CMMC Center of Excellence Announces Engagement Agreement with itSM Solutions Pioneers in Cybersecurity Education & Training




The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Center of Excellence ( CMMC COE ), hosted by the Information Technology Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC), a public-private partnership serving the public and private sectors for more than 15 years, is excited to announce a partnership with itSM Solutions, a global consortium of academic, government and industry thought leaders working together to create training and technology solutions that enable enterprises to design, operationalize and automate a cybersecurity risk management program based on the best practice publications created by the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST), the International Standards Organization (ISO), the Center for Internet Security (CIS) and the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) of the Treadway Commission.



This unique partnership will extend efforts to identify and include proven capabilities within the CMMC COE Marketplace to improve cybersecurity protection and resilience for the global defense industrial base network of contractors, vendors, and suppliers.



itSM has created an innovative, turnkey NIST 800-171 FastTrack Readiness Program that will provide DIB companies with an affordable, fixed price cybersecurity risk management solution that will deliver the cybersecurity risk management outcome expected by the Department of Defense. The FastTrack program will include accredited certification training, online mentoring from industry experts plus an online Integrated Risk Management (IRM) platform that will seamlessly integrate all cybersecurity and IT Risk and Compliance functions into a powerfully automated assessment and program management solution.



The executed Engagement Agreement establishes a collaborative engagement between itSM Solutions and the CMMC COE to partner in the furthering of their respective and complementary missions and objectives regarding the adoption, use, and expansion of CMMC based cybersecurity practices, risk management, and compliance for the DIB contractor, vendor, and supplier community of providers creating a broader CMMC ecosystem globally to improve security and resilience.



Specific actions will include:



• The co-development of CMMC advisory services, cyber training and education programs to accelerate CMMC certification, increase cyber adoption and improve cyber protection & resilience.
• Co-sponsor symposiums, training programs and podcasts leveraging their combined cyber and IT expertise.
• Host regular working groups, with other partners, to enable collaboration and communications.
• Source qualified CMMC/ cyber professionals to serve as advocates.
• Establish an independent Industry Cyber Security Advisory Council with peer organizations to advise and educate leaders across government and industry on the continued evolution and effectiveness of CMMC.



“This is exciting opportunity for us”, said Mr. John Weiler, Chairman of the Board at CMMC Center of Excellence, “This new partnership will further help advance the goals and objectives for improving the supply chain security and resilience of the US Department of Defense (DoD)”.



“itSM Solutions is proud to partner with the CMMC COE on this very exciting initiative,” stated Mr. Rick Lemieux, Managing Partner and Chief Revenue Officer at itSM Solutions. “We look forward to collaborating with the COE on solutions that will not only get DIB companies ready for CMMC certification but also provide them with the skills and tools necessary to manage cybersecurity risk management as they would any other business function”.



The CMMC-COE (http://cmmc-coe.org ) and itSM Solutions partnership will focus on bringing together the many disparate cyber and national security communities of interest to reduce complexity, improve awareness, and accelerate industry effort to become more cyber resilient against the growing threats from nation states and criminal enterprises.



The CMMC-COE establishes both a Market Place and Knowledge Clearinghouse that will include resources that support the overall effort, including white papers; tutorials; recorded webcasts; presentations; and more that will help reduce the cost and burden on small and medium size contractors already struggling from the impact of COVID.



For more information on the CMMC COE, please visit http://cmmc-coe.org email info@cmmc-coe.org or call 703-863-3766



For more information on itSM Solutions, please visit https://www.itsmsolutions.com/