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Redspin CMMC Review: C3PAO Status, Services, Fit, and What to Verify (2026)
By The Defense Compliance Report Editorial Team — an independent trade publication on CMMC 2.0 and DIB compliance. Last verified . Public-source provider profile, primary-source regulatory review, and a Cyber AB Marketplace record check. Not a hands-on engagement review, and not legal, contractual, or compliance advice.
Let’s get to the bottom line, because you have contracts to win and a deadline closing in.
This Redspin CMMC review finds that Redspin is a legitimate, experienced CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) — the first firm The Cyber AB ever authorized, back in June 2021 — and a credible shortlist candidate if you are ready for a formal Level 2 certification assessment. A C3PAO is the only kind of organization allowed to conduct an official CMMC Level 2 certification assessment and issue your Certificate of CMMC Status. Redspin is the federal division of Clearwater, a Nashville-based cybersecurity and compliance company.
But “Is Redspin legit?” is the wrong question, and answering only that will cost you money. The right question is whether you need a certifying assessorright now — or whether your scope, your System Security Plan, and your evidence still need readiness work first. And here’s the catch almost nobody searching this term knows: because Redspin also sells readiness consulting, a federal conflict-of-interest rule (32 CFR §170.8(b)(17)(ii)(G)) generally bars the firm that prepares you from also certifyingyou for three years. That rule doesn’t make Redspin the wrong choice — it makes role clarity the most important part of your decision.
Disclosure: The Defense Compliance Report is an independent trade publication on CMMC 2.0 and DIB compliance. We may receive compensation for qualified introductions, sponsorships, or partner referrals when disclosed. We have no compensation relationship with Redspin as of June 10, 2026. Compensation does not control our regulatory analysis, provider-category recommendations, or Cyber AB status verification. We are not affiliated with Redspin, The Cyber AB, the DoD, DCMA DIBCAC, NIST, or any U.S. government agency.
What we verified for this profile (June 10, 2026):
Provider category: C3PAO + Registered Provider Organization (RPO) + Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) / External Service Provider (ESP) + Authorized Training Partner. Confirmed via Redspin materials and The Cyber AB Marketplace.
C3PAO status: Cyber AB member record C3PAO-10315 is present. We did notrely on a stale claim for current status — see the verification step below and pull a fresh check before you decide.
Regulatory facts: Cross-checked against 32 CFR Part 170, the 48 CFR DFARS final rule, NIST SP 800-171 Revision 2, NIST SP 800-172, and The Cyber AB Code of Professional Conduct (CoPC) v2.0 and CMMC Assessment Process (CAP).
Company performance claims (e.g., “largest in-house assessor team,” “~25% of all Level 2 assessments”): company-stated, labeled as such below.
What we did not do: We did not sit through a Redspin assessment, interview Redspin’s customers, or audit its delivery files.
Redspin is a strong shortlist candidate for an assessment-ready defense contractor that needs a Level 2 C3PAO certification assessment, and a capable option for managed cloud and managed security. Whether it’s the right call for youdepends almost entirely on your stage — assessment-ready versus needing readiness first — and on keeping readiness and assessment in separate hands. That stage question, not brand recognition, is the decision that protects your budget and your certificate.
Find yourself in the table before you read further.
If this is you
Redspin fit
What to verify first
Your contract requires Level 2 (C3PAO), your scope is set, and your evidence is mature
Strong shortlist candidate
Current Cyber AB status, assessment calendar, assessor team, scope assumptions, scoped quote, POA&M close-out terms
You handle CUI but your SSP, evidence, or scope still need work
Maybe — but be careful
Whether using Redspin for readiness would block Redspin from later assessing you (it usually does)
You need a managed CUI enclave (GCC High), secure cloud, or managed security
Answer:Yes. Public records and Redspin’s materials identify Redspin as an authorized C3PAO — Cyber AB member record C3PAO-10315— and Redspin was the first organization The Cyber AB ever authorized as a C3PAO (June 2021). Redspin also states it was the first company to pass C3PAO recertification (October 2024). Still, confirm its currentstatus yourself before relying on it: under 32 CFR §170.9, only a currently authorized or accredited C3PAO can conduct a Level 2 certification assessment.
