How We Paved the Way