.
Cybersecurity alone isn’t enough. Your clients face audits, lawsuits, and new regulations—and they expect you to keep them compliant. If you can’t prove compliance, you’ll be the one they blame.
I've seen MSPs get fired after their clients failed audits. Being prepared to pass an audit is more than delivering everyday services.
If you don’t feel the pain of a compliance migraine, you need to learn more about increased compliance enforcement and your risk of losing valuable clients. Cybersecurity regulations and frameworks are increasing requirements for third-party service providers, including MSPs.
Curing these migraines has never been done before, and it could only be done by combining my years of formal compliance training and passing certification tests, my hands-on experience as CIO for a regulated hospital and a regulated K-12 school district, plus the knowledge I have by running my own MSP business and now a full-time cybersecurity compliance consulting firm. I am now recognized as the IT industry’s leading compliance expert - with the certifications to prove it.
You're smart. Why not just figure out compliance yourself?
The smartest business growth idea I ever figured out was that I wanted to shortcut my way to success by choosing guides who knew how to get me to my goals without wasting time, money, and effort.
That's why I built this S.Y.S.T.E.M. to Save You Stress Time Effort and Money.
That's not just a gimmicky phrase. You can spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars and tens of thousands of hours I did to learn compliance regulations, how to pass audits, and how to build a compliant IT services offering that stands up to scrutiny. Or you can invest in your own success to save time and money, follow my guidance, and avoid the false starts and rabbit holes that delayed my success.
I had no choice, because there wasn't a formally trained and certified compliance expert with hands-on MSP experience to guide me. I had to blaze the trail until I was successful. Looking back showed me where I went wrong, so you don't have to.
My biggest hurdle wasn't the money. Instead, it was having confidence in myself to implement what I learned. It's not a question of whether our system is worth the investment, it's a question if you are worth the investment.
We both know you are.
MSP COMPLIANCE MIGRAINE #1
How do I deliver compliant IT management and cybersecurity services that survive audits and investigations, and win lawsuits—so I don’t risk losing my clients?
MSP COMPLIANCE MIGRAINE #2
How can I protect myself and my clients by making my business compliant with the regulations that flow down from clients, and how can I turn that effort into profit and eliminate my competition?
MSP CMMC MIGRAINE
How can I keep my Defense Contractor clients who must pass a CMMC Level 2 Assessment, instead of losing them to my competition?
THE CURE FOR MSP MIGRAINES
This solves the compliance for everyone problem!
When you have to serve clients in different industries with different compliance requirements, including CMMC.
Some MSPs are lucky enough to be in markets large enough for them to focus on one vertical.
But if you are like me when I was an MSP, and now as a consultant, you have to serve clients in different industries with different needs and different compliance challenges.
That's why you need a toolkit to be ready for the next opportunity... wherever it comes from.
MSP COMPLIANCE MIGRAINE #4
How can I stay up to date with MSP-Specific Compliance & Cybersecurity news and sales techniques to always be ready to beat my competition and close deals with people who have never valued cybersecurity?
running YOUR MSP BUSINESS WITH A COMPLIANCE MIGRAINE could cost you everything.
You know you shouldn’t drive or use dangerous machinery when you have a migraine. You also shouldn’t try to run an MSP business while suffering from a compliance migraine. Or all 4.
Years ago, cybersecurity compliance was a headache —I even wrote a book called How to Avoid HIPAA Headaches - but compliance was manageable because there were only a handful of regulations.
Now, compliance isn’t just a headache. It’s a series of full-blown, blinding, paralyzing migraines.
How can you know what success looks like when there are over 100 cybersecurity frameworks, regulations, and enforcement documents, with thousands of pages of confusing language that you must translate into MSP action steps?
Business contracts your clients sign (and often just file away) now include cybersecurity and compliance clauses. Cyber insurance policy applications ask ‘gotcha’ questions that add even more requireImage Sliderments on top of everything else. None of this was written to help MSPs understand what steps they need to take to deliver the right services that help your clients comply at a level that will survive scrutiny by certified assessors.
How do you deal with all these at once – while trying to run your business?
Bottlenecks with overlapping frameworks and constantly changing regulations
Confusion with conflicting guidance and misinformation
Millions of dollars at risk with cyber insurance requirements and contractual obligations
Fear of getting fired by clients who expect you to ensure compliance without clear guidance
I figured out how to deal with these the hard way - going down time-wasting and expensive rabbit holes, making mistakes, and wasting a lot of time and money - until I translated all the regulatory language into action steps that my MSP business could deliver to clients.
The good news is that I can help you avoid the high time and money costs so you can get right to the success you deserve.
The Real Problem: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
Most MSPs think that because they are smart they have compliance covered— until they don’t.
You don’t know if you’re giving the right advice. Because you may not have gotten the right advice.
You don’t know what’s actually required.
Because the people that claimed they knew compliance were self-taught and never passed a certification test.
You don’t know if your clients will pass an audit— or if they’ll blame you when they fail. Like other MSPs that have been fired.
MSPs keep asking, "Are we doing this right?"
The truth we see? Most MSPs aren’t even close.
I’ve seen MSPs lose contracts, get fired, and face serious legal consequences because they didn’t know what they didn’t know.
The guidance I provide is actionable, based on formal training, certifications, and hands-on experience, not just more confusing gobbledegook.
Who You Learn Compliance From Matters
You should be picky about who you choose to learn compliance from, because you want your guidance to be accurate and thorough.
You want to make sure you aren’t wasting time, wasting money, and—worse—putting yourself and your clients at risk by listening to the wrong person.
There are a lot of compliance wannabes and newbies cluttering the airwaves, giving out misinformation. They have no formal compliance training or certifications. Many are software sales reps, or current or former MSPs, who have learned some compliance language and talk with apparent authority, but that’s just on the surface. They have never delivered compliance services that have stood up to the scrutiny of government regulators. None would ever be considered by a law firm to be an expert witness.
“When it comes to compliance there is nobody else in the industry who knows more and is a better resource than Mike Semel. You can count on him.”
Michael Mittel, President, RapidFire Tools
MIKE SEMEL, COMPLIANCEOLOGIST
I DON'T JUST TEACH COMPLIANCE - I ASSESS IT AND PROVIDE EXPERT WITNESS SERVICES.
CMMC Certified Assessor & CMMC Certified Professional
Certified Governance Risk Compliance - ISC2 (CGRC)
Certified Security Compliance Specialist (CSCS)
Certified HIPAA Security Professional (CHSP) (I authored the training)
Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP)
Certified Cyber Resilience Professional (CCRP) (I co-authored the training)
FBI InfraGard Member
Hundreds of cybersecurity compliance assessments of healthcare, non-profit, financial services, defense contractors, K-12 and Higher Education, and more
Decades of Experience Leading Compliance for MSPs
Helping MSPs and vendors build compliance offerings that greatly increased their acquisition value
Expert witness and consultant for cybersecurity and compliance lawsuits
I’ve seen MSPs lose contracts, get fired, and face serious legal consequences because they didn’t know what they didn’t know. The guidance I provide is actionable, not just more confusing gobbledegook.
Don’t be the next one.
CMMC FAST TRACK QUESTIONS? CALL STEVE PALAMARA at (317) 698-4242 or email [email protected]
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