A quick definition, because it matters for trust: a C3PAOis a CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization — the only type of entity authorized by The Cyber AB (the program’s accreditation body) to conduct official CMMC Level 2 certification assessments and issue Certificates of CMMC Status under 32 CFR §170.9. No firm is “DoD-approved” in the way vendors sometimes imply; the DoD operates the program, The Cyber AB does the authorizing, and the Marketplace is where you check it.
Who owns Redspin. Redspin is the federal division of Clearwater, a cybersecurity and compliance company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Redspin built its early reputation on healthcare security and penetration testing before pivoting hard into the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and CMMC. If a Redspin contract or proposal lists a different legal entity, ask which entity is actually signing.
“Authorized” is a checkpoint, not a finish line. Under 32 CFR §170.9, a C3PAO must achieve and maintain ISO/IEC 17020:2012 accreditation within 27 months of authorization. None of this is a knock on Redspin — it’s the reason you check the live record rather than a press release.
Verify Redspin in under two minutes. Open The Cyber AB Marketplace, search “Redspin,” and confirm the C3PAO authorization is current. Read whether the record shows authorized or accredited. Don’t accept “candidate,” “almost certified,” or a screenshot from last year. The live record is the status that counts.
Editorial proof artifact: Annotated Cyber AB Marketplace capture of record C3PAO-10315 (Redspin), dated June 10, 2026, with the organization name, C3PAO ID, and authorized/accredited status field confirmed. Retained in our editorial file. The Marketplace renders authorization fields dynamically; pull a fresh screenshot on your evaluation date.
One more distinction worth getting right: the Marketplace is where youcheck a C3PAO ’s status. Your ownCMMC status, your CMMC unique identifier (UID), and your annual affirmation live in a different system — SPRS(the Supplier Performance Risk System, the DoD’s database for compliance scores). The assessor’s authorization and your certificate are tracked in different places.
Decision Resolution Point #1 — Confirm before you compare
See exactly which fields to read on a C3PAO’s Marketplace record (status, ID, authorized vs. accredited) so you never engage a lapsed assessor.
A single table that separates what public sources actually show, what the regulation requires, what we could and couldn’t verify, and the exact question to ask Redspin for each line. To build this yourself, you’d have to open Redspin’s service pages, the Marketplace, the CoPC, the CAP, 32 CFR Part 170, and the DFARS clauses. We did. Here it is on one screen.
Buyer question
What public sources show
Regulatory / verification standard
Our status label
What you should ask Redspin
Is Redspin actually a C3PAO?
Cyber AB member record C3PAO-10315; widely reported as the first authorized C3PAO
Only currently authorized/accredited C3PAOs may conduct Level 2 certification assessments (32 CFR §170.9)
Confirm current status before relying
“Confirm your current Marketplace status, C3PAO ID, and authorized-vs-accredited standing today.”
Can Redspin perform a Level 2 (C3PAO) assessment?
Redspin markets CMMC assessment services and is listed as a C3PAO
A Level 2 certification assessment requires an authorized/accredited C3PAO; results flow through CMMC eMASS to SPRS (32 CFR Part 170)
Regulatory path verified; provider status needs a live check
“Will our contract require Level 2 (Self) or Level 2 (C3PAO), and can you confirm our assessment scope before scheduling?”
Does Redspin offer readiness/consulting?
Redspin publicly offers gap assessments, SSP support, CUI-boundary review, and POA&M remediation help
A consultant who prepped you generally can’t be on your assessment team for 3 years (32 CFR §170.8(b)(17)(ii)(G); CoPC v2.0)
Company-stated service; conflict handling must be confirmed
“If Redspin does readiness work for us, can Redspin still be our assessor? If not, what’s the hand-off plan?”
Does Redspin offer managed cloud / a CUI enclave?
Redspin markets secure cloud, GCC High enclaves, and managed services
ESP/CSP roles must be scoped and documented; they affect your assessment scope (32 CFR Part 170; CAP)
Company-stated service; scope proof required
“Provide the Customer Responsibility Matrix and service description showing which requirements your environment supports.”
Is Redspin’s own managed environment CMMC-assessed?
Redspin states its MSSP unit earned Level 2 with a perfect 110 score via an independent C3PAO (April 2026)
A provider’s own certification does not replace your scope, assessment, SPRS status, and annual affirmation
Company-published; request the proof packet
“Send the CMMC UID, assessment date, assessed scope, Customer Responsibility Matrix, and which C3PAO assessed it.”
