CMMC Consultant and CMMC Compliance Consultant for Defense Contractors
Hire a CMMC consultant who has actually carried contractors through certification. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. is a Cyber AB Registered Provider Organization (RPO #1449) whose practitioners are all CMMC Registered Practitioners (CMMC-RP), delivering end-to-end CMMC compliance services and NIST 800-171 compliance consulting for DoD primes and subcontractors handling FCI and CUI.
Founded April 2002 Cyber AB RPO #1449 100% First-Time Pass Rate BBB A+ Since 2003
Key Takeaways
- A CMMC consultant scopes your environment, closes control gaps, writes your SSP and POA&M, and prepares you for the C3PAO assessment so noncompliance never costs you a contract.
- Level 1 covers 15 requirements (FCI); Level 2 covers all 110 NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 controls (CUI); Level 3 adds 24 selected NIST SP 800-172 enhanced controls.
- Every Petronella Technology Group, Inc. practitioner holds the CMMC-RP credential, and the firm is a Cyber AB Registered Provider Organization, RPO #1449.
- Our ComplianceArmor platform automates the SSP, policy, and evidence work that bankrupts do-it-yourself efforts.
- We hold a 100% first-time pass rate across the CMMC and NIST 800-171 engagements we have taken to assessment.
What a CMMC Consultant Does and Why It Matters
A CMMC consultant is the specialist who takes a defense contractor from current state to certified state and keeps them there. A capable CMMC compliance consultant scopes the environment, separates Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), tests every applicable control, engineers the fixes, authors the System Security Plan (SSP) and Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M), and rehearses the contractor for the third-party assessment. The work is part engineering, part documentation discipline, and part audit coaching, which is why a generalist IT vendor rarely gets it right on the first attempt.
It matters because the requirement now has contractual teeth. The Department of Defense finalized the CMMC program rule under 32 CFR Part 170 (effective December 16, 2024) and the acquisition rule under 48 CFR in 2025, which lets contracting officers place CMMC requirements directly into solicitations during a phased rollout. In plain terms, a missing or failing assessment no longer costs you evaluation points; it costs you the ability to bid, win, and keep DoD work. Level 1 is an annual self-assessment with senior-official affirmation, Level 2 for CUI generally requires a third-party C3PAO assessment on a three-year cycle, and Level 3 is assessed by the government DIBCAC.
A NIST 800-171 compliance consultant matters for a second reason: the 110 controls behind CMMC Level 2 are the same controls already required under DFARS 252.204-7012 and reported through your Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) score. Primes increasingly use that SPRS score as a bid filter today, well ahead of your formal assessment date. The right consultant raises the score that wins work now and builds the evidence that survives the assessment later. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. was founded in April 2002 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has spent more than two decades implementing these exact controls in production environments, not slide decks. For a plain-language orientation, start with our CMMC compliance overview or the in-depth CMMC Compliance Guide.
CMMC Levels 1, 2, and 3 Your Consultant Will Map
The right CMMC level depends on what data your contract requires you to handle. A consultant scopes your environment first, then maps your DFARS clauses to the precise control set you must meet, so you neither under-build nor over-build the assessed boundary.
Foundational
Basic safeguarding of Federal Contract Information drawn from FAR 52.204-21. Annual self-assessment with affirmation by a senior company official. Typical for subcontractors with FCI exposure but no CUI.
- Access control basics
- Identification and authentication
- Media protection fundamentals
- Physical access controls
- System and communications protection
Advanced
Full NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 implementation. Required for any contractor handling Controlled Unclassified Information. C3PAO third-party assessment on a three-year cycle with annual affirmations.
- All 14 NIST 800-171 control families
- SSP with implementation statements
- POA&M for in-progress controls
- SPRS score submitted to DoD
- C3PAO assessment evidence package
Expert
Level 2 baseline plus 24 selected enhanced controls from NIST SP 800-172, targeting advanced persistent threats. Government-led DIBCAC assessment. Typical for critical defense programs and CUI designated for higher protection.
