The Federal Risk Management and Accreditation Program

FedRAMP (Federal Risk Management and Accreditation Program) is an accreditation process through which the cloud provides align their security policies to those that have been stated by the U.S government. Although this process is new, it has brought a number of improvements to the cloud security and is expected to being more improvements. With the approach, standardisation is provided for both cloud services and products.

It is aimed at accelerating the rate at which secure cloud solutions for the government agencies are adopted, and the security of cloud products and services is improved. FedRAMP also ensures that consistent security is achieved across all the government agencies, automating the services and ensuring that there is continuous monitoring.

FedRAMP helps us implement a framework in with a standardised processes for the purpose of security assessments which can leverage the path for the ongoing authorisation and assessment and as well as the initial P-ATO. With a unified approach to the idea of cloud computing, you will experience a decrease in time, cost and the resources which be needed in architecting the cloud solution and the security will be improved while creating uniform standards across all the government agencies. This will make it easy for the agencies to update their IT infrastructure so as to make an improvement so as to provide services and protect their data in an efficient manner.

Although the FedRAMPO will provide us with the framework, agencies will be tasked with looking for the cloud service provider (CSP) having P-ATO and meting all the needs of the FedRAMP. The agency will also be tasked with taking a good inventory of the cloud services, which will help us develop a good cloud strategy, and report on the cloud service infrastructure on an annual basis. This task can be tiresome and this is why agencies usually choose CSP who not only satisfies the needs of the FedRAMP but has a complete understanding of the whole FedRAMP process and has the necessary resources so as to continue supporting the agency.

As government agencies continue to adopt cloud computing, quality CSPs are a necessity as they can help the agencies to reduce the risk they face in cloud adoption strategies. Since each agency is unique in this case, each may have its own requirements. Also, CSPs are not the same. However, the best thing is for the agency to look for a CSP which is much flexible. This will make it possible for the specific security controls of the agency to be layered to be layered on top of our base FedRAMP infrastructure. Each agency will want to get a CSP formed by a team of professionals who are experienced and willing to listen to the agency and understand its specific needs. The CSP should also help the agency in achieving their unique objectives.
For some enterprises, FredRAMP will have two meanings: a mechanism for measuring the success of security, and a way for selling the cloud services to the government agencies under the command of migrating to the cloud.

Some of the organisations which run clouds and adhere to the FredRAMP standards include Akamai, Amazon Web Services, Lockheed Martin and the U.S Department of Agriculture. Both the private industry representatives and governmental stakeholders took part in developing the FredRAMP standards in 2012. They were geared towards reducing costs, increasing efficiencies and increasing the level of safety in the cloud. In case you are not a CSP, there are several avenues for you to get involved. You can take advantage of a FredRAMP provider, which will help in sending messages of seriousness. You can also apply for a Third-Party Assessment Organisation.