Does Redspin publish pricing?
No public pricing found
Pricing is commercial, not set by 32 CFR Part 170
Not publicly available
“Send a scoped quote separating readiness, assessment, managed cloud, managed services, licensing, travel, and POA&M close-out.”
Can Redspin guarantee certification?
No provider should promise this
The CoPC and CAP bar guaranteeing assessment/certification results or tying fees to the outcome
Hard disqualifier if promised
“Confirm in writing that your fees and claims are not contingent on a certification outcome.”
Treat the “company-stated” rows as starting points, not settled facts. The “what to ask” column is your leverage.
Are you actually ready for a CMMC assessment?
Answer:Most contractors who search for a C3PAO are not yet ready to be assessed — and hiring an assessor before you’re ready is how you end up paying twice. By August 2025, only 531 of more than 200,000 defense contractors had achieved CMMC Level 2 (per Redspin’s published case study). Industry trackers put total Level 2 certifications at roughly 1,000 by early 2026. The bottleneck isn’t assessor supply. It’s readiness.
A Level 2 certification assessment grades your environment against 110 security requirements mapped to 320 assessment objectives, drawn from NIST SP 800-171 Revision 2 and organized into 14 control families. When Eck Industries — a fourth-generation aluminum foundry — certified with Redspin, its team built a System Security Plan running more than 1,000 pages, per Eck’s public announcement. That’s the bar.
Run yourself through this readiness screen. If you can’t answer “yes” to most of it, you’re buying readiness, not an assessment:
CUI scope is defined. You know which systems process, store, or transmit CUI, and where your boundary sits.
Your SSP is complete. Every applicable requirement is documented, not aspirational.
Evidence is mapped. You can show, per objective, how each control is met.
Your SPRS score is current. Your NIST SP 800-171 self-assessment score is posted and defensible.
POA&M position is understood. You know which items (if any) you’d carry, and that the highest-weighted requirements can’t be deferred at all.
ESPs are documented. Any external/cloud providers have a Customer Responsibility Matrix and clear scope.
You have CUI but a weak SSP, thin evidence, or unscoped CUI
Readiness/remediation first
Yes, but not if they’ll also assess you
Use a separate readiness provider; reserve a C3PAO for later
You need GCC High / managed CUI cloud / scope reduction
Environment design that shrinks scope
Yes (managed cloud/ESP)
Compare Redspin’s managed cloud with enclave/MSP options
You only handle FCI
A Level 1 self-assessment
Not a C3PAO decision yet
Use our readiness checklist; you likely don’t need a C3PAO
You need Level 3
24 selected NIST SP 800-172 controls, assessed by DIBCAC
Supporting role only
Level 3 is DIBCAC-assessed, not C3PAO-assessed
Decision Resolution Point #2 — Not sure which row is yours?
Don’t guess with five figures on the line. Tell us your CMMC level, data type, scope, and timeline, and we’ll show you whether to compare C3PAOs now or start with a readiness provider first.
Can Redspin do your readiness and your assessment? The conflict-of-interest rule
Answer: Usually no — and this is the most important section on the page.Under 32 CFR §170.8(b)(17)(ii)(G), a CMMC ecosystem member is barred from participating in the Level 2 certification of an organization it served as a consultant to prepare, for three years. The Cyber AB’s Code of Professional Conduct applies this to the C3PAO as a whole and to every assessor on the team, covering any preparatory, advisory, or consulting work. In plain terms: the firm that gets you ready generally cannot be the firm that certifies you.
You cannot use Redspin as a one-stop shop that both remediates your gaps and then certifies you. That’s the limitation. Here’s why it shouldn’t scare you off, and why it’s a point in the program’s favor: this rule isn’t a Redspin quirk — it binds every reputable C3PAO, and it exists to keep assessors from grading their own homework. A certificate that an impartial assessor signed is worth more to your primes and your contracting officer than one from a firm that also built your SSP.