- Advanced threat hunting
- Enhanced incident response playbooks
- Penetration testing and counter-reconnaissance
- Supply chain risk management
- APT-focused monitoring
Unsure which level applies? Share your contract language and we will map the DFARS 252.204-7012, 7019, 7020, and 7021 clauses to the right CMMC obligation. To benchmark where you stand today, use the CMMC self-score tool or the free SPRS Score Calculator, and read our deep dive on CMMC Level 2 compliance.
How Petronella Delivers: The 4-Pillars Method
CMMC fails when a consultant treats it as a single discipline. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. delivers across four pillars at once, because a C3PAO assessor tests people, process, technology, and risk together. A control statement that no employee follows, or a tool that nobody monitors, fails the interview regardless of how well it reads on paper.
People
Role-based security awareness, insider-threat training, and the senior-official affirmation workflow. We make sure the humans who touch CUI can describe and demonstrate the controls when an assessor asks, delivered through security awareness training with simulated phishing.
Process
The SSP, 32-plus required policies and procedures, change control, and the POA&M cadence that closes gaps on schedule. Documentation discipline is the single biggest predictor of a first-time pass, so we build it on rails instead of in a one-time Word file.
Technology
Phishing-resistant MFA, EDR and XDR, SIEM logging, boundary firewalls, FIPS 140-validated cryptography, and CUI enclave architecture in Microsoft 365 GCC High or Azure Government. Our engineers implement the controls that actually move your SPRS score.
Risk
Annual risk assessments, vulnerability scanning, continuous monitoring, and incident response backed by a North Carolina Licensed Digital Forensic Examiner (License #604180-DFE). Risk is where assessors probe whether your program is alive or frozen at certification day.
Because we run managed IT, cybersecurity, and CMMC under one roof, the four pillars do not splinter across three vendors. Explore our broader cybersecurity services to see the operational backbone behind the compliance work.
How Our CMMC Compliance Services Work
Every engagement follows the same 5-phase program. It is built on patterns refined across defense contractor assessments and the 110 NIST 800-171 controls we have implemented in production, with a realistic timeline set before any engineering begins.
Scoping and Gap Assessment
Map your data flows, identify FCI and CUI boundaries, and test every applicable control against current-state evidence to produce your baseline SPRS score.
Deliverable: Scoping Report and Gap AssessmentRemediation Plan and POA&M
Prioritize gaps by SPRS scoring weight, cost, and technical risk. Produce a phased POA&M with owners, costs, and target dates approved by leadership.
Deliverable: POA&M and Executive SummaryEngineering and Remediation
Our engineers deploy MFA, EDR, SIEM logging, boundary firewalls, FIPS 140-validated encryption, and enclave architectures that move your SPRS score.
Deliverable: Implemented Technical ControlsSSP, Policies, and ComplianceArmor
ComplianceArmor generates your System Security Plan, required policies, and evidence library, then keeps them current with continuous monitoring.
Deliverable: SSP, Policies, and Evidence LibraryC3PAO Prep and Post-Audit
Mock assessment, interview coaching, evidence walkthrough, and a live-fire tabletop test. After certification we monitor controls to maintain your score.
Deliverable: Audit-Ready PackageNIST 800-171 Controls
NIST 800-171A Objectives
First-Time Pass Rate
Talk to a CMMC consultant, not a call center
Book a 30-minute working session with a CMMC Registered Practitioner. We will review your contract language, scope your environment, and outline the fastest credible path to Level 2.
Schedule a Free CMMC ConsultationWhy an RPO and CMMC-RP Team Beats a Generalist IT Shop
Most contractors first ask their incumbent IT provider to handle CMMC. That instinct is understandable and usually expensive. A CMMC compliance consultant working inside a Cyber AB Registered Provider Organization carries credentials, methodology, and accountability that a generalist managed service provider does not.
