Unisys’s [UIS] Service Management Government Cloud offering will be included in a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) pilot program to speed up reviews for compliance to government cloud service standards, the company said Wednesday.
The GSA selected Unisys as one of three cloud service providers to participate in this pilot for accelerated FedRAMP process. The pilot looks to reduce authorization timeframes, now at six to 18 months, down to under six months.
FedRAMP is a government program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud services and products. It gives government and non-government organizations the assurance that a particular cloud service complies with rigorous security controls.
The company’s cloud offering has already passed the initial FedRAMP security assessment and is undergoing more detailed reviews. Unisys believes the detailed process will be completed more quickly because it was accepted into the pilot program, with completion expected in July 2016, the company said.
Unisys’ cloud offering, which is designated as “FedRAMP Ready,” is designed to meet Defense Department security requirements and is based on the company’s global commercial system which is used by over 100 enterprises internationally, the company said.
The government cloud service allows clients to access their own instances of BMC’s Ready digital service management platform or ServiceNow’s management platform and is paired with Unisys’ VantagePoint service orchestration product, which includes situational awareness and user accessibility capabilities.
“We look forward to working with Unisys to help expedite the FedRAMP approval process for them as well as other vendors. Ultimately, this will mean greater availability of high-quality and more secure cloud services for government agencies,” Matt Goodrich, FedRAMP director at GSA, said in a statement.
“We are pleased to have been selected by the government to participate in the FedRAMP Accelerated pilot program. Completion of this process will allow our clients like the U.S. Army to leverage a compelling commercial capability that conforms to high standards for security and quality,” Jim Leake, vice president of end user services at Unisys Federal, added.