There is one narrow exception worth understanding, and Redspin’s Qarbon Aerospace case study relies on that distinction. A mock assessmentis not consulting. In that case study, Redspin defines a mock assessment as “a practice run of the certification process” that “does not include guidance, remediation support, or consulting” — purely a simulation to help you find your own gaps. Because the mock was non-advisory, Redspin states it conducted both Qarbon’s mock and its formal assessment without a conflict. The line is bright but specific: simulation is allowed; advice, remediation, and SSP-building are not. Get it in writing. Ask Redspin to label the work exactly.
Get readiness from a separate RPO/MSP, then bring Redspin in to assess
A non-advisory mock assessment plus the formal assessment
Yes, if the mock includes zero guidance
Confirm in writing the mock is simulation-only
Managed security/cloud (ESP) plus an assessment
Depends — ESP/affiliate ties raise scope and impartiality questions; requires documented COI review, CRM, service description, and assessment-scope evidence
Keep your assessor independent of your operational providers; confirm in writing
Training only (CCP/CCA)
Yes
Training doesn’t bar assessment
Decision Resolution Point #3 — Separate readiness from assessment before you sign anything
If your gaps are real, get implementation help from a provider category that won’t conflict you out of your own certification later.
Answer:Redspin’s public materials describe five service lines: formal CMMC assessments, readiness consulting, managed cloud (including GCC High enclaves), managed security services, and CMMC training. The standout company-published proof point is Redspin’s April 2026 announcement that its own MSSP business unit earned Level 2 certification with a perfect 110 score after an independent third-party assessment. Treat the rest as company-stated service lines, and verify scope, staffing, conflicts, and deliverables before you rely on any one of them.
Redspin service line
Public-source basis
Your use case
Role risk if you later want Redspin as your C3PAO
CMMC assessment / certification
Redspin C3PAO and assessment pages
Your formal Level 2 (C3PAO) assessment
This is the assessor role — no conflict by definition
Readiness / consulting
Redspin consulting and readiness pages
Gap analysis, SSP, CUI boundary, POA&M roadmap
High — triggers the 3-year consultant bar; use a different C3PAO to certify
Managed cloud / GCC High enclave
Redspin managed-cloud and home pages
Reducing or controlling your CUI scope
Review required — ESP scope, Customer Responsibility Matrix, and independence must be documented
Managed security (MSSP / ESP)
April 2026 Redspin announcement
Ongoing security operations and monitoring
Review required — keep your assessor independent of your operations
CCP / CCA training
Redspin training subdomain
Workforce and assessor-track training
Low — training doesn’t bar assessment
A note on the marketing: Redspin states it has “the largest in-house team of assessors” and has “conducted approximately 25% of all CMMC Level 2 assessments completed across the DIB to date.” Those are plausible given its head start, but they are company-statedand not independently confirmable from the public Marketplace. If assessor depth is decisive for you, ask Redspin to substantiate the numbers and to name the lead assessors who’d be on your engagement.
How much does a Redspin CMMC assessment cost?
Answer: Redspin does not publish pricing. For budgeting, independent 2026 cost analyses put a Level 2 C3PAO assessment feeat roughly $30,000–$100,000+, and that fee is typically only 20–30% of your total certification cost. The DoD’s own regulatory impact analysis for 32 CFR Part 170 estimated the three-year cost of a Level 2 certification cycle at $104,670 for a small entity and $117,690 for a larger one, explicitly excluding readiness costs. Your job is to make every quote comparable.
Cost element (Level 2)
Typical figure
Source basis
C3PAO assessment fee only (what an assessor like Redspin invoices)
~$30,000–$100,000+, scope-dependent
2026 market analyses
Assessment fee as a share of total certification cost
DoD Final Rule regulatory impact analysis (modeled); excludes readiness
Total first-cycle cost (readiness + technology + assessment)
~$75,000–$300,000+
DCR synthesis of 2026 market analyses
Small business (≤50 employees), year one
~$75,000–$138,000
2026 market analyses
Mid-size (51–200), year one
~$150,000–$257,000
2026 market analyses
Cost methodology: Our ranges are an editorial synthesis of public 2026 provider cost analyses plus the DoD’s 2024 Final Rule cost assumptions. They are not Redspin quotes. The DoD figures are modeledthree-year certification-cycle estimates and explicitly exclude remediation and technology — which is why real-world first-cycle totals run higher. The single biggest variable is your remediation gap.