- Cyber AB RPO #1449. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. is a Registered Provider Organization listed with the Cyber AB, the accreditation body for the CMMC ecosystem. RPO status is a formal designation a generalist IT shop does not hold.
- Every practitioner is CMMC-RP credentialed. Our consultants hold the CMMC Registered Practitioner credential, so you are not handed to a network technician who skimmed NIST 800-171 the week before your gap assessment.
- 100% first-time pass rate. Across the CMMC and NIST 800-171 engagements we have taken to assessment, our clients have passed on the first attempt. A generalist relearning the framework on your dime cannot make that claim.
- ComplianceArmor automation. We built our own compliance documentation platform so the SSP, POA&M, and evidence stay current after certification instead of going stale in a shared drive.
- Engineers who implement, not just advise. A generalist hands you a runbook. We deploy the controls, then document them in the SSP the way an assessor expects to read them.
- Forensics and incident response in-house. If you suffer an incident mid-program, you are not assembling a vendor list. Craig Petronella holds North Carolina Digital Forensic Examiner License #604180-DFE.
A generalist IT shop optimizes for uptime and tickets. A CMMC consultant optimizes for the assessment objective, the evidence record, and the affirmation that keeps you on the bid list. Those are different jobs, and CMMC pays for the second one.
CMMC Consulting Engagement Model and Pricing
Petronella Technology Group, Inc. scopes every engagement before we quote, then delivers it as a fixed-fee assessment and remediation package plus an ongoing ComplianceArmor and monitoring retainer. We scope first because honest pricing requires understanding your headcount, enclave architecture, and current control posture. Our published assessment tiers use "From $" pricing because no two defense contractors share the same scope.
For subcontractors handling FCI only. Gap assessment, remediation plan, lite SSP, and annual self-assessment support.
- 15-requirement gap assessment
- POA&M and remediation plan
- FCI-focused SSP
- ComplianceArmor Level 1 module
- Annual self-attestation coaching
Full 110-control implementation for CUI handlers. Includes engineering, SSP authoring, POA&M, SPRS submission, and C3PAO prep.
- Full 110-control gap assessment
- Remediation engineering package
- SSP with implementation statements
- POA&M and SPRS scoring
- ComplianceArmor continuous monitoring
- C3PAO mock assessment and interview coaching
Level 2 baseline plus 24 NIST 800-172 enhanced controls, threat hunting, and DIBCAC assessment readiness.
- All Level 2 Core deliverables
- 24 enhanced 800-172 controls
- Threat hunting and APT playbooks
- Supply chain risk program
- DIBCAC assessment support
- Fractional CISO engagement
We do not publish a single flat number because your quote depends on headcount, enclave architecture, cloud footprint, legacy system count, and whether foundational controls already exist. Remediation and implementation are always scoped and signed as separate fixed-fee work, never bundled silently into an assessment. The C3PAO third-party assessment fee is a separate cost paid directly to the authorized assessor. Many contractors run CMMC as a co-managed IT engagement alongside their internal team. Book a free scoping consultation and we will give you a clear fixed-fee proposal mapped to your contract obligations.
Why ComplianceArmor Cuts CMMC Cost and Time
Much of the CMMC effort is documentation, evidence, and continuous proof, not engineering. Generic consultants deliver a Word document once and leave you to maintain it. ComplianceArmor is the proprietary platform from Petronella Technology Group, Inc. that keeps your CMMC artifacts alive.
- Automated SSP generation. ComplianceArmor assembles your SSP from control statements, network diagrams, and evidence uploads, and updates the document every time your environment changes.
- Evidence collection on rails. Screenshots, log exports, configuration dumps, and vendor attestations land in a structured evidence vault mapped to every 800-171 control.
- POA&M management. Tracks open items, assignments, target dates, and closure evidence, so you walk into the C3PAO interview without a spreadsheet fire drill.
- Continuous monitoring. Integrates with Microsoft Defender, EDR, SIEM, and identity providers to pull control evidence automatically instead of quarterly screenshot hunts.
