Resources

Guides for federal contractors.

Practical, plain-English references for CMMC, NIST 800-171, RMF, cleared hiring, and the compliance frameworks that govern federal work.

41 guides · 4 categories

Cybersecurity & Compliance

14 guides

What Is Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)?

A practical guide to CUI for defense contractors - what it is, why it matters for CMMC and NIST 800-171, and how to handle it correctly.

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CMMC 2.0 Levels Explained

How Levels 1, 2, and 3 map to your contracts, what assessments each requires, and how to scope your environment accordingly.

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How to Get CMMC Certified: A 7-Step Guide

Scope, C3PAO selection, SSP, assessment team, planning, assessment, and remediation - the end-to-end path to a CMMC certificate.

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Building a Defensible SSP and POA&M

What a credible System Security Plan looks like, how to document the 110 controls, and how to manage gaps without inflating your SPRS score.

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GCC High vs. Commercial M365 for CUI

When you actually need GCC High, what the alternatives look like, and the migration pitfalls that derail contractor compliance programs.

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Reporting Cyber Incidents Under DFARS 7012

The 72-hour clock, what counts as a reportable incident, evidence preservation, and how to file through dibnet.dod.mil without missteps.

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Building a Compliant Federal IT Environment

Network architecture for defense contractors - segmentation, zero trust, and the infrastructure required to pass a CMMC or NIST 800-171 assessment.

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The RMF Process Explained

A practical guide for defense contractors on navigating the NIST Risk Management Framework, from categorization to continuous monitoring.

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ATO Sprints: Accelerating Authority to Operate

DevSecOps integration, control inheritance, and rapid authorization strategies that compress the ATO timeline from months to weeks.

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Continuous Monitoring Under RMF

Keeping your ATO alive - vulnerability scanning, POA&M remediation, and configuration management in federal IT environments.

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NIST SP 800-53 for Contractors

The federal security controls catalog - how it differs from 800-171, the 20 control families, and tailoring baselines for federal systems.

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FedRAMP Explained

Cloud authorization, the JAB vs. Agency paths, FedRAMP Moderate equivalence, and how to navigate the FedRAMP Marketplace.

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DFARS Compliance End-to-End

A complete roadmap to DFARS - the key cybersecurity clauses and how to build a sustainable contractor compliance program.

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Audit Readiness: From Panic to Continuous Compliance

Living SSPs, artifact management, POA&M discipline, and scoping decisions that hold up under DIBCAC and CMMC.

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Business Operations

11 guides

Flowing DFARS and CMMC Down to Subcontractors

Contract language, vendor questionnaires, and oversight practices to keep your supply chain aligned with federal cybersecurity requirements.

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How Federal Cybersecurity Contracts Are Won

Capture strategy for defense contractors - shaping the RFP, building winning teams, pricing, and proposal execution.

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Teaming Agreements and Prime/Sub Relationships

How to build winning teams, navigate NDAs and Teaming Agreements, and manage prime/sub dynamics on federal cybersecurity programs.

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DCAA Compliance for Small Defense Contractors

What "DCAA compliant" actually means, the SF 1408 criteria, and how small businesses build compliant accounting without bankrupting themselves.

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Indirect Rate Structures: Fringe, Overhead, G&A

Building DCAA-compliant indirect rates that recover your true costs without inflating unallowables or triggering False Claims exposure.

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HR and Payroll Compliance for GovCon

SCA wage determinations, H&W fringe, OFCCP affirmative action, and DCAA timekeeping - the compliance landscape that defines GovCon HR.

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Building SOPs for a Cleared GovCon Organization

Why every audit starts with "show me your written procedures" - and how to build an SOP library that survives DCAA and DCSA inspection.

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The GovCon Back Office: What Breaks and How to Fix It

Accounting, HR, contracts, and security operations behind every federal contractor - what fails as firms scale and how to rebuild it.

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Scaling a GovCon Business: Operations Infrastructure for Growth

Why GovCon firms stall at $5M and what to invest in across finance, recruiting, and compliance to break through to prime-level execution.

