FedRAMP 20x has drastically cut the time it takes for the US Government to approve a serviceAutomation and artificial intelligence can take some of the stress off manual processesThe GSA is also making moves to centralize procurement to get better deals<\/p>\n
The US Government’s Federal Risk and Authorisation Management Programme (FedRAMP) has already approved 114 cloud computing<\/a> services in fiscal 2025, more than double the total number of approved services the previous year.<\/p>\n FedRAMP 20x is to be thanked for the boost \u2013 a Biden-era initiative that lives on under the Trump administration, that’s aimed at modernizing cloud authorization by cutting down the amount of documentation needed, enabling automation and streamlining decision-making.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2024, an Office of Management and Budget memo<\/a> detailed how a ” a standardized, reusable approach to security assessments and authorizations for cloud computing products and services” could speed the existing process up.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n FedRAMP is approving more cloud contracts than ever<\/p>\n The new process requires machine-readable security indicators that can be analyzed by artificial intelligence even before they reach the human review stage. Currently in pilot phase, phase one will focus on low-impact and lower-security services with phase two testing moderate-impact deals.<\/p>\n Consequentially, the US Government has been able to reduce the time it takes to approve a deal from over a year to around five weeks, marking a colossal improvement to the dated system.<\/p>\n “The program is setting a new standard for federal IT modernization and reaffirming GSA\u2019s commitment to delivering smarter, more secure services for Americans,” GSA Acting Administrator Michael Rigas explained in a GSA announcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n FedRAMP Director Pete Waterman added: “FedRAMP 20x has allowed us to rethink the entire authorization model and prove that security and speed can coexist in the federal space.”<\/p>\n Trump has also pushed for consolidated IT procurement under the General Services Administration (GSA) while simultaneously looking to acquire government-wide contracts rather than individual department contracts, ultimately leading to huge savings thanks to improved purchasing power.<\/p>\n As a result, we’ve already seen cloud companies and other tech firms offer weighty discounts to the White House – including AWS, which is giving the US government $1billion credit to keep running its cloud services<\/a>.<\/p>\n