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Cost Blind Spots:
Internal IT will try to keep costs so low that the audit simply won’t pass. They often underestimate the true investment (people, process, and technology). -
Leadership Expectations:
IT won’t set proper expectations with leadership that CMMC requires a plant-wide behavior change. Without that cultural shift, the effort fails no matter how good the tech stack looks. -
Workload Underestimation:
They rarely understand the full list of initial tasks and proactive maintenance. In reality, those can double the amount of ongoing IT work. -
Software Stack Knowledge:
Most local IT teams don’t know the specialized software stack required to support compliance (secure enclaves, GCC High, Exostar, policy automation, secure file transfer, etc.). -
Accountability & Reporting:
IT typically hasn’t been held fully accountable to a compliance program before. They may report to leaders who don’t know how to measure whether proactive maintenance is really happening. -
Over-Customization Risk:
A well-meaning IT team may over-customize solutions in ways that make them hard for an outside assessor (or the next IT lead) to understand or maintain. -
Documentation & Evidence:
Passing CMMC isn’t just about having tools in place—it’s about evidence. IT usually doesn’t have the background to create the audit-ready artifacts assessors need. -
Conflict of Interest:
Internal IT often wants to “look good” to leadership by downplaying cost, scope, or effort. That creates blind spots and risk. -
Single Point of Failure:
If the internal champion leaves, no one else knows how the environment was set up. This is the equivalent of blowing the whole investment.
