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If you’re looking at getting authorized to sell to the government, you need to know how much it costs to write a system security plan (SSP) and what drives the cost up or down.
Creating an SSP is one of the most expensive steps to get authorization to sell services to the government. It’s important to know whether the costs are worth the revenue.
Here you'll learn how much you can expect to pay to create your SSP and the steps you can take to create a high-quality SSP for less.
How Much Does it Cost to Get a System Security Plan (SSP)?
A system security plan (SSP) and authorization to operate (ATO) package document how you’re managing required security controls. This documentation is necessary if you want to sell your services or products to the government.
Expect initial compliance documentation costs to be anywhere from $8,500 - $1 million+.
Yes, the price range is huge. There are many types of SSPs and different levels of complexity.
The cost of your organization’s SSP will depend on:
- The impact level of the data you’re securing: Low, moderate, or high impact
- The type of authorization you need: FedRAMP, StateRAMP, TX-RAMP, CMMC
- Whether you write your SSP in-house, or use consultants.
- If you (or your advisor) utilize SSP and ATO package automation software or manually write the SSP.
Factors that make your SSP more or less expensive
Impact Level
The number of security controls increase with each impact level. More controls = more documentation. More documentation takes more time, so expect your SSP expenses to rise with the page count.
Authorization Type
Controls also change depending on the type of authorization you need. FedRAMP High or FISMA will have the most controls and is therefore the most expensive.
An authorization like Li-SaaS has far fewer controls than FedRAMP High and will leave a smaller dent in your bank account, though it can limit your potential ROI.
Writing an SSP for CMMC is be less expensive than creating one for FedRAMP.
→ Not sure where to start? Get your personalized roadmap to your compliance goals with an inexpensive gap assessment from Paramify.
Automated or Manual SSP Generation
You’ll pay for every hour it takes to write your SSP(s). Either in employee costs or consulting costs. Time really is money when you’re writing an SSP.
Manually writing your SSP will take several months to years or you can create an accurate SSP in 1-7 days with automation software.
Consider Paramify’s one-of-a-kind compliance planning and documentation software if you want the time and cost savings of SSP automation. Get more details to find out if Paramify is a good fit for your organization’s security goals.
Using a GRC Consultant
Hiring a consultant may drive your costs up or reduce them, depending on your circumstances.
Sometimes consultants can create the SSP faster, saving you time and money. But, if your in-house team is experienced and familiar with your system, they could likely create the SSP for less.
Not sure which is best for you? Learn when to consider hiring a GRC advisor.
Many top advisors partner with Paramify. These advisors are able to provide a better SSP faster than advisors who manually produce documentation.
You’ll also get the long-term benefits of an automated SSP and POA&Ms if you use an advisor aligned with Paramify.
→ Connect with an advisor
Automated vs Manual SSP Costs
Manual: $15,000 - $1 million+
Automated: $8,000 - $45,000+
Fully automated SSP:
- Less expensive
- Is more accurate
- Can be built in hours to days so you can move toward authorization – and more revenue – faster
- Easier to update and manage
Manually created SSP:
- Traditional method
- More expensive and time consuming
- Less accurate
→ Sign up for a free demo of Paramify to see an automated SSP
CMMC System Security Plan (SSP) Price Range
Manual CMMC documentation for levels 2 and 3 ranges from $15,000 - $70,000+.
Automated CMMC documentation, including gap assessment and implementation road map and SSP, costs between $8,000 - $15,000 per year for 3 years.
→ Learn how much CMMC may cost your organization
FedRAMP, FISMA, StateRAMP, TX-RAMP SSP Price Range
Automated NIST 800-53 Documentation:
With Paramify you can expect to spend $8,000 - $40,000+ to generate your gap assessment, road map and full ATO package, including the SSP.
The SSP itself will likely only take from 1-7 days to create and the whole process can be done in 1-3 months. Your automated documentation will also be more accurate and easier to update and adjust to save you more time and money down the road.
Manual NIST 800-53 Documentation:
Manual documentation will likely cost from $250,000 to $1 million dollars and take 6-24 months.
Even with the best GRC pros this SSP will contain errors that slow your assessment and continue to cost you time and money.
Automated NIST 800-53 SSP Documentation Cost Breakdown:
Here’s what you can expect to pay for FedRAMP, FISMA, StateRAMP, and TX-RAMP documentation:
Possible Added Costs for an Automated SSP
Exactly how much you’ll spend depends on your data impact level and type of authorization.
Some orgs need to self host our software to maintain their FedRAMP status. Self-hosting is more cumbersome than using cloud software, so it costs about $10K more for assistance setting up and managing the on-site software.
