A DEFINED FIRST ENGAGEMENT

Know where to begin. Invest with a clearer plan.

The Compliance Diagnostic helps defense contractors clarify applicable cybersecurity requirements, outline a preliminary scope, and identify the next work to prioritize before committing to a larger compliance project.

Discuss a Compliance Diagnostic See Sample Deliverables & Tools

START WITH THE BUSINESS QUESTION

Clarity for teams with limited compliance capacity.

You may know that a customer is asking about CMMC, NIST SP 800-171, or DFARS, while still being unsure which environment is affected or what work to fund first. A diagnostic creates a documented starting point for those decisions.

The questions we work through

What cybersecurity requirements appear in the contractual materials and customer instructions included in the review?
Where does your business expect to receive, process, store, or transmit FCI or CUI, and which questions still need confirmation?
Which systems, people, business processes, and service providers may need further scoping?
What documentation and assessment work already exists, and what should be examined next?
Which next steps need an internal owner, customer clarification, a fuller assessment, or a qualified technical provider?

The applicable baseline is confirmed against your requirements. Open questions about contract interpretation, information designation, or customer expectations may require input from your contracting team, customer, or other appropriate adviser.

WRITTEN OUTPUTS

Decisions your team can act on.

The proposal confirms the detail and coverage of each deliverable. A diagnostic includes:

Applicability notes identifying the requirements reviewed, their sources, and assumptions that need confirmation.

A preliminary scope summary describing the business activities, information flows, systems, and external providers discussed.

An open-questions register identifying missing information, decisions, and who needs to resolve them.

A prioritized next-steps plan separating immediate clarification, further assessment, documentation work, and potential technical remediation.

A management readout explaining the findings, limits of the review, and options for the next engagement.

HOW THE ENGAGEMENT WORKS

A defined scope before work begins.

Agree the questions

We define the business questions, contracts and business units to consider, review activities, deliverables, responsibilities, fees, and target dates in a written scope.

Review and discuss

Your designated contacts explain the business and information flows. Continuum reviews the agreed materials and records assumptions, dependencies, and areas needing deeper investigation.

Deliver a usable plan

We provide the agreed diagnostic outputs and discuss priorities with your team. You decide whether to proceed with a fuller assessment, remediation planning, or ongoing support.

PREPARING YOUR TEAM

Start with high-level information.

For the introductory conversation, be ready to describe your business, whether you hold prime or subcontract awards, the general types of information involved, your current documentation, and the customer request or business event driving the need. Sensitive artifacts are not needed in the public form.

Your responsibilities during the diagnostic

Designate a business sponsor and contacts for IT, contracts, and compliance as appropriate.
Provide accurate, current information within the agreed scope and identify known limitations.
Arrange stakeholder availability and obtain any necessary permission to share review materials.
Confirm an appropriate method for exchanging any necessary nonpublic information before sharing it.
Review assumptions and findings, resolve assigned questions, and decide which recommendations to fund.

QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Understand the engagement.

An introductory conversation helps establish fit. The written scope defines the paid work.

Who is this engagement for?

Small and midsize U.S. defense primes and subcontractors that need a clearer starting point, especially when IT and compliance responsibilities sit with a small team. It can suit an existing contractor with unclear requirements or a company considering defense work.

Is this a full NIST SP 800-171 gap assessment?

No. The diagnostic addresses the questions and materials defined in its scope. A comprehensive gap assessment examines implementation and supporting evidence at the requirement level. The diagnostic can help define that later assessment, but it does not produce a complete gap analysis unless a separate scope expressly includes one.

Will this give us a CMMC certification or an SPRS score?

No. This is a consulting diagnostic. It does not issue an official assessment result, establish a CMMC status, or submit an SPRS score. Official CMMC certification assessments must be performed by appropriately authorized or accredited assessment organizations.

How are the price and timing determined?

The number of contracts and environments, organizational complexity, available documentation, stakeholder availability, and agreed questions affect the effort. Continuum agrees the fee, deliverables, dependencies, and target dates with you before paid work begins. Work outside that scope requires a separate agreement.

What happens during the introductory consultation?

We discuss your business, high-level compliance challenges, internal capacity, and reasons for seeking help. We consider whether a diagnostic or another service fits. The introductory call is not the paid diagnostic and does not include a complete requirements determination or assessment.

Should we send contracts, CUI, or network diagrams through the website?

No. Use the public inquiry form only for business contact information and a general description of your need. Do not submit CUI, credentials, detailed diagrams, or sensitive contract or technical artifacts. Any necessary material exchange must use a separately agreed method appropriate to the information.

YOUR NEXT STEP

Discuss the questions your business needs answered.

Tell us what is driving your need for help. We will discuss whether a Compliance Diagnostic fits and what an appropriate scope would include. Submitting a request does not book a meeting or commit you to a paid engagement.

Request an Introductory Consultation