Most contractors in the defense industrial base are manufacturers, engineers, and specialized suppliers. They don’t have a CISO. They don’t have a security operations center. Usually, one IT generalist handles help desk tickets, manages cloud infrastructure, and tries to figure out NIST SP 800-171 compliance on the side without dedicated security depth, 24/7 coverage, or compliance expertise. That gap widens the closer a contractor gets to a real CMMC assessment.
Most contractors already know they can’t do it alone. CyberSheath’s 2026 State of the DIB Report, conducted by Merrill Research, found that 97% of contractors preparing for a CMMC Level 2 assessment used a managed services provider or advisory firm. But deciding to bring in outside help is only the first step — understanding what you’re paying for, and whether you’re getting the right coverage, is where the harder decisions start.
At CMMC CON 2026, CyberSheath CFO Rick Moore and VP of Solutions Engineering Michael Bailie will get into those decisions in a Day 2 session, “DIY or Partner: The Real Cost of NIST 800-171 and DFARS Compliance,” on Sept. 24 at 12 p.m. ET. The session covers:
- The pros and cons of building compliance capabilities internally versus bringing in an outside partner
- What roles a contractor realistically needs to fill (compliance analyst, SOC analyst, cloud operations engineer) and what happens when a single IT generalist is covering all of them
- How to put a real number on fully loaded compliance costs, including the functions that tend to get underestimated
The session is designed for contractors who have been spending on compliance but aren’t confident the investment is translating into actual readiness. Register now for CMMC CON 2026, a free two-day virtual conference running Sept. 23-24.