Compliance · HIPAA · PCI DSS · CMMC · MA WISP
IT Compliance Services for Boston & Massachusetts Businesses
IT compliance is not a certificate on the wall. In practice it is a set of technical controls, MFA, endpoint protection, encryption, verified backups, logging, and written policies, implemented on your systems and documented well enough to show an auditor, an insurer, or a customer. Power Up Boston builds those controls into managed IT for Massachusetts businesses under HIPAA, PCI DSS, CMMC, and the 201 CMR 17.00 WISP rule, from our office in Plymouth, serving Boston, the South Shore, and Cape Cod.
What IT Compliance Means
The Controls Behind the Checklist
Every framework a Massachusetts business runs into asks for roughly the same things in different language: know where regulated data lives, limit who can reach it, protect the devices and accounts that touch it, keep recoverable backups, keep records of what happened, and write down how all of that is done. HIPAA calls them safeguards, PCI DSS calls them requirements, CMMC calls them practices, and 201 CMR 17.00 calls them the elements of a Written Information Security Program. The work underneath is the same.
That is why we deliver compliance as part of managed IT rather than as a one-time project. The monitoring agent, patch schedule, EDR, MFA, and backup verification that keep a business running are the same controls the frameworks require; compliance adds the configuration specific to your framework, the written policies, and the evidence file. When the auditor, the insurer, or a customer's security questionnaire arrives, the answers are already true and already documented.
One thing we do not do is claim certifications we do not hold. Power Up Boston implements the controls and the documentation; formal assessments, where a framework requires one, are performed by the appropriate assessor. Our job is to make sure you pass.
Multi-factor authentication
On email, remote access, and the applications that hold regulated data.
Endpoint detection & response
Managed EDR on every workstation and server, with alerts that someone actually works.
Encryption
Full-disk encryption on laptops, encrypted backups, and encryption of card and patient data in transit.
Verified backups
Encrypted local and cloud backups with scheduled restore tests, so the recovery plan is more than a document.
Logging & monitoring
Audit trails on the systems that regulators ask about, retained and reviewable when a question comes up.
Written policies & evidence
The WISP, acceptable-use and password policies, incident response steps, and the evidence packages an auditor, insurer, or customer expects.
Get a Free Compliance Assessment
We'll map which frameworks apply to your business, what is already in place, and what the gaps are, in plain English and in writing.
Compliance Frameworks
Which Regulation Applies to You?
Each framework has its own page with the specific requirements, who is in scope, and how we handle it. Many Massachusetts businesses fall under more than one.
HIPAA IT Compliance
Encryption, access controls, audit trails, and Business Associate Agreements for the systems that hold patient health information.
Who it applies to: Medical and dental practices, and any business associate that handles PHI
Learn more →PCI DSS Compliance
Network segmentation, firewall configuration, encryption of card data in transit, and unique IDs for every user who touches payment systems.
Who it applies to: Retailers, restaurants, and any business that accepts, processes, or stores credit card data
Learn more →CMMC Compliance
Gap assessment, technical remediation, and System Security Plan and evidence preparation for CMMC Level 1 and Level 2.
Who it applies to: Defense contractors and subcontractors that handle FCI or CUI
Learn more →201 CMR 17.00 & MA WISP
Risk assessment, the Written Information Security Program itself, the technical controls behind it, employee training, and the annual review.
Who it applies to: Every Massachusetts business that holds personal information of MA residents (employees included)
Learn more →Our Approach
How We Get You Compliant and Keep You There
Assess
We map where regulated data enters, lives, and leaves your business, score your environment against the relevant framework, and give you a written gap list.
Remediate
We implement the technical controls, write the policies and the WISP, and assemble the evidence an auditor, insurer, or customer will ask for.
Maintain
Monitoring, patching, backup verification, staff training, and the annual review run under your managed IT agreement, so the controls stay true after the project ends.
Where We Work
Compliance for Boston, South Shore, and Cape Cod Businesses
Compliance work is mostly configuration, documentation, and training, so it is delivered the same way everywhere in our service area. What changes is who is asking. In Boston it is often a larger customer's vendor security questionnaire or a cyber-insurance renewal; on the South Shore it is medical and dental practices under HIPAA and retailers under PCI DSS; along the Route 3 corridor it is machine shops and electronics suppliers in the defense supply chain facing CMMC; and everywhere in Massachusetts it is the WISP that every employer in the Commonwealth is required to have. The same controls are delivered town by town; our IT support in Norwell, MA page, for example, shows how they apply to a town of professional offices.
Our managed IT services for Boston and the South Shore and managed IT services for Cape Cod pages describe how the on-site side works from Plymouth, our cybersecurity services page covers the assessments, training, and incident response that sit alongside compliance, and our backup and disaster recovery page covers the verified, encrypted backups every one of these frameworks asks about.
Industries
Who We Do This For
The frameworks follow the industry. These pages cover the IT and compliance specifics for the businesses we see most often:
FAQ
IT Compliance: Common Questions
Do you write the WISP?
Yes. We run the risk assessment that 201 CMR 17.03 requires, then draft a Written Information Security Program that matches how your business actually operates, names your designated employee, and covers every element in 17.03 and 17.04. We implement the technical controls behind it, train your staff, and refresh the program each year or when the business changes. It is your document, written for your audit, not boilerplate.
Can you help with a cyber-insurance or vendor questionnaire?
Yes. The questionnaires ask about the same controls compliance does: MFA, endpoint protection, patching, backups, and a written security policy. We put those controls in place and give you accurate documentation, so the answers on the application or the customer's security questionnaire match reality. That matters at claim time and when a larger customer audits its suppliers.
Is CMMC required for subcontractors?
If you hold, or want to bid on, a DoD contract or subcontract that involves Federal Contract Information or Controlled Unclassified Information, the CMMC level required is stated in the solicitation and flows down to subcontractors, even several tiers below the prime. Contracts limited to commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items are excluded. We prepare your environment and documentation; a Level 2 certification assessment is performed by an authorized C3PAO, since we are not one.
Are you a certified auditor or assessor?
No, and we say so plainly. Power Up Boston implements the technical controls, writes the policies, and assembles the evidence. Formal assessments, where a framework requires one, are performed by the appropriate assessor or your auditor; our job is to make sure that when they arrive, the controls work and the documentation is already in the file.
Which framework applies to my business?
Every Massachusetts business that holds personal information about a resident, including its own employees, falls under 201 CMR 17.00 and needs a WISP. HIPAA applies if you handle protected health information, PCI DSS if you accept cards, and CMMC if you are in the defense supply chain. Many businesses are under two or three at once; the free assessment maps which ones and what is already in place.
Guides
Massachusetts Compliance Guides
Massachusetts Data Breach Notification Law (M.G.L. c. 93H)
Who you must notify, what the notices must say, and how the law ties to your 201 CMR 17.00 WISP.
CMMC Level 1 Checklist for Massachusetts Small Businesses
All 15 FAR 52.204-21 requirements by domain, with what to show for each in your self-assessment.
Not Sure Which Compliance Framework Applies?
Book a free compliance assessment. We'll review your business and tell you exactly what you need — no jargon, no pressure.
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