Top CMMC Compliance Barriers

Achieving CMMC compliance is as much an operational challenge as a technical one. This solution brief summarizes Keysight’s commissioned primary research on what is slowing CMMC progress across the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). The study highlights a consistent set of barriers cited by cybersecurity, IT, and compliance leaders — factors that increase cost, extend timelines, and create risk as CMMC requirements move toward broader enforcement.

The research points to four core roadblocks. First, talent and expertise shortages continue to constrain progress: a global cybersecurity workforce gap makes it difficult for many organizations, especially small and mid-sized businesses, to interpret and implement the required controls, with 30% of respondents citing internal resources or expertise as a primary compliance barrier. Second, legacy infrastructure and tool limitations often leave foundational controls underdeveloped, driving expensive upgrades. Third, common security shortfalls, especially around multi-factor authentication (MFA) and incident response, remain widespread, creating gaps that can surface quickly during assessments. Finally, cost and resourcing constraints compound each challenge, as organizations face expenses that extend beyond assessments to remediation, documentation, consulting, and new technology.

The brief also shows how barriers vary by company size and why many organizations struggle when they treat CMMC as a checklist rather than a program that integrates people, processes, and technology. It concludes with next steps to overcome barriers using a more efficient, evidence-based approach and points readers to the full commissioned research white paper, The Power of Proof: Turning CMMC Compliance into Competitive Credibility, for deeper findings, timelines, and practical guidance to strengthen validation, testing, and continuous monitoring.