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FedRAMP Compliance
Built for
Cloud Service Providers
Selling to the
Federal Government

Real cybersecurity practitioners guide you through the entire authorization process, and we work alongside a top-ranked 3PAO to take you from gap assessment to an ATO.

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What Is FedRAMP Compliance?

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is the U.S. government’s standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services used by federal agencies. Any cloud service provider (CSP) that wants to sell to the federal government, directly or as a subcontractor, needs an Authority to Operate (ATO) issued through this process before an agency can put real workloads on that platform.

It replaces a patchwork of agency-by-agency reviews with one federal standard: authorize once, reuse across agencies.

Why Companies Pursue FedRAMP

Federal Market Access

An ATO is the gate. Without one, agencies cannot legally put data on your platform, no matter how good the product is.

Reusable Authorization

Authorize once, reuse across agencies via the FedRAMP Marketplace, instead of re-proving security to every buyer.

Competitive Differentiation

Most cloud vendors never clear this bar. An authorization, or even an “In Process” status, sets you apart in federal procurement.

Enterprise Halo Effect

The same rigor that satisfies a federal agency reassures commercial enterprise buyers evaluating your security posture.

Who's Involved in FedRAMP

Who Needs FedRAMP

Cloud service providers selling SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS to federal agencies, or to contractors and integrators who resell into federal accounts.

Who Sponsors and Reviews It

A federal agency sponsor or the FedRAMP PMO itself, an independent 3PAO who performs the assessment, and continuous monitoring reviewers after authorization.

- FEDRAMP 20x

Where We Stand in 2026

FedRAMP 20x moves assurance away from paperwork and toward evidence: instead of one binary security verdict, providers set their own security goals and continuously prove them through automated Key Security Indicators (KSIs) that measure security posture in near real time, replacing static, once-a-year assessments.

The rollout runs through five phases:

  • Phase 1, the Low Pilot and Proof of Concept (FY25 Q3 through Q4, April through September 2025): completed, demonstrating feasibility and strong industry demand
  • Phase 2, the Moderate Pilot (FY26 Q1 through Q2, November 2025 through March 2026): completed, expanding coverage and confirming the KSI approach scales to higher-impact systems
  • Phase 3, Wide-Scale Adoption (FY26 Q3 through Q4): active now, formalizing requirements with a new submission pipeline opening July through September 2026
  • Phase 4, the Class D (High) Pilot (FY27 Q1 through Q2): estimated, building out the certification path for High-impact systems
  • Phase 5, Rev5 End of Life (FY27 Q3 through Q4): FedRAMP will stop accepting new Rev5 Certifications on June 11, 2027, with a transition plan for existing Rev5 offerings to follow

Today, FedRAMP 20x certifies Class A, Class B, and Class C; Class D is still in development, and Rev5 remains active and required for High-impact systems in the meantime.

Bottom line:

Which certification class and path applies depends on your service and timing, and

InfoGuard scopes that for you before work begins.

FedRAMP Certification Classes

CLASS A (PILOT)

For mature programs entering federal marketplace

For cloud services with mature security & compliance programs looking to enter the federal marketplace. Requires only a small amount of information upfront and a light ongoing reporting load. Available now.

CLASS B (LOW)

For common, small-scale or light-use services

For services an entire agency is unlikely to rely on for important work, without the added maintenance and reporting load of the higher classes. Available now.

CLASS C (MODERATE)

For moderate-impact workloads most CSPs pursue

For common enterprise services likely to be used across an entire agency, or that provide important government services. The highest-rigor class available today. Available now.
CLASS D (HIGH)

For the most sensitive federal workloads

Reserved for High-impact services. Still in development: FedRAMP 20x Phase 4  will build out Class D’s certification requirements. Rev5 remains the path for High systems until then.

Certification runs through a Program Certification, reviewed directly by FedRAMP without requiring an agency sponsor (used for Classes A, B, and C), or an Agency Certification, sponsored by the specific federal agency you’re selling to (required once Class D is available). Either way, certification alone doesn’t put your product in an agency’s environment: an agency still has to separately authorize using it, which is why a federal sales motion matters alongside the technical work.
- OUR FEDRAMP APPROACH

Built on Real Federal Compliance Experience, Not Just Consulting Theory

InfoGuard’s FedRAMP practice is led by practitioners who design and run the controls your assessment will be judged on. Because FedRAMP requires an independent 3PAO for the official assessment, we handle the readiness, remediation, and documentation work, and partner with a top-ranked, accredited 3PAO for the assessment itself.

How We Help You Achieve FedRAMP Compliance

Readiness
&
Gap Assessment

We evaluate your environment against the FedRAMP baseline that applies to your target impact level, identify every gap between where you stand and what a 3PAO will test, and map your authorization boundary: every system, service, and data flow in scope.

Scope
&
Controls Design

We help you select the right impact level and authorization path (Agency or JAB), design the technical and administrative controls the baseline requires, and build out your System Security Plan (SSP) and supporting policies.

Build
&
Remediation

We implement the security tooling and operational controls your SSP calls for, closing gaps in access management, encryption, logging, incident response, and continuous monitoring, and assemble the evidence a 3PAO will review.

Mock Assessment
&
Readiness

Through a mock assessment that mirrors the real Security Assessment Plan (SAP) process, we confirm your evidence and controls hold up before the clock starts, then connect you with a trusted, accredited 3PAO partner for the official engagement.

