From Zero to CMMC Ready: How Kimastle and MSB Analytics Fast-Tracked Compliance
Companies pursuing Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliance begin from vastly different starting points. Small and mid-sized contractors often face limited resources, but they also vary widely in technical readiness, staffing, financial capacity, and cybersecurity maturity. A one-size-fits-all approach to CMMC compliance, commonly offered through traditional MSP-based strategies, can be costly, inefficient, or unrealistic for many small organizations.
Mission Multiplier’s enclave approach simplifies the path to CMMC compliance for companies that lack the resources or operational capacity for a full IT migration.
By isolating Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) within a secure, separate IT environment, the enclave significantly reduces audit scope, compresses timelines, and lowers overall compliance costs, often enabling organizations to achieve compliance in a matter of weeks rather than months.
Equally important, Mission Multiplier adapts its solution to companies with very different levels of readiness. Instead of forcing businesses into rigid frameworks, the enclave approach addresses each organization’s specific challenges while guaranteeing compliance without unnecessary complexity.
Transitioning Industries: Kimastle’s Experience
Kimastle is an assembly manufacturer with approximately 100 employees and a long-standing presence in the automotive sector. When the company decided to pursue opportunities in the defense industry, it had minimal prior exposure to CMMC requirements.
Kimastle lacked the time and internal resources to pursue a build-it-yourself approach that would impose complex cybersecurity requirements across all systems and manufacturing machines. Leadership was concerned about project costs, operational disruption, and the difficulty of securing company-wide buy-in for such an extensive transformation. Mission Multiplier’s enclave approach provided a practical alternative by reducing both scope and cost while still addressing all 110 required CMMC Level 2 controls.
“It’s just an easier approach,” said Steven Degrande, Defense Business Developer at Kimastle. “I’ve worked in government as a cyber engineer, and I know these requirements. If we had to apply them to every single computer and machine, it would be too expensive and wouldn’t work. We’re a machine shop, so that includes CNC machines and robotics. The enclave approach was a no-brainer.”
Mission Multiplier significantly reduced Kimastle’s compliance burden by delivering an enclave built specifically for CMMC and NIST 800-171 compliance. Rather than deploying a generic Microsoft tenant, the environment was designed for audit defense and long-term sustainment. Mission Multiplier handled the technical and administrative workload while minimizing disruption to Kimastle’s staff.
“Mission Multiplier’s enclave felt like the easy button for CMMC Level 2,” Degrande said. “Instead of months of uncertainty, we had a fully operational GCC enclave with policies, logging, and evidence mapped correctly from day one. Their team didn’t just deploy technology, they explained the ‘why’ behind every control, which gave our leadership confidence going into assessments.”
A Tale of Two Contractors: MSB Analytics
MSB Analytics is a defense contractor with approximately 30 employees and $10 million in revenue. Following an acquisition in September 2025, the new ownership team had limited insight into the company’s existing cybersecurity posture or its CMMC readiness. At the same time, MSB Analytics was pursuing a major proposal that required CMMC compliance within a matter of months.
The company lacked a compliant CUI environment and did not have the manpower or budget to reengineer its entire IT infrastructure. A full migration, especially amid a leadership transition, would have been risky, time-consuming, and expensive. Traditional MSP-based or hybrid compliance strategies were not viable options.
“My biggest concern when I understood what it took to just get ready for the assessment, but then the actual assessment itself, I was like, there’s no way I can do this,” said Eric Tudor, CEO of MSB Analytics, when faced initially with the CMMC requirements. But then he met Mission Multiplier.
Mission Multiplier’s enclave approach offered a way to fast-track compliance without overhauling the company’s broader systems. “We provide small businesses with an option they haven’t had before,” said Stephen Putnam, CISO of Mission Multiplier. “Other enclave solutions can still cost $150,000 or more. Our approach operates outside the company’s commercial MSP and remains completely separate from their primary infrastructure.”
Because policies, procedures, and technical controls are embedded within the enclave, Mission Multiplier did not need to assess or modify MSB Analytics’ existing environment. This proved especially valuable during a period of organizational transition. “What MSB had done previously from a cybersecurity or commercial IT perspective wasn’t relevant,” Putnam said. “We were able to start clean and build a compliant environment from the ground up.”
“Mission Multiplier translated complex compliance requirements into something our technical and executive teams could both understand,” said Eric Tudor, CEO of MSB Analytics. “Their enclave approach reduced risk, accelerated our timeline, and eliminated the guesswork that normally comes with CMMC preparation. We finally felt confident that our environment was built the right way.”
The enclave approach also shortened the audit timeline to just 12 days and reduced audit costs by an estimated 20 to 50 percent. Because auditors are already familiar with the enclave’s standardized controls, policies, and documentation, assessments are more efficient. Unlike traditional MSP models, the enclave can scale with business growth or remain small as operational needs change.
“At first, I thought, ‘Where’s the catch?’” Tudor said. “But after hearing the proof of concept from 15 other companies, it was clearly the right solution for us.”
Conclusion
The experiences of both Kimastle and MSB Analytics demonstrate that the path to CMMC compliance should reflect where an organization begins. For small and mid-sized contractors, traditional MSP-based compliance strategies often introduce unnecessary complexity, cost, and disruption.
Mission Multiplier’s enclave approach offers a proven alternative, one that meets organizations where they are while providing a compliant, scalable, and audit-ready environment. By isolating CUI and standardizing controls, Mission Multiplier enables companies across industries to achieve CMMC compliance faster, with lower risk and greater confidence.
Kimastle and MSB Analytics took very different paths and reached the same result: CMMC compliance without operational disruption. Discover how Mission Multiplier’s enclave approach can work for your organization. Schedule a consultation to learn more about how Mission Multiplier can help your organization achieve CMMC compliance.