FedRAMP Authorized vs. FedRAMP Equivalent

What Is FedRAMP?

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a U.S. government program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. It was established to ensure that cloud services used by federal agencies meet rigorous, independently verified security standards.

Vendors claiming FedRAMP compliance will use one of two terms, and they are not equal:

FedRAMP Authorized: What It Actually Requires

Achieving FedRAMP Moderate Authorization is a rigorous process. It is not a checkbox, it is a formal federal authorization issued after independent validation of hundreds of security controls. Procurement Sciences achieved this authorization by operating within a pre-authorized FedRAMP Moderate boundary, hosted and maintained by a federally authorized infrastructure partner. This model, known as an ATO Accelerator approach, allows a platform to inherit a significant portion of the underlying control set from an already-authorized environment, while still undergoing assessment of all platform-specific controls. The result is the same federal authorization status, achieved through a structured and validated path. Key elements of this process include:

• Security controls assessed through a combination of inherited authorizations from the underlying infrastructure and platform-specific validation — all within the FedRAMP Moderate baseline
• Documentation and validation of all 325+ NIST SP 800-53 Moderate baseline security controls across the system
• An Authority to Operate (ATO) issued through the authorized boundary of a federally recognized infrastructure partner operating under FedRAMP Moderate
• Continuous monitoring obligations, including monthly and annual reporting to the FedRAMP PMO
• Public listing on the FedRAMP Marketplace at marketplace.fedramp.gov — where any agency can verify authorization status

Because Procurement Sciences operates within an authorized boundary, agencies benefit from a security posture that has already been validated at the infrastructure level. This accelerated path to authorization does not diminish the rigor of the outcome — Procurement Sciences is a fully authorized cloud service, listed on the FedRAMP Marketplace, with all the protections and oversight that entails.

FedRAMP Equivalent: What It Actually Means

"FedRAMP Equivalent" claims are not the same as a formal designation — it is marketing language. A vendor claiming equivalency is self-attesting that their security controls are comparable to FedRAMP requirements, without the independent assessment, federal oversight, or public verification that makes FedRAMP Authorization meaningful.

This means:

• No independent 3PAO assessment has validated the claim
• The vendor does not appear on the FedRAMP Marketplace
• Agencies cannot leverage an existing authorization package, they must conduct their own review
• There is no continuous monitoring requirement or federal accountability mechanism
• The burden of risk falls entirely on the agency or contractor using the platform

Equivalency claims became more visible in the DoD space following interim guidance that allowed contractors to self-attest FedRAMP-equivalent security posture for certain CMMC Level 2 requirements. However, this does not constitute FedRAMP Authorization, and federal agencies are not required (or advised) to treat these claims as equivalent to a formal ATO.

Side-by-Side Comparison

The table below summarizes the key differences between a platform that has achieved FedRAMP Moderate Authorization and one that only claims equivalency:

What This Means for You: When you choose Awarded AI, you are choosing a solution that has been independently vetted, publicly listed, and continuously monitored by the U.S. federal government — not one that simply claims to meet the standard.

For more information about Procurement Sciences’ security posture, authorization package, or to speak with our compliance team, contact: security@procurementsciences.com