Executive Insights | The C3 Suite: Bill Wootton

Discover insights from Bill Wootton on how the new CMMC 32 CFR rule impacts defense contractors, the urgency of compliance, and C3's strategic role in navigating this transition. Learn about The C3 Suite, C3 Command for full outsourcing and C3 Catalyst for flexibility, in this exclusive video interview.

 

 

Q&A with Bill Wootton

Question: Now that the CMMC 32 CFR rule is in effect how is it impacting Defense contractors?

The finalization of CFR 32 has had an a tremendous impact on defense contractors. And what we’re going to see is this is really a transition year for CMMC. For years now, we’ve been in a strange limbo where we didn’t know when or even how CMMC was going to materialize. That’s no longer the case. CMMC is no longer some program out over the horizon. It’s not just not a question anymore. What we now have is the question of how quickly can we get to CMMC, how quickly can we adopt CMMC and get compliant?

 

Question: Why is there such urgency?

So, the urgency with CMMC and to be compliant and to adopt CMMC is actually a little bit counterintuitive. I mean, realistically, we might not see CMMC in an award for 18 or even 24 months. However, if you think about the way large primes and their bid-cycles work with large government contractors, that also happens to be in that 18 to 24 month cycle, they’re standing up their teams now to bid on work. That is going to be awarded two years from now. So, when you think about it, CMMC is now for those large primes. They want an assurance when they put a team together that they’re going to go after a bid, everyone on their team is going to be compliant. The ripple effect on that is just incredible, because for them to be confident, they need to know that their supply chain is going to be compliant today.

 

Question: What role does C3 expect to take in client journeys to compliance?

C3 takes a really important role with respect to our client’s journey towards compliance. Achieving CMMC compliance generally requires three different distinct skill sets. Requires IT expertise, cybersecurity expertise, and a deep understanding of the CMMC role and what it takes to actually run a compliant program. Most defense contractors might have one or even two of these skill sets internally, but almost never have all three of them. And that’s why with our solutions, we’re focused on taking an active role in defining and managing the environment and then adding in a robust compliance program.

 

Question: Why two options with C3 Command and C3 Catalyst?

We decided to come to market with two solutions, C3 Command and C3 Catalyst, because we found that our clients generally fall into two core profiles. One profile wants a single vendor, a completely outsourced solution, and they need the speed and high degree of assurance of compliance. C3 Command is designed for this group, but however, we have another profile of clients that don’t quite fit that model. These clients need additional flexibility, whether it’s within the assets and scope, the management of the environment, or perhaps they already have it compliance partner to guide them through the journey. We designed C3 Catalyst specifically for this group.