Cloud vendor VMware was granted a provisional authority to operate (ATO) under the FedRAMP authorization program on Feb. 3, giving federal agencies a level of assurance that data stored within would be secure.

The ATO was issued for VMware and partners Carpathia's vCloud Government Service offerings, built off the vSphere platform currently used throughout the federal government.

Related: FedRAMP releases draft high impact baseline

"Much of U.S. government IT runs on VMware virtual infrastructure and VMware vCloud Government Service provided by Carpathia will enable agencies to extend their infrastructure to the cloud by leveraging the technology and personnel investments they have already made," said Pat Gelsinger, VMware CEO. "Being able to offer a FedRAMP authorized cloud solution to a market segment with such broad adoption of our vSphere technology is critical to providing federal organizations the best alternatives as they increasingly turn to cloud computing to reduce costs, expand IT resources and services and improve service levels to users."

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With authorization from FedRAMP, vCloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service offerings now carry a moderate impact level assurance rating, meaning agencies can put all but the most sensitive data into the cloud environment.

"As the U.S. federal government continues to move to a cloud-first approach to IT, VMware used FedRAMP's standard approach for conducting security assessments to reduce duplicative authorization efforts while also ensuring it meets the federal requirements for all customers across government," FedRAMP Director Matt Goodrich said. "This provisional authorization confirms that VMware vCloud Government Service provided by Carpathia meets the stringent security and privacy requirements of FedRAMP."

The accreditation process was conducted by third-party authorizers at Coalfire Systems.

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.

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