Often yes, but it depends on how an agency will use the product. When an agency's use of a cloud service falls within FedRAMP's scope, agencies must promote the use of FedRAMP-certified services. Only the agency decides whether its use is in scope.
When FedRAMP applies
FedRAMP covers cloud products and services, including SaaS, that create, collect, process, store or maintain federal information on behalf of an agency. FedRAMP.gov says the agency's specific use case is what matters, not the service itself. The same product can be in scope for one agency use and out of scope for another.
What is usually out of scope
FedRAMP.gov lists categories that generally fall outside FedRAMP, subject to exceptions approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Examples include:
- single-agency systems not offered as a shared service
- social media and communications platforms used under agency social media policies
- search engines
- widely available services that provide commercial information but do not collect federal information
- ancillary services whose compromise poses negligible risk, such as external measurement tools
FedRAMP.gov also says it keeps no list of services that are always out of scope.
What it means for providers
FedRAMP does not regulate private companies, and its rules apply only to providers that want to serve agencies. A provider pursuing certification is solely responsible for meeting the rules. It also bears all related costs, including independent assessment.
Sources
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