FedRAMP
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program is the US government's cloud security authorization framework — the price of admission for selling to federal agencies.
FedRAMP authorization is mandatory for cloud service providers selling to US federal agencies. The authorization process — which can take 12-18 months — requires a comprehensive assessment of security controls against NIST SP 800-53, a System Security Plan documenting every control, and ongoing continuous monitoring after authorization. The process involves a Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) and can be sponsored by an agency or pursued through the FedRAMP Marketplace.
FedRAMP categorizes systems as Low, Moderate, or High impact based on the sensitivity of the data they process. Most commercially-focused federal clients require Moderate. DoD clients typically require High — or DoD IL4/IL5 authorization, which layers additional controls. The infrastructure requirements differ significantly: Moderate workloads can run on AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, or GCP. High and IL4/IL5 workloads have further constraints on data residency and personnel clearances.
The most expensive FedRAMP mistake is choosing the wrong cloud architecture before the authorization process begins. FIPS 140-2 validated cryptography must be enforced at every layer — the cipher suites used by your TLS configuration, the encryption algorithms used by your database, and the key management system. Non-FIPS cryptography that is discovered during assessment forces architectural rework that can add months to the timeline.
We architect FedRAMP authorization requirements from the first infrastructure decision — selecting the correct GovCloud configuration, enforcing FIPS-140 cryptography automatically through infrastructure-as-code, and generating System Security Plan documentation as a byproduct of the build. Our teams have delivered FedRAMP-ready systems on commercial timelines by building compliance automation into the deployment pipeline.
Compliance-Native Architecture Guide
Design principles and a structured checklist for building software that is compliant by default — not compliant by retrofit. Covers data architecture, access controls, audit trails, and vendor due diligence.