- Multi-framework support. One data model backs CMMC, HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, and NIST CSF, so your team does not repeat work when a new contract adds a framework.
Explore the ComplianceArmor compliance platform, the CMMC software module, and the SSP generator. The difference between contractors who pass on the first attempt and those who fail twice is almost always documentation discipline, which is exactly what the platform enforces.
The 14 Control Families a NIST 800-171 Consultant Implements
Every Level 2 assessment audits against the 14 control families below. Our engineers have production implementations for each of them, not just policy templates. A capable NIST 800-171 compliance consultant has touched all 14 in real environments.
Access Control
Least privilege, remote access routing, MFA enforcement, session lockouts, and connection limits for privileged accounts across Windows, macOS, Linux, and cloud identity providers.
Awareness and Training
Role-based security awareness plus insider-threat training delivered through Petronella Technology Group, Inc. security awareness programs with simulated phishing campaigns.
Audit and Accountability
Authoritative time sources, log aggregation, tamper-resistant audit storage, and review cadence tracked in our SIEM and SOC workflow.
Configuration Management
Baseline configurations, change control boards, least functionality, and a deny-by-exception software policy pushed via endpoint management.
Identification and Authentication
Phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2 where possible), password policy, unique identifiers for every person and process, and credential lifecycle controls.
Incident Response
Documented playbooks, tabletop testing, and SOC-backed response. Craig Petronella is a North Carolina Licensed Digital Forensic Examiner (License #604180-DFE).
Maintenance
Controlled maintenance tools, sanitization of equipment, supervision of unscreened personnel, and MFA for all remote or vendor maintenance.
Media Protection
CUI media marking, access restrictions, encrypted removable media, sanitization before disposal, and portable device controls.
Personnel Security
Screening before access authorization, documented termination procedures, and evidence of CUI protection during role transitions.
Physical Protection
Facility access authorization lists, visitor escorts, monitored entry points, physical access logs, and alternate-site safeguards for remote workers.
Risk Assessment
Annual risk assessments, vulnerability scans with prioritized remediation, and threat intelligence tied into the SOC analyst workflow.
Security Assessment
Control assessment plans, independent testing, POA&M management, and continuous monitoring evidence that survives the C3PAO interview.
System and Communications
Boundary protection, network segmentation, FIPS 140-validated cryptography for CUI in transit and at rest, and VoIP and mobile code controls.
System and Information Integrity
Vulnerability remediation windows, malicious code protection, continuous monitoring via Petronella Managed XDR, and real-time alert review.
CMMC Consultant vs. Generalist MSP vs. DIY
Before you sign an engagement letter, read this side-by-side. Defense contractors routinely lose months with a generalist who delivers a polished SSP that cannot survive a C3PAO interview.
| Dimension | Petronella CMMC Consultant | Generalist MSP | DIY In-House |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMMC Registered Practitioner on staff | Yes, every practitioner CMMC-RP | Sometimes, often a contractor | Rarely |
| Cyber AB Registered Provider Organization | RPO #1449 | No formal designation | No |
| Engineers who implement controls | In-house SOC and infra team | General IT support | Your IT team |
| Automated SSP and evidence | ComplianceArmor | Manual Word and Excel | Spreadsheets |
| Digital forensics for incident response | Licensed DFE on staff | Third-party IR retainer | None |
| First-time assessment pass record | 100% to date | Varies | Unknown |
| Cost predictability | Fixed-fee plus monthly retainer | Hourly time and materials | Hidden opportunity cost |
| Post-certification monitoring | Evergreen retainer | New engagement each year | Drift guaranteed |
| IT and CMMC under one team | Single point of accountability | IT only | Your stack |
| Realistic timeline set before engineering | Phase 1 scoping report up front | Open-ended scope | Best guess |
Four CMMC Pitfalls a Good Consultant Prevents
Treating CMMC as a paperwork project
C3PAO assessors interview engineers and walk the environment. A pretty SSP with no matching evidence fails. Our program ties every control statement to an evidence record before the interview.
