The US government’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) has given approval to Amazon Web Services, clearing ways for federal agencies to use its cloud computing services.
Amazon Web Services, dubbed as AWS has been authorised to operate as a cloud service provider under the government’s new FedRAMP programme for three years through the Department of Health and Human Services.
The approval covers the agency itself, in addition to its operational divisions including the US Food and Drug Administration, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, according to the online retailer.
AWS Worldwide Public Sector vice president Teresa Carlson said that the move will cut the cost and time for agencies to deploy the company’s systems.
"It cuts costs for AWS too," Carlson said.
"Today most government computing systems require built-to-order platforms and applications to meet government security and compliance requirements, which involve time-consuming and costly evaluations,"
"With this FedRAMP compliance, agencies can now utilise a streamlined process from AWS when moving applications to the cloud to meet their unique business and mission requirements."
FedRAMP programme manager Matthew Goodric said that HHS’s authorisation of Amazon’s cloud services using FedRAMP requirements ensures the security of government data and paves the way for other agencies in using secure cloud services.
"Amazon and HHS have demonstrated that cloud providers can meet the FedRAMP requirements in addition to the provisional authorisations granted by the FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board, Goodric added.
"Other agencies can leverage this authorisation, potentially saving the Federal government hundreds of thousands of dollars by eliminating redundant security authorizations of Amazon’s environment."
Under FedRAMP, AWS will be granted approval for a government agency once and when its services can be used multiple times on several projects by that agency.
In addition, the AWS has facilitated the online retailer to enter into the business of renting remote computing, storage and other IT services.
In 2012, the US government introduced FedRAMP to standardise and streamline security reviews of cloud services.