Matt Brown, Knowledge Consulting Group
Knowledge Consulting Group (KCG) yesterday announced that it successfully completed a comprehensive cloud assessment for Akamai Technologies as a Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO). KCG’s support as a 3PAO resulted in a Provisional Authority to Operate (P-ATO) by the Federal Risk Authorization and Management Program (FedRAMP) Joint Authorization Board for secure public cloud services offered by Akamai.
“It was a pleasure to serve as the 3PAO for Akamai’s successful FedRAMP assessment,” said Maryann Hirsch, president of KCG. “KCG is committed to our role as a 3PAO, delivering high quality assessments that provide the government the most secure cloud options available. In addition, our significant past performance providing critical continuous monitoring capabilities to federal agencies perfectly positions us to help support the next phase of the program.”
FedRAMP provides a standard approach to security in the federal cloud environment, enabling Cloud Service Providers (CSP) to be approved once for government-wide use.
“As one of only a handful of companies to receive a Provisional ATO through FedRAMP, this certification opens up significant opportunities for us in the federal space,” said Tom Ruff, vice president of Public Sector at Akamai. “Having KCG act as our 3PAO was an important aspect of our ability to go through the P-ATO process smoothly.”
He continued, “Unlike many other cloud providers, Akamai delivers its services via a highly distributed cloud platform. This added complexity to the process, which KCG handled admirably. We look forward to their support in the next phase of the program.”
FedRAMP requires a 3PAO to conduct a detailed, independent assessment evaluating and documenting a CSP’s information systems, and ensures that all security requirements adhere to FedRAMP standards. Once a solution earns authorization, it must participate in ongoing assessments and authorizations through continuous monitoring.
“3PAO assessment is an important step in ensuring the security of the government’s cloud initiatives,” said Matt Brown, vice president of Homeland Security and Cyber Solutions at KCG. “However, we cannot forget the importance of the continuous monitoring requirements that each FedRAMP recipient will need to maintain, which will only strengthen the overall security posture.”