Missing the enclave decision
Trying to bring the entire corporate network into scope triples cost. We design CUI enclaves in Microsoft 365 GCC High, Azure Government, or on-premises so the assessed boundary stays small.
Skipping the mock assessment
Contractors who pass on the first attempt almost always run a mock C3PAO assessment. Those who fail skip it to save time. Every Petronella engagement includes a mock and interview coaching.
Letting the SSP go stale after certification
Your SPRS score requires annual affirmation, and environments drift. ComplianceArmor detects drift and refreshes the SSP in minutes instead of weeks, so your affirmation is never a guess.
Not sure you need Level 2 yet?
Start with the free SPRS Score Calculator or the CMMC self-score tool. Benchmark your current state in under 10 minutes and see the exact gap to a passing CMMC Level 2 score.
Talk to a CMMC ConsultantWhat Makes Petronella Different as Your CMMC Consultant
- CMMC-RP credentialed leadership. Craig Petronella is a CMMC Registered Practitioner and the Amazon number-one best-selling author of 14-plus books on cybersecurity and compliance.
- Founded April 2002. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. has more than two decades of operational security work serving regulated small and mid-sized clients across North Carolina and the southeast.
- Cyber AB RPO #1449. The firm is a listed Registered Provider Organization, and every practitioner holds the CMMC-RP credential.
- Digital forensics in-house. Craig holds North Carolina Digital Forensic Examiner License #604180-DFE, so an incident during your CMMC program does not require a new vendor search.
- Deep network and wireless engineering. Craig holds the Cisco CCNA and the Certified Wireless Network Expert (CWNE) credential, which matters when CMMC scoping turns on segmentation and boundary design.
- ComplianceArmor platform. Most CMMC consultants have no proprietary tooling. We built ours so clients do not drift out of compliance six months after certification.
- Managed IT, cybersecurity, and CMMC under one team. Single invoice, single point of accountability, no finger-pointing between your MSP, your MSSP, and your CMMC consultant.
- 100% first-time pass rate. Across the engagements we have taken to assessment, our clients have passed on the first attempt.
- BBB A+ accredited since 2003. More than two decades of accreditation is a durability signal a startup consultancy cannot match.
Written and Reviewed by Craig Petronella
Craig Petronella
Craig Petronella founded Petronella Technology Group, Inc. in April 2002 and leads its CMMC consulting practice as a Cyber AB Registered Provider Organization (RPO #1449). He is a CMMC Registered Practitioner (CMMC-RP), holds the Cisco CCNA and Certified Wireless Network Expert (CWNE) credentials, and is a North Carolina Licensed Digital Forensic Examiner (License #604180-DFE). He is the Amazon number-one best-selling author of more than 14 books on cybersecurity and compliance. Craig and his team maintain a 100% first-time pass rate across the CMMC and NIST 800-171 engagements they have taken to assessment.
More about Craig and the team · Browse the cybersecurity book library
A CMMC Consultant Serving the Triangle and Nationwide
Headquartered in Raleigh, Petronella Technology Group, Inc. serves the Research Triangle region plus defense contractors across North Carolina and the continental United States. On-site support in the Triangle; remote and hybrid engagements nationwide.
Local to CMMC contractors near Fort Liberty, Seymour Johnson AFB, MCAS Cherry Point, and the broader Mid-Atlantic defense industrial base. Work with a CMMC consultant in Raleigh, or explore CMMC compliance support in Durham, Fayetteville, and Charlotte.
CMMC Consultant FAQ
What does a CMMC consultant do?
A CMMC consultant takes a defense contractor from current state to certified state. The work includes scoping your FCI and CUI boundaries, running a gap assessment against the applicable controls, engineering remediation, authoring the System Security Plan and POA&M, calculating and improving your SPRS score, and coaching you through the C3PAO assessment. A good CMMC compliance consultant also keeps the program alive after certification so your annual affirmation is backed by real evidence.
