A Huntsville-based defense contractor has been selected to compete for work under a new U.S. Army pilot program designed to help small defense contractors meet increasingly complex cybersecurity requirements.
Summit 7 Systems is among eight companies named in a Department of Defense contract announcement tied to the Next-gen Commercial Operations in Defended Enclaves, or NCODE, pilot program.
The initiative carries a total value of up to $49 million over five years and is aimed at supporting small businesses navigating federal cybersecurity standards.
According to the Department of Defense, Summit 7 and seven other firms will compete for individual task orders under the firm-fixed-price contract, which is managed by Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
The work is expected to run through May 14, 2031, with locations and funding determined on a per-order basis.
The NCODE program is the Army’s effort to address cost and complexity barriers associated with compliance standards such as National Institute of Standards and Technology SP 800-171 and the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, commonly known as CMMC.
The pilot is focused on small businesses with two to 10 employees, pairing them with Verified External Service Providers, or VESPs, to help establish secure operating environments.
According to Summit 7, the company is the only Agreement for Online Services-Government, or AOS-G, partner selected to participate in the NCODE program. The company said it plans to leverage its experience working with Microsoft 365 Government Community Cloud High and Azure Government environments to support defense contractors pursuing compliance requirements.
In a statement describing the company’s participation, Summit 7 CEO Scott Edwards emphasized the importance of supporting smaller firms within the defense supply chain.
“This critical enclave environment will allow us to ensure that the most innovative, yet vulnerable, members of our defense supply chain are not shut out of participating in our defense industrial base,” Edwards said. “These highly innovative companies bring capabilities to the ecosystem that we cannot afford to lose. Summit 7 is incredibly excited to help these companies continue to bring new capabilities to market for our warfighters.”
Dan Yaciuk, Summit 7’s director of federal sales, described the program as a potential turning point for smaller contractors struggling to meet compliance requirements.
“The NCODE Program is a groundbreaking solution for eligible businesses that otherwise may find NIST 800-171 and CMMC unattainable,” Yaciuk said. “Ensuring these small businesses have the tools and support required to remain a part of the DIB Supply Chain addresses a significant data security concern shared by the Army and DoD.”
Under the pilot, eight VESPs are expected to support a selected number of small businesses, with the capability to scale support to as many as 1,000 companies. Summit 7 said the broader NCODE program is expected to launch within six months and could eventually expand to support thousands of eligible businesses across the Defense Industrial Base.
While initially launched by the Army, the program is expected to expand to include contractors supporting other branches, including the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, National Guard and major defense agencies.
Summit 7’s role as a VESP would involve helping those businesses implement and maintain required cybersecurity controls, positioning them to compete for and retain Department of Defense contracts.
The company, which focuses exclusively on the defense supply chain, has grown rapidly in recent years and is known for its work in compliance frameworks including CMMC and NIST 800-171.
