GSA taps 9 as FedRAMP third-party assessment organizations

A mix of eight companies and one government agency will vie for work evaluating contractors that provide cloud services and products to the federal government.

Eight companies and one goverment agency have been tapped by the General Services Administration's Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, to evaluate contractors selling cloud services to the government.

The nine providers of third-party assessments will not compete for work providing the initial assessments and test the controls of cloud service providers per FedRAMP requirements and provide evidence of compliance. The organizations will also have an ongoing part in ensuring cloud service providers meet requirements.

The nine organizations are:

COACT Inc.   
Department of Transportation Enterprise Service Center
Dynamics Research Corp.
JD Biggs and Associates Inc.   
Knowledge Consulting Group Inc.   
Logyx LLC   
Lunarline Inc.   
SRA International Inc.   
Veris Group LLC       

Cloud services providers that go through FedRAMP must use a third party to independently verify the FedRAMP-required security implementations. FedRAMP provisional authorizations must include an assessment by a FedRAMP-accredited organization to ensure a consistent assessment process.

GSA and the Office of Management and Budget currently expect FedRAMP to reach its initial operational capability by June 2012.

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