Paramify is going through the FedRAMP process so fewer users will need to self-host. We expect to be authorized in the coming year.
→ Get a customized quote for your automated SSP & ATO package(s).
How to Get an Automated SSP
The only way to create a fully-automated SSP is by using Paramify.
You can create an automated SSP in 1-7 days, rather than months, using our Risk Solutions platform. It will be much more accurate than a manual version, saving you even more time and expense in corrections.
We’ve successfully generated PMO-approved SSPs for leading cloud service providers like Palo Alto Networks, Adobe, Cisco, Trellix, Keeper Security, + many more.
Watch below to see how Risk Solutions can automate your SSP documentation process:
How to Automate and Digitize an Existing SSP
We can ingest your current SSP and use it to quickly create a more accurate, digital, automated version.
→ Request a free video demo of Paramify to decide if automation is right for you
Get an Automated SSP with an Advisor
You may want to hire a consultant to guide you through the compliance process. These advisors are familiar with SSP automation:
→ Learn how to know when you need to hire a GRC advisor
Manually Written SSP Cost Breakdown
Expect to pay between $250k - $1 million if you choose to go old school and build your SSP manually.
It usually takes months up to years to complete a manual SSP, while also being a tedious, soul-sucking process that drains your security budget and personnel’s time/will to live.
These SSPs also take longer to get through assessments and approvals because human-made errors are unavoidable – even when built by the best of the best.
The time you spend building your SSP is time you aren’t generating revenue. Calculate the lost opportunity cost into the price of a manually written SSP.
Price of Manually Writing an SSP In-House vs Hiring Consultants
You can hire an external group to manually write your SSP or hire several internal GRC professionals and tech writers to create it using the templates provided by FedRAMP.
Which method costs more or less will depend on your circumstances. Consider the pros and cons of each for your organization.
- Hiring consultants: May save you some time and money. Expect to pay between $150 to $210 an hour. Keep in mind, consultants may not fully understand your system, and that could cause costly delays. You will also still need some internal personnel to manage your SSP.
- Hiring a full internal team: May take longer and use up more resources, but it could also move faster with their in-depth experience with your product. Plan to pay each GRC team member $150k+.
As always, weigh the factors when you’re making these important decisions. Only you can know what method is right for your organization and your budget.
Get Started with a Gap Assessment
A gap assessment usually costs between $10k - $30k for CMMC or $20k and $90k for StateRAMP or FedRAMP.
You can get a one-time gap assessment from Paramify for $5k - 15k. If you decide to use our software for your documentation the gap assessment cost will be applied towards your annual price.
The assessment provides your team a roadmap of what you need to fix or adjust to meet the unique controls for your compliance goals.
We do not recommend starting your SSP without one. Your roadmap will help you start with your security strategy in mind and keep you from wasting time on unnecessary mistakes.
→ Sign up for your gap assessment today
Ongoing SSP Compliance Costs
How Much Does Continuous Monitoring Cost?
How much you spend on SSP Continuous Monitoring (ConMon) will depend on how much personnel you need to dedicate to it. Plan to spend between 100k - 150k per salary.
Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms) documentation is the most time consuming part of ConMon. If you’d like to lower your expenses and spend less time on ConMon you can use Paramify to automate your POA&Ms.
→ Reach out with any questions or to take part in our POA&M product testing.
SSP Maintenance Costs
Manual SSP
Maintenance costs will be determined by how many resources you need to put toward maintaining your SSP.
If you’re manually maintaining your SSP you’ll need to have enough personnel at 100k - 150k or plan to pay hourly advisors.
Automated SSP
If you choose an automated SSP expect to spend less maintaining your SSP.
Updates are simpler and require fewer resources, so you won’t need to dedicate as many of your GRC resources to maintenance.
There are no added costs to update or change your SSP, since it’s included in the yearly cost of using Paramify.
Check out the story of one company transitioned to Rev 5 in under 4 hours with Paramify:
→ Request a gap assessment and get a customized quote for your SSP & ATO package(s).
Build Your SSP Faster, for Less
Now that you have a better idea how much it will cost to build an SSP, you can decide whether or not the potential revenue is worth the cost.
If the benefits of an automated SSP are right for your org, we’d love to help you get started.
Sign up for your inexpensive gap assessment and roadmap, or request a personalized demo to see Paramify in action.
If a self-guided video demo is more your speed, sign up below and we’ll send it right to your inbox:
Learn More:
→ How to get FedRAMP and how long it really takes
→ The easiest and fastest way to get an accurate SSP
→ The benefits and shortcomings of OSCAL-based digital documentation
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