From Logically Speaking May 2021: Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)
We recently spoke with Lynn Fisher, President, Applied Technology Academy (ATA), about how her company sees the opportunity for CMMC training and what they’re doing to position themselves as a leading CMMC training provider.
1. What about the CMMC opportunity has you so excited? As a federal contractor ourselves, we have walked in our clients’ shoes. We have an amazing team of 5 instructors with extensive NIST/NICE and DFARS experience, and auditing and compliance is their second nature. We live this every day as a small business and we are purposing to break down the barriers to success for small and medium-size businesses. We can easily serve large businesses, but our passion is to make sure that small and medium-size businesses do not suffer as a result of this mission critical DoD initiative.
2. How do you see CMMC training fitting in with your larger business? CMMC is the world we live in. We know and deal with DoD compliance daily, training globally on DoD8570/8140 certifications. We will quickly rise to #1 in the country when it comes to DoD CMMC compliance and execution. Our mission is to make sure that every SMB is equipped to effectively compete for Federal business in their area of expertise.
3. What have been the biggest obstacles to getting ready to offer CMMC training? Frankly, the DoD, with good reason. As our country has encountered increasing threats and breaches, the DoD has continued to refine and shore up the CMMC requirements – rightfully so. As a result, they have delayed course content approval in order to make sure that all Contractors and Assessors are properly equipped to protect against and battle our adversaries, and the threats that our country faces.
4. What are your biggest wins with CMMC? 95% of our clientele are DoD-related entities, and we are very proud of the instructor team we have built, coupled with our selection of the highest quality CMMC-AB courseware offerings from Logical Operations. Our instructors have combined experience of over 50 years of auditing, assessment, DFARS, NIST/NICE, and cybersecurity standards implementation for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). As a defense contractor ourselves, ATA is uniquely positioned to bring the most talented industry practitioners and real-world experience to your Authorized CMMC-AB training cohorts. Best of all, we are equipping a large number of veteran-owned businesses to be prepared for their own CMMC-AB assessments, making sure our veteran businesses can compete at the best and highest level in a very competitive landscape! Join us at our Florida-based classrooms, onsite at your location, or via our Online Live instructor-led training offerings to engage in our leading edge Authorized CMMC-AB cohorts.