Make the quote apples-to-apples. Ask any C3PAO — Redspin included — for:
The service type: formal Level 2 (C3PAO), non-advisory mock, gap assessment, readiness, managed cloud, or managed services
The scope assumption: whole enterprise, a CUI enclave, a project, or a business unit
The number of users, locations, systems, and external service providers assumed
Whether travel is included
Whether POA&M close-out re-checks are included
Whether assessor interview time is fixed or variable
Whether re-work or postponement fees apply
Whether the engagement creates any future assessment conflict
A gut check both ways: a quote that looks too low usually assumes a smaller scope than yours, and a quote that bundles readiness with assessment may be heading straight into the conflict-of-interest wall.
Decision Resolution Point #4 — Compare Redspin against real, scoped numbers
Use one consistent set of scope assumptions across every provider so you’re comparing the same thing.
What customer evidence actually exists for Redspin?
Answer:Redspin has real, named, public CMMC engagements — which is more than many providers can show — but most of the evidence is provider-published or customer press releases. Use it as directional proof that Redspin does real assessment work at real defense companies, not as proof that you ’ll get the same price, timeline, or outcome.
The named examples we could source, with the evidence type labeled so you can weigh each one:
Qarbon Aerospace(Red Oak, Texas) — a composite-structures manufacturer that certified at Level 2 with Redspin as its C3PAO, and was the 531st organization of 200,000+ to reach Level 2. Qarbon completed a non-advisory mock assessment first. Evidence type: provider-published case study + customer press release (August 2025).
Eck Industries(Manitowoc, Wisconsin) — a fourth-generation aluminum foundry that certified at Level 2 with Redspin, building a 1,000+ page SSP and passing roughly 20 days after the rules took effect. Evidence type: customer press release (April 2025).
C Speed— a defense technology firm that announced in May 2026 that it achieved Level 2 certification with a perfect 110 score after completing its assessment with Redspin, covering all 110 requirements and 320 objectives. Evidence type: company press release.
What’s missing — and what you should weigh: we did not find a structured, independent customer-review dataset, a public Redspin CMMC pass-rate dataset, a public Redspin pricing schedule, or a verified complaint-history dataset. These examples show Redspin has genuine CMMC engagement experience. They do not prove pricing, timeline, pass probability, or fit for yourscope. We don’t assign star ratings on this page, because we haven’t run a structured customer survey.
Redspin vs. other authorized C3PAOs: when to compare
Answer:The rule of thumb: compare other authorized C3PAOs when you’re assessment-ready; compare RPO/MSP/MSSP providers when you need readiness; and compare enclave or GRC providers when your real problem is CUI scope or evidence operations. The “best” C3PAO is simply the one whose authorization is current, whose experience matches your size and CUI environment, and whose calendar fits your deadline.
Map your real need before you compare names:
If your real need is…
Compare Redspin against…
Why
A formal Level 2 (C3PAO) assessment
Other authorized/accredited C3PAOs
Assessment calendar, team fit, industry experience, quote clarity
Readiness / remediation
RPOs, CMMC consultants, MSPs/MSSPs
Implementation must stay separate from formal assessment
CUI scope reduction
GCC High / GovCloud / enclave providers
Your environment design often decides your assessment cost
Evidence operations
GRC / SSP / POA&M platforms
An assessment goes faster when your evidence is organized
Ongoing sustainment
Managed compliance / MSSP
Annual affirmations and continuous evidence matter after you certify
If you want to weigh specific assessors, examples of other authorized C3PAOs buyers commonly evaluate include Coalfire Federal, Schellman, A‑LIGN, Kratos, and Fortreum. We list those as starting points, not endorsements — the same rule applies to every one of them: confirm the firm’s current status on The Cyber AB Marketplace before you engage. For a side-by-side on what to weigh, see our guide to choosing a Level 2 C3PAO.
Decision Resolution Point #5 — Build a clean shortlist
Tell us whether you need assessment, readiness, managed services, enclave design, or evidence software, and we’ll match the right category before you start comparing individual names.
Answer:The right call with any C3PAO should feel like a scope-and-conflict review, not a demo. Bring this list. The answers tell you whether you’re talking to your future assessor, your future readiness partner, or neither — and they surface the conflict-of-interest problem before it costs you a re-do.
Status and scope
Which exact legal entity will sign our contract?
