FedRAMP
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program — the US government-wide program for security authorization of cloud services. Required for cloud providers serving US federal agencies; widely used as a procurement bar globally.
What FedRAMP authorizes
FedRAMP authorizations are tied to impact levels: Low, Moderate, and High under FIPS 199. Higher impact levels require stricter security controls (from NIST SP 800-53), more rigorous continuous monitoring, and stricter operational practices. Most enterprise cloud services target Moderate; defence-grade workloads typically require High.
The authorization paths
Joint Authorization Board (JAB) provisional authorization — issued by DoD, DHS, and GSA — is the most prestigious path; only a small number of providers achieve it each year. Agency authorization, where a single federal agency sponsors a provider, is more common.
What FedRAMP requires technically
Detailed control implementations from NIST SP 800-53. Continuous monitoring of system state. Incident-reporting timelines and escalation procedures. Cryptography that's FIPS 140 validated. Data residency within authorized geographies. Personnel with appropriate clearances handling system administration.
IL2 through IL5
The Defense Department's Impact Levels (IL2-IL6) layer additional requirements on top of FedRAMP for DoD workloads. IL2 (publicly releasable but mission-critical) is the lowest; IL5 (controlled unclassified information) is increasingly the procurement bar for DoD cloud services. SkyeConnex's architecture fits IL2 through IL5 with appropriate deployment configuration.
SkyeConnex's posture
FedRAMP authorization is a process, not a product feature. The architecture is FedRAMP-amenable: US-only geo-policy supports the residency requirement. Continuous monitoring is delivered through the provider heartbeat infrastructure. FIPS-published cryptography end-to-end. Cryptographic boundary candidates are identified for the FIPS 140-3 module certification that FedRAMP references.
Customers pursuing their own ATO
Customers pursuing their own Authority to Operate inherit a strong cryptographic and architectural foundation by adopting SkyeConnex. The architecture documentation aligned with NIST SP 800-53 controls is available under NDA.