Protect CUI. Keep contracts moving. Stop guessing.
You don't need another explanation of why CMMC matters. You need to know what's in scope, what's missing, what it costs to fix, and in what order. That's the conversation Droptine starts with.
30 minutes. Bring your contracts; leave with a read on your actual scope.
The compliance-theater problem
Small contractors shopping for CMMC help keep finding the same three things: enterprise consultancies with enterprise invoices, engagements that end at the findings list, and proposals with timelines vague enough to mean anything.
So the readiness budget gets spent twice: once to be told what's wrong, once to get it fixed. Meanwhile the prime wants a status update.
A gap assessment that ends at the gap list isn't readiness. Neither is a binder of policies nobody implemented. Readiness is working controls on real systems, documentation that matches them, and someone keeping both current. That's implementation work, and implementation is the part Droptine does.
Who this page is for
Small and mid-sized contractors that:
- Hold or expect contracts with CUI flowing down
- Got a CMMC or NIST 800-171 requirement from a prime — sometimes with a deadline attached
- Already had a gap assessment and now own a findings list nobody assigned
- Need eligibility protected without hiring a compliance department
If that's you, the path below is the shape of the work.
What working with Droptine covers
- CUI scoping: where it lives, who touches it, which systems are actually in play
- Scope reduction where it's defensible — a smaller boundary is a smaller project
- Control implementation against NIST SP 800-171: access control, MFA, endpoint protection, logging, email and identity security
- The documentation set assessors expect: SSP, POA&M, policies that describe reality
- Vendor and subcontractor access review
- Backup and recovery planning for in-scope systems
- Ongoing management after readiness: controls drift, people change, documentation ages
The readiness path
Scope
Where CUI actually lives, who touches it, and which systems are in boundary. Half the cost of a bad readiness project is securing systems that never needed to be in scope.
Prioritize
Findings ranked by what threatens eligibility and CUI first. You get a sequence and a reason for it, not an undifferentiated list of 110 controls.
Implement and document
Controls configured on real systems, and documentation written to match what exists rather than what a template wishes existed. An assessor compares the two; they need to agree.
Maintain
Readiness decays. The environment you certify is the environment you have to keep. We hold controls and documentation current as the company changes, so an assessment date is an event, not an emergency.
What month one looks like: a scoping review of your contracts and CUI flow, a ranked gap sequence you can show your prime, and the first controls moving. Progress you can report, starting immediately.
The Ironclad Path
Droptine's name for the readiness path above — the same four stages, run in a defensible order. You leave each phase able to answer the question, not just holding a longer report, and you can show your prime where things stand at any point, in their language.
Why Droptine
Austin Buonasera spent time on the government's side of security before founding Droptine. That matters in this work for one reason: he's seen what right looks like from inside the environment your contracts answer to — and what examiners actually look for when paper meets practice.
Clayton Hauk runs the business side, which keeps engagements scoped, priced, and communicated like a contractor would want: clearly, and in writing.
Common questions
Do we need CMMC, and at what level?
It depends on your contracts and whether CUI flows down to you. Many contractors get the answer from a prime's flow-down requirements before any agency tells them directly. We can review your contracts and data flow and give you a straight answer — including "you're not in scope," if that's true.
Can Droptine certify us?
No, and nobody you hire for implementation should. Certification comes from an authorized third-party assessor. Droptine does the readiness side: scoping, controls, documentation, and management, so that when assessment day comes, you're showing real systems instead of intentions.
What is CUI?
Controlled Unclassified Information — government-related information that requires safeguarding under federal rules or contract terms. Whether you hold it, and where, is the first question of any readiness project; the answer is in your contracts, and we can help you read them.
We already paid for a gap assessment. Now what?
Then the expensive list-making is done. We turn findings into a sequenced plan (what threatens eligibility first, what's quick, what's structural) and start implementing. You shouldn't pay a second time for someone to rediscover the gaps.
How long does readiness take?
It depends on scope, current controls, and how much documentation exists — which is why we won't quote a timeline before seeing your environment. What we will do is give you a sequence with milestones, so progress is visible from week one. A timeline quoted before scoping is a guess, and nobody should hand you a guess as a commitment.
What happens after we're ready?
The part most contractors underestimate: staying ready. Controls drift, staff change, documentation ages. Droptine can manage the program ongoing — same systems, same documentation, kept assessment-ready instead of rebuilt under pressure.
Know what's required, what's missing, and what it takes to fix.
One conversation. Bring your contracts and your questions — leave with a clear read on your scope and a sensible next step.