What is your current Cyber AB Marketplace status today, and are you authorized or accredited for what we need?
Is this engagement a formal assessment, a non-advisory mock, a gap assessment, advisory consulting, managed cloud, managed services, or training?
What scope are you assuming — enterprise, enclave, project, or business unit — and which assets, CSPs, and ESPs are in it?
Conflict of interest
If you do readiness work for us, can you still be our assessor? If not, what’s the hand-off plan to a different C3PAO?
Have any of your assigned people provided us consulting, templates, or implementation help in the last three years?
Will you provide a written conflict-of-interest determination before we sign?
Team and process
Who are the Lead CCA and assessors who would be on our engagement, and what’s their relevant industry experience?
What is our expected CMMC eMASS and SPRS path, and is POA&M close-out included?
What evidence format do you expect, and what happens if a readiness check shows we’re not ready?
Cost and proof
Send a scoped quote separating assessment, readiness, managed cloud, managed services, licensing, travel, and POA&M close-out.
What are fixed fees versus variable fees, and do re-work or postponement fees apply?
Provide two references that match our size, sector, environment, and assessment type.
Confirm in writing that your fees and claims are not contingent on a certification outcome.
If a provider bristles at questions 5, 7, or 14, that tells you something. The good ones expect these questions.
Take all 14 questions, plus the readiness screen and the conflict-of-interest decision matrix, into your next vendor call.
The DFARS and CMMC facts that shape the Redspin decision
Answer: Two terms get blurred constantly, and the difference changes who you hire. A Level 2 self-assessment is something you perform and attest to yourself; a Level 2 certification assessment must be performed by an authorized or accredited C3PAO like Redspin. Your contract clause decides which one applies. Mandatory Level 2 C3PAO certifications begin appearing in applicable contracts on November 10, 2026(Phase 2) — though the DoD may require Level 2 (C3PAO) in some earlier Phase 1 procurements at its discretion.
The rules are real and in force. The CMMC Program rule (32 CFR Part 170) took effect December 16, 2024. The DFARS clause that actually puts CMMC into contracts — DFARS 252.204‑7021 — took effect November 10, 2025 under the 48 CFR final rule. Phase 1 is live now. Phase 2 (mandatory Level 2 C3PAO certifications in applicable awards) begins November 10, 2026.
The DFARS stack, in one breath. DFARS 252.204‑7012 covers safeguarding/cyber-incident reporting tied to CUI and cloud requirements; 7019 requires a current (within three years) NIST SP 800‑171 DoD Assessment score posted in SPRS to be eligible for award; 7020 requires maintaining that score and ensuring subcontractors handling CUI have a current score before subcontract award (flow-down); and 7021 (with solicitation provision 252.204‑7025) is the CMMC requirement itself.
Level 2 maps to NIST SP 800‑171 Revision 2 — 110 requirements, 320 assessment objectives, 14 control families. Revision 3 exists as a separate NIST publication, but it is notthe controlling CMMC Level 2 baseline unless and until the DoD amends the rule. If a provider tells you Level 2 is “Rev. 3 now,” that’s a red flag.
Conditional vs. Final status. Some requirements can’t be deferred to a POA&M at all. If you pass with a limited POA&M, you receive a Conditional CMMC Status and have 180 days to close those items for a Final status, with results posted in SPRS.
What Level 3 actually is. Level 3 requires a Final Level 2 (C3PAO) result for the same scope, plus 24 selected requirements from NIST SP 800‑172, and it ’s assessed by the government’s DIBCAC — not by a C3PAO. We noticed Redspin’s certification page still describes Level 3 as “to be defined in the near future.” That language is stale against the current rule. It’s a minor marketing lag, not a competence issue — but it’s a good reminder to verify any provider’s claims against 32 CFR Part 170 itself.
Redspin CMMC review FAQ
Short, direct answers to the questions buyers ask most. Where a claim is factual, we point to the primary source; where it’s commercial, we tell you to verify it.
Is Redspin a C3PAO?
Yes. Public records and Redspin’s materials identify Redspin as an authorized C3PAO (Cyber AB member record C3PAO-10315), and it was the first organization The Cyber AB authorized, in June 2021. Confirm its current status on the Marketplace before relying on it, since only currently authorized or accredited C3PAOs can conduct a Level 2 certification assessment and issue a Certificate of CMMC Status.
