Carahsoft’s John Lee: GSA’s ‘FedRAMP Accelerated’ Seeks Streamlined Cloud Application Process

The General Services Administration‘s move to restructure its cloud computing authorization approval process aims to help cloud service providers streamline the steps necessary to achieve a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program Authority to Operate designation, a Carahsoft executive has said.

John Lee, vice president of cloud solutions at Carahsoft, wrote in a blog post published Tuesday the FedRAMP Accelerated review process’ goal is for vendors to achieve FedRAMP ATOs within 90 days regardless of the service’s complexity.

Lee noted GSA estimates the full approval process completion time to take no more than six months through a system that seeks to help CSPs get initial capabilities assessment or pre-qualification through a third-party vendor prior to a FedRAMP review.

David Shire, GSA chief information officer, has said the agency aims to implement transparency on adoption rates and ultimately wants to generate agility, better functionality, improved security and cost savings with the help of industry and government stakeholders.