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GovCon Operations for Small Businesses: Competing at the Prime Level

Past performance, DCAA accounting, cleared recruiting, CMMC, and contracts - what small businesses must build before they bid prime.

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Supporting DoD Programs: What Contractors Need to Know Before They Bid

FCL sponsorship, cleared workforce realities, OPSEC, program-office dynamics, and the back-office burden - before you submit.

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Workforce Solutions

09 guides

Hiring and Retaining Cleared Cybersecurity Talent

Sourcing strategies, compensation models, and retention practices that keep federal programs fully staffed in a tight cleared talent market.

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Security Clearance Levels Explained

Confidential, Secret, Top Secret, SCI, and Polygraph - what they mean, how they're obtained, and how contractors manage them.

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Onboarding Cleared Employees: A Step-by-Step Process

From DISS verification through indoctrination, briefings, VARs, and program read-ins - the complete cleared-onboarding workflow.

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DoD 8140 / 8570 Certification Requirements

How the IAT/IAM legacy framework maps to the new 8140.03 Work Role model - and how to keep your cyber workforce compliant on Day 1.

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The ISSM Role: Managing IA Across a Portfolio

Programmatic leadership, RMF execution, AO interface, and what separates a great ISSM from a mediocre one.

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The ISSO Role: What It Looks Like Day-to-Day

Continuous monitoring, POA&M management, configuration control, and incident triage inside a live federal program.

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Staff Augmentation vs. Contract Staffing

The practical differences between renting capacity and buying outcomes - and when each model is right for cleared federal work.

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Program Manager vs. Project Manager in Federal Contracting

How federal contracts make a rigid distinction between strategic Program Managers and tactical Project Managers - and how to staff each role correctly.

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How to Evaluate a Federal Staffing Partner

What primes and agencies should actually ask - clearance verification, certification validation, retention, and back-office compliance maturity.

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Security Operations

07 guides

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Guides for federal contractors.

Cybersecurity & Compliance

What Is Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)?

CMMC 2.0 Levels Explained

How to Get CMMC Certified: A 7-Step Guide

Building a Defensible SSP and POA&M

GCC High vs. Commercial M365 for CUI

Reporting Cyber Incidents Under DFARS 7012

Building a Compliant Federal IT Environment

The RMF Process Explained

ATO Sprints: Accelerating Authority to Operate

Continuous Monitoring Under RMF

NIST SP 800-53 for Contractors

FedRAMP Explained

DFARS Compliance End-to-End

Audit Readiness: From Panic to Continuous Compliance

Business Operations

Flowing DFARS and CMMC Down to Subcontractors

How Federal Cybersecurity Contracts Are Won

Teaming Agreements and Prime/Sub Relationships

DCAA Compliance for Small Defense Contractors

Indirect Rate Structures: Fringe, Overhead, G&A

HR and Payroll Compliance for GovCon

Building SOPs for a Cleared GovCon Organization

The GovCon Back Office: What Breaks and How to Fix It

Scaling a GovCon Business: Operations Infrastructure for Growth

GovCon Operations for Small Businesses: Competing at the Prime Level

Supporting DoD Programs: What Contractors Need to Know Before They Bid

Workforce Solutions

Hiring and Retaining Cleared Cybersecurity Talent

Security Clearance Levels Explained

Onboarding Cleared Employees: A Step-by-Step Process

DoD 8140 / 8570 Certification Requirements

The ISSM Role: Managing IA Across a Portfolio

The ISSO Role: What It Looks Like Day-to-Day

Staff Augmentation vs. Contract Staffing

Program Manager vs. Project Manager in Federal Contracting

How to Evaluate a Federal Staffing Partner

Security Operations

Running a Cleared Service Desk

The FSO Role Explained

NISPOM Compliance for Cleared Facilities

Workforce and Operations Support for ITAR Programs

Building an Insider Threat Program for a Cleared Contractor

The DD254: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Complete It Correctly

DISS Administration: A Practical Guide for FSOs

Need the people to execute on any of this?