Most defense contractors treat CMMC Level 2 as a burden. Another compliance checkbox. Another audit to survive. Another cost center.
But in our latest CMMC Compass webinar, Christopher Lank—CEO of Ivis Technologies and a 20-year veteran of the defensive industrial base—made a different case: CMMC can be a competitive advantage if you approach it the right way.
Not because compliance is easy. The average timeline to get Level 2 ready is eight to twelve months. And as Lank put it: "There really are no shortcuts. There are a lot of vendors out there that are kinda selling snake oil."
But for organizations that shift from reactive compliance to continuous programs, CMMC stops slowing them down and starts helping them win.
When a prime sends a security questionnaire, most contractors spend weeks scrambling. Someone hunts for the SSP from six months ago. The IT director digs through emails for evidence. The prime's security team waits. The deal stalls.
Lank described the core problem: "The one question we always ask: Can you show us where you stand today? What they usually have is a sort of snapshot in time that someone scrambled to put together at the last minute."
That uncertainty slows deals. "In a vendor qualification cycle, the thing that actually slows you down is the uncertainty. An OEM's buyer or procurement group can't move forward with you until they're confident that you won't be a weak link. So anything that resolves that uncertainty faster helps accelerate the deal."
Organizations running continuous compliance programs don't scramble. The evidence already exists. When a prime asks "show us how you're protecting CUI in transit," they pull up the live control and audit trail. Days, not weeks.
"If a company is running Ivis with Virtru, they don't have to assemble anything. They can turn that questionnaire around in days because the evidence is sitting right there. The prime goes, great. These people have got it. They're ahead."
The hardship is building that continuous program takes time and investment. You need visibility tools (like Ivis GRC) and technical controls that generate evidence automatically (like Virtru's object-level encryption). But once it's running, you're faster than competitors in fire drill mode.
Phase 2 enforcement starts November 2026. Most Level 2 contracts will require third-party C3PAO certification to bid. Self-attestation wont' do; you'll need independent verification.
The DOD estimates 80,000+ contractors will need certification. Timeline: eight to twelve months. Limited C3PAOs, already booking out. "The math is against you with this November deadline looming."
The advantage: if you're certified and competitors aren't, you're competing in a smaller pool.
Lank gave a specific example: "We do a lot of stuff on the maritime industrial base with the navy. The new contracts for the new ship builds are coming out in November. Those contracts are gonna be peppered with CMMC level two certification requirements. If you're a supplier that doesn't have level two in place, you're just gonna be barred from even being able to bid."
Certification becomes a filter. Work you may have won for the past decade is off-limits without it. For organizations that treat this as a priority now, it's a competitive moat.
The hardship is that ultimately, getting certified is expensive and time-consuming. C3PAOs aren't cheap. You'll need tools to close gaps. And you can't shortcut it: "Everything needs to go through a fine tooth comb."
But the cost of not getting certified is higher, with contracts you can't bid on, revenue you can't pursue, and a shrinking addressable market.
Most contractors live in a panic-neglect cycle. A questionnaire arrives or an audit lands on the calendar, and real work stops for weeks. Then compliance goes quiet for months until the next fire drill.
Lank described it: "The clearest sign of compliance as a burden usually shows up when there's a fire drill. Prime sends over a security questionnaire or an audit date lands on their calendar, and suddenly it's all hands on deck for the next few weeks. Real work stops. But then the rest of the year, the pendulum swings the other way, and compliance just goes quiet."
That's operational drag. Disruptive, inefficient, and usually dependent on one or two people carrying the entire program in their heads.
The advantage of continuous compliance: it stops disrupting your business. You're not scrambling every six months. You're not pulling engineers off projects to hunt for evidence. The program runs as part of normal operations.
"At Ivis, our goal is to get you compliant, but then to keep you compliant. So that three years from now, this is hopefully a less painful process."
Andrew emphasized the same: "Compliance should not be considered a project. It's a program. It's ongoing." When encryption and access controls generate audit trails automatically, the evidence exists because the system captured it.
This requires a mindset shift and investment in the right tools. But once you make that shift, "compliance stops being one person's burden. The program can be seen by the entire team." And critically: "Once you get your level two certification, in some way, that's really the beginning of the journey because you're gonna have to do this every three years." Continuous programs don't start from scratch every recertification.
CMMC isn't easy. Lank and Lynch plainly lay out what these advantages require.
No vendor covers all 110 controls. "The one thing I would always say to anybody looking for a vendor is if they say we do all these things, ask for their shared matrix. That essentially goes through all 110 controls to say, hey. We handle this one. We share this one with you, or this one is uniquely on you to do."
You need FIPS-validated encryption, not just "encryption." "There's a difference between FIPS validated and FIPS compliant. The assessor is gonna probably ask for a certificate to validate the modules."
FedRAMP authorization matters. FedRAMP equivalency is the baseline for cloud tools handling CUI. Assessors check the marketplace to verify authorization. If your tool isn't listed, they'll examine the full body of evidence, extending your timeline and cost. Virtru is FedRAMP authorized.
Recommended Reading: FedRAMP Authorized vs. FedRAMP Equivalent: Why One Is Definitely Better Than the Other
The timeline is tangible. Eight to twelve months. Limited C3PAOs. November 2026 deadline. "If you're waiting, you don't have the runway that you think you have."
But for organizations that approach this as a program—not a one-time project—CMMC stops being just a cost and starts being a capability that helps them move faster, win more, and operate more efficiently than competitors stuck in fire drill mode.
Need help turning CMMC into an advantage? Book a demo to see how Virtru's FedRAMP-authorized encryption integrates with your compliance program. Or connect with Ivis Technologies to get continuous visibility and close the gaps before your C3PAO assessment.