# Automating NIST 800-53 Compliance

> Find out how compliance automation software can streamline control assessments, continuous monitoring, and documentation, slashing the time and effort needed to get and stay compliant.

canonical: https://secureframe.com/hub/nist-800-53/automation

Automation can help you achieve and maintain NIST 800-53 compliance more efficiently by reducing manual effort and streamlining control implementation.

With Secureframe’s compliance automation platform, you can establish the right policies, implement and continuously monitor required controls, and stay aligned with the latest NIST 800-53 requirements. Whether you’re working toward compliance for the first time or managing an ongoing security program, automation can simplify complex processes and help ensure you meet federal security standards.

It’s important to understand what NIST 800-53 compliance automation software can (and can’t) do, so you can make informed decisions about integrating automation into your compliance strategy.

# Advanced: I need to maintain compliance

**So you’re familiar with the NIST 800-53  framework. **

You understand the requirements for privacy and security control baselines. You know it will involve implementing technical and organizational safeguards, training employees, and keeping your policies, procedures, and processes up-to-date to achieve and maintain compliance. But you’re worried you don’t have the time, resources, or expertise to do this all on your own.

In this section, we’ll talk about how compliance automation software can simplify and streamline some of those tasks, saving you valuable resources and time and speeding up your time-to-compliance.

## How can compliance automation software help streamline NIST 800-53 compliance?

The best compliance automation vendors can help automate most of the end-to-end compliance process and provide guidance at every step so you stay compliant with NIST 800-53 and other security requirements.

Rather than conducting a gap analysis yourself, writing NIST 800-53 policies from scratch, or manually keeping your controls up-to-date with the latest changes in requirements, Secureframe’s compliance automation helps you:

- **Automate the gap analysis** process to identify what controls you need to implement or fix
- **Collect evidence** from your existing tech stack, including government cloud variants like AWS GovCloud
- **Simplify policy creation** with templates, including Separations of Duties Matrix, POA&M documents, Impact Assessments, and readiness checklists
- **Track that all applicable employees have completed the training** required for NIST 800-53, including basic security awareness, insider threat, and secure coding training
- **Continuously scan your controls and tech stack** to monitor for non-conformities
- **Stay current** with the latest NIST 800-53 requirements 
- **Map NIST 800-53 controls and tests across other frameworks** to speed up time to compliance
- **Partner** with certified Third Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs) and CMMC 3PAOs (C3PAOs) supporting various federal audits