Who owns Redspin?
Redspin is the federal division of Clearwater, a cybersecurity and compliance company based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Does Redspin perform CMMC Level 2 assessments?
Yes — Redspin markets formal Level 2 (C3PAO) certification assessment services, and under 32 CFR Part 170 only an authorized or accredited C3PAO may conduct that assessment and issue the certificate. Confirm the scope and your contract’s required assessment type before scheduling.
Can Redspin do my readiness and my assessment?
Generally no. Under 32 CFR §170.8(b)(17)(ii)(G), a firm that consults to prepare you can’t be on your certification team for three years. The exception is a non-advisory mock assessment, which Redspin defines as a simulation with no guidance or remediation — get the work labeled in writing.
How much does a Redspin CMMC assessment cost?
Redspin doesn’t publish pricing. For budgeting, independent 2026 analyses put a Level 2 assessment fee at roughly $30,000–$100,000+, typically 20–30% of total certification cost; the DoD’s regulatory analysis modeled the three-year certification cycle at $104,670 (small) to $117,690 (larger), excluding readiness. Request a scoped quote that separates each service.
Does Redspin guarantee certification?
No reputable provider should. The Cyber AB Code of Professional Conduct and CMMC Assessment Process prohibit guaranteeing assessment or certification outcomes or tying fees to the result.
Does CMMC Level 2 use NIST SP 800‑171 Rev. 2 or Rev. 3?
Revision 2. Current CMMC Level 2 under 32 CFR Part 170 incorporates NIST SP 800-171 Revision 2 — 110 requirements and 320 assessment objectives. Don’t treat Rev. 3 as the controlling baseline unless the DoD amends the rule.
Is Redspin an RPO as well as a C3PAO?
Yes — Redspin is listed as a Registered Provider Organization and operates managed-services and training lines too. That multi-role footprint is exactly why the conflict-of-interest rule matters when you decide which role Redspin should play for you.
What is a JSVA, and why does Redspin’s experience there matter?
A Joint Surveillance Voluntary Assessment was a pre-rule pilot assessment conducted jointly by a C3PAO and the government’s DIBCAC, used to give early movers a head start. Redspin states it ran more JSVAs than any other C3PAO, which is one reason it’s often described as the most experienced assessor — a company-stated claim worth confirming for your engagement.
How do I verify Redspin’s current status myself?
Open The Cyber AB Marketplace, search “Redspin,” and read the status, C3PAO ID, and authorized-vs-accredited fields. The live record — not a press release or screenshot — is what counts.
The bottom line
Redspin is a real, experienced C3PAO and a credible choice if you’re assessment-ready. The decision that actually protects your money isn’t whether Redspin is legitimate — it ’s whether you need a certifying assessor now or readiness first, and keeping those two jobs in separate hands so the conflict-of-interest rule never trips you. Confirm Redspin’s current Marketplace status, decide the role you want it to play, and get a scoped quote you can compare.
Need help deciding what type of CMMC provider you need?
Tell us your level, scope, and timeline, and we’ll match you with source-checked CMMC provider options.
The Defense Compliance Report is an independent trade publication on CMMC 2.0 and DIB compliance. Not affiliated with Redspin, The Cyber AB, the Department of Defense, DCMA DIBCAC, NIST, or any U.S. government agency. This article is informational and is not legal, contractual, or compliance advice. Provider claims are attributed to the provider and should be independently verified. Last verified . Corrections policy.
Sources:32 CFR Part 170 (CMMC Program rule, effective Dec 16, 2024) including §170.8(b)(17)(ii)(G) and §170.9; The Cyber AB CoPC v2.0 and CAP; 48 CFR DFARS final rule (DFARS 252.204‑7021 and 252.204‑7025, effective Nov 10, 2025); DFARS 252.204‑7012, 7019, 7020; CMMC Final Rule and regulatory impact analysis (Federal Register, Oct 15, 2024); NIST SP 800‑171 Revision 2 and SP 800‑172; The Cyber AB Marketplace — Redspin member record C3PAO‑10315; Redspin company/service pages, Qarbon Aerospace case study, April 2026 managed-security certification announcement; named client announcements: Qarbon Aerospace (Aug 2025), Eck Industries (Apr 2025), C Speed (May 2026).