Assessment
&
Authorization

The official FedRAMP assessment is performed by our independent 3PAO partner as part of your engagement with us: one point of contact from readiness through your Security Assessment Report (SAR) and Authority to Operate.

Sustain
&
Monitor

An ATO isn’t the finish line. Continuous monitoring is a standing FedRAMP requirement. We provide ongoing monitoring, evidence collection, and POA&M management so your authorization stays current rather than lapsing.

FAQ

1. FedRAMP Fundamentals and Eligibility

FedRAMP — the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program — is the federal government’s standardized security program for cloud services. Federal agencies generally can’t buy or use a cloud product until it meets FedRAMP requirements. If you’re selling a cloud service to a federal agency, directly or as a subcontractor, you need it. If you have no plans to sell into the federal government, you don’t.
It’s what lets a federal agency use your Cloud Service Offering, and it’s what lets other CSPs in the FedRAMP Marketplace reuse your authorization instead of starting from scratch — authorize once, reuse across agencies.
Any commercial or government CSP offering SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS in a public, private, community, or hybrid cloud environment. You’ll need a System Security Plan, the applicable baseline controls implemented, and an accredited Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) to run the independent assessment — a 3PAO can’t assess a system it helped build, so that assessor has to be independent of whoever did the implementation work.
FedRAMP is built on FISMA and NIST SP 800-53, but tailored specifically to cloud services, with a standardized package agencies can reuse instead of each running its own separate review. Compared to general FISMA/NIST work, it adds cloud-specific requirements, a heavier documentation load, mandatory independent assessment, and ongoing continuous monitoring.

2. Authorization Paths, Status, and Sponsorship

As of CR26 (FedRAMP’s 2026 Consolidated Rules), 20x is the default path for Certification Classes A, B, and C — what used to be the Low and Moderate baselines. Class D (High) is still under development, targeted to pilot in Phase 4 (FY27 Q1—Q2), so Rev. 5 remains the path for High systems until then. Rev. 5, the traditional documentation-heavy path, is winding down: FedRAMP stops accepting new Rev. 5 certifications on June 11, 2027. We scope which path and class fits your environment before work begins.
FedRAMP Ready means an accredited 3PAO has confirmed your system has the technical capability to pursue authorization — it signals readiness to a potential agency sponsor. FedRAMP Authorized means the authorizing body has reviewed the complete package and granted an Authority to Operate (ATO). Ready gets you in the door; Authorized is the actual outcome.
Depends on the path. FedRAMP 20x doesn’t require one. Under Rev. 5, the High baseline requires a sponsoring federal agency; Moderate has alternative sponsorship options available to qualifying CSPs.

3. Readiness, Assessment, and Technical Requirements

It’s optional, but most organizations do one anyway — it’s a practice run through the same evidence review your 3PAO will perform, done before the formal assessment starts. Gaps caught here are far cheaper to fix than gaps caught mid-assessment, and it keeps your timeline on track.
Yes, for Moderate and High systems. Your 3PAO runs it as part of the assessment itself — you don’t need to find a separate vendor — and it tests whether someone could actually get in, not just whether the paperwork is in order.

4. Timeline, Cost, and Return on Investment

Timing depends on the path and how ready your evidence is. Rev. 5 Moderate (Class C) certifications typically take 12 to 18 months; FedRAMP 20x can move in three to six months when evidence is clean and automated. Organizational readiness is the biggest factor — unresolved technical debt, unpatched vulnerabilities, cryptography/key-management gaps, and slow sponsor engagement are the most common causes of delay, and addressing them before formal assessment beats fixing them reactively during it.
Cost depends on your security maturity, cloud architecture, impact level, authorization path, remediation needs, assessment scope, and ongoing monitoring requirements. There’s no flat fee — we provide a firm quote after an initial gap assessment.
FedRAMP is a real investment, but cost comes down with the right path selection, early readiness work, remediating technical debt before formal assessment, complete documentation, and automated evidence collection where feasible. Organizations that complete FedRAMP authorization commonly report first-year federal revenue well above their initial investment — often in the three-to-ten-times range — though ROI varies by CSP, addressable federal market, and contract size. We help assess whether your federal opportunity supports that kind of return during the initial scoping conversation, before you commit to a path.

5. Provider-Specific Services and Support

Same conflict-of-interest principle that governs every attestation-based framework: the accredited 3PAO that certifies your controls has to be independent of whoever helped design and build them. InfoGuard handles readiness, remediation, and documentation; a partner accredited 3PAO performs the independent assessment.
We provide strategic advisory support during the readiness phase, before the formal 3PAO assessment begins — early engagement reduces rework and speeds up authorization. That includes a FedRAMP workshop mapping your current controls to the applicable baseline, gap identification before those gaps become formal findings, a prioritized remediation roadmap that tackles the highest-impact issues first, and pre-assessment validation to confirm your SSP and controls are ready before the formal review starts.
Low, Moderate, and High impact levels, plus DoD Cloud and GovRAMP programs. We also map FedRAMP controls to related FISMA, CMMC, and other framework requirements you may be carrying at the same time.

A Checkbox Compliance Provider Won't Cut It

You need real cybersecurity expertise to earn an authorization that actually holds up under a 3PAO’s scrutiny and an agency’s continuous monitoring requirements.

InfoGuard is a cybersecurity firm first.

Explore our full range of cybersecurity and advisory services.

Tell Us What Needs Attention

Tell us where you stand and what you’re trying to accomplish. We’ll reply with next steps, whether that’s a gap assessment, a mock assessment, or a straight introduction to our 3PAO partner.
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