How much does a CMMC consultant cost?
Cost depends entirely on scope: your headcount, enclave architecture, cloud footprint, legacy system count, and how many foundational controls you already have. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. scopes your environment in Phase 1 and delivers a fixed-fee proposal using "From $" pricing for the assessment and remediation package, plus an ongoing retainer for ComplianceArmor, SSP maintenance, and continuous monitoring. Remediation is always priced as separate signed work, never hidden inside an assessment. The C3PAO third-party assessment fee is a separate cost paid directly to the authorized assessor.
Are you a C3PAO? Can you certify my company?
No. Under CMMC the consultant who implements and the C3PAO who certifies must be separate parties. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. is a Registered Provider Organization (RPO #1449) working alongside accredited C3PAOs. We prepare you, run the mock assessment, and coordinate scheduling, while the formal certification is delivered by the C3PAO. We can recommend a C3PAO matched to your industry and location.
What is the difference between a CMMC consultant and a NIST 800-171 compliance consultant?
They are closely related. NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 defines the 110 controls, and CMMC Level 2 is the assessment program that verifies those controls. A NIST 800-171 compliance consultant focuses on implementing and scoring the controls, often for DFARS 252.204-7012 and SPRS reporting. A CMMC consultant does that plus the formal assessment readiness, mock assessment, and affirmation lifecycle. Petronella Technology Group, Inc. delivers both under one engagement.
Can you work alongside our existing MSP or IT team?
Yes. We run co-managed engagements regularly through our co-managed IT program. We own the CMMC program plan and the technical controls that matter for the assessment, while your internal team or incumbent MSP continues day-to-day operations. We document the division of responsibility in the SSP so the C3PAO sees a clear line of accountability.
Do you help with GCC High migration?
Yes. Many contractors need to move CUI workloads to Microsoft 365 GCC High or Azure Government to simplify the CMMC boundary. We scope, plan, and execute the migration as part of Phase 3 engineering, and the resulting environment is documented in your SSP. See our CMMC vs. GCC High comparison for the decision framework.
What is the SPRS score and how do you improve it?
The Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) score is a value from -203 to +110 submitted to DoD that reflects how many NIST 800-171 controls you have implemented. Primes increasingly use the SPRS score as a bid filter. Our Phase 1 gap assessment produces your current SPRS score, and remediation prioritizes the highest-weighted controls to raise it. Benchmark yourself now with the free SPRS Score Calculator.
How long does a CMMC Level 2 engagement take?
For contractors with a documented environment, functional MFA, and existing MDR or SIEM, 12 to 16 weeks is typical. Contractors starting from scratch, running legacy systems, or carving out a CUI enclave usually need 20 to 24 weeks. We publish a realistic timeline after the Phase 1 scoping session, before any engineering work begins.
What happens after we are certified?
A CMMC Level 2 certification lasts three years but requires annual affirmation by a senior company official. Environments drift, contracts change, and CUI moves. Our monthly retainer keeps ComplianceArmor evidence current, the SSP refreshed, and the POA&M moving so each affirmation is backed by real evidence. We also run a tabletop exercise and an SSP refresh in the 60 days before each annual affirmation.
We are a small subcontractor. Do we really need CMMC?
If your prime handles CUI and you touch any of that CUI, Level 2 likely applies. If you only handle FCI, Level 1 self-attestation is the floor. Small subcontractors are now being dropped from bid lists for failing CMMC flow-down clauses. We have certified small teams; the key is enclave design that keeps the scope small and the cost proportional.
Ready to start your CMMC program?
Book a free 30-minute consultation with a CMMC Registered Practitioner. We will review your DFARS clauses, scope your environment, and outline the fastest credible path to certification.
Schedule Your Free CMMC Consultation Or Call (919) 348-4912