With CMMC requirements now embedded in DoW contract solicitations and renewals, primes face growing risk due to limited visibility into supplier compliance readiness, putting key programs at risk when suppliers fail to achieve CMMC accreditation on time.  A single uncertified supplier can mean disqualification from contract award. Together, A-LIGN and Exostar make the path to certification for primes and their suppliers faster and more straightforward, while giving primes unprecedented confidence in the security and compliance of their supply chains.

“The defense supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” said Scott Price, CEO of A-LIGN. “By pairing Exostar’s supply chain visibility capabilities with A-LIGN’s experienced CMMC teams that conduct rigorous assessments at scale, we’re giving prime contractors the confidence that every supplier in their network gets certified and compliant before affecting DoW revenue streams. The partnership will help contractors drive readiness, strengthen security at scale, and position themselves for success.”

“Our community has trusted us to deliver supply chain visibility and management and secure, compliant collaboration for over two decades. We’ve understood the importance of CMMC to the DoW and the DIB since the framework was first proposed in 2019, leading us to invest in the development of our innovative CMMC Ready Suite of products and managed services,” said Richard Addi, CEO at Exostar. “Partnering with A-LIGN complements our CMMC Ready Suite with the resources necessary to give our customers the direct, trusted accreditation assessment pathway imperative for primes and suppliers to protect and enhance their DoW revenue streams.”

Source: Exostar

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Small businesses in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) provide vital technological innovation in support of U.S. national security. However, they face persistent cybersecurity threats from criminal and nation-state actors, putting them and warfighters at risk.

The NCODE initiative provides DIB small businesses with a streamlined, Department of Defense (DoD) funded vehicle to improve their cybersecurity posture and reduce mission risk through Verified External Service Providers (VESPs). By working with VESPs such as Exostar, small businesses can implement National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards including NIST Special Publication 800-171 (NIST SP 800-171) required to receive Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) accreditation and qualify for DoD contracts.

Exostar’s selection reflects its deep experience supporting small businesses across the DIB, along with its early achievement of CMMC Level 2 accreditation and FedRAMP Moderate Equivalent authorization. These capabilities power the company’s CMMC Ready Suite, a secure, cloud-based environment that enables organizations to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and more efficiently meet evolving cybersecurity requirements at scale, the company said

“Programs like NCODE are critical to ensuring small businesses can participate fully and securely in priority Army initiatives,” said Richard Addi, president and chief executive officer at Exostar. “We’re proud to support a scalable approach that helps suppliers meet cybersecurity requirements while accelerating mission readiness.”

Source: Exostar

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The post Exostar selected for NCODE IDIQ contract appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

With fewer than 1,000 organizations nationwide holding this designation, Exostar received a perfect score. This result confirms that Exostar meets all 110 controls defined in National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 (NIST SP 800-171) Revision 2, which directly aligns with the CMMC Maturity Level 2 standard. Notably, Exostar required no Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) to remediate any shortcomings, underscoring the completeness and rigor of its cybersecurity posture.

“As a company rooted in providing trusted, secure, and compliant B2B collaboration solutions for the aerospace and defense industry, we are proud to serve more than half of the DIB,” said Jason LaPointe, Exostar’s chief technology officer. “Dating back to the early days of CMMC in 2019, we continue to invest in developing solutions to help our community navigate their CMMC journeys. Achieving and maintaining CMMC Maturity Level 2 and FedRAMP Moderate Equivalent compliance reflects our deep commitment to our customers to help them protect, execute, and expand their business with the DoD/DoW.”

Source: Exostar

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The post Exostar achieves CMMC Level 2 appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

The Exostar Platform accelerates the digital transformation initiatives of nearly 200,000 companies worldwide and mitigates risks when engaging with their global communities of customers, partners and suppliers. Its portfolio of products allows companies to share sensitive information in a trusted environment and transact business securely, compliantly and efficiently across multi-tiered networks. This transaction will position Exostar to continue building on the significant growth and transformation realized under Thoma Bravo’s ownership, and achieve accelerated long-term success by driving product development and expanded services for customers.

“Exostar is a true industry leader with an expanding market opportunity, especially as the need for digital trust across organizations and geographies continues to grow rapidly and the security of global supply chains is top of mind to business leaders,” said Michael Lustbader, a managing partner at Arlington Capital Partners. “We have great respect for what Richard Addi and the entire Exostar team have accomplished and look forward to working alongside them to drive continued success using our collective domain expertise.”

“Arlington’s focus on regulated industries including aerospace and defense, healthcare and life sciences, aligns directly with the markets we serve. This synergy makes them an ideal partner for us as we enter the next stage of our corporate journey. We look forward to leveraging Arlington’s expertise and connections to help us further strengthen our platform and exceed our ambitious growth targets,” said Richard Addi, chief executive officer and president of Exostar. “Together with Thoma Bravo, we have made incredible strides in advancing our mission of delivering best-in-class products for our valued customers while at the same time delivering accelerated and profitable growth. We very much appreciate their support.”

Ben Ramundo, a principal at Arlington Capital Partners, added, “Exostar plays a critical role in securely facilitating supply chain transactions and broader collaboration between the largest aerospace, defense and healthcare firms and each of their supply bases. We look forward to strengthening that network even further by building upon management’s impressive accomplishments under Thoma Bravo’s stewardship.”

“It has been a privilege to work alongside the Exostar team,” said Carl Press, a partner at Thoma Bravo. “Under Richard’s leadership, the company successfully transformed its commercial capabilities, expanded its product offering with The Exostar Platform and achieved substantial growth in both revenue and earnings, all while remaining true to its long-standing commitments to customers and partners. We are very proud of the business transformation that took place under Thoma Bravo’s ownership, and I’m confident that Arlington will help take Exostar to even greater heights.”

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2023, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Source: Arlington Capital

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The post Arlington Capital to acquire Exostar from Thoma Bravo appeared first on Intelligence Community News.

Exostar’s platform creates trusted communities where companies can manage the complexity and mitigate the risks associated with collaborating with external partners. Thoma Bravo plans to leverage its expertise in enterprise software solutions for complex industries to partner with Exostar’s existing management to further develop and expand the company’s current capabilities, particularly in cybersecurity, to position the company for further growth.

“Our corporate vision remains unchanged…to be a trusted, innovative leader in secure business collaboration for highly-regulated industries. Thoma Bravo’s strategic investment positions us to more rapidly expand our community and deliver the digital trust that must exist between an enterprise and its suppliers, customers and partners,” said Richard Addi, president and CEO at Exostar. “This transaction reflects the logical next step in our company’s evolution. We can leverage Thoma Bravo’s deep technology and security experience to take full advantage of our unique market position. Together, we plan to accelerate time-to-market for the Exostar suite of solutions that enable global enterprises to execute their mission-critical supply chain and drug development initiatives.”

Exostar was developed as a joint venture between some of the world’s leading businesses, including BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Rolls-Royce, and, more recently, Merck. Initially formed as a B2B aerospace and defense industry exchange, the company’s secure platform now serves over 150,000 organizations worldwide in not only aerospace and defense, but the life sciences and healthcare markets as well. Exostar’s former shareholders plan to remain actively involved as customers and advisors offering guidance on the product roadmap and strategic platform investments.

Paul Kaminski, who has served as chairman of the board at Exostar since the company’s inception, said, “Exostar has been a successful endeavor for its six joint venture owners over the past two decades. Now, the company has reached a point where a more growth-focused model can allow Exostar to further innovate and expand its capabilities. The expertise, energy and experience Thoma Bravo brings to Exostar should help enable the company to pursue substantial opportunities for growth, while remaining deeply committed to its existing customer base.”

“Exostar’s identity access management and secure collaboration software is utilized by some of the most respected and well-known enterprise customers in aerospace and defense, life sciences and healthcare,” said Carl Press, a principal at Thoma Bravo. “The company’s understanding of complex organizations’ procurement and collaboration needs is a key differentiator inherent in its products. We’re thrilled to partner with Richard Addi and the Exostar team to accelerate the company’s innovation and growth over both the near and long term.”

Source: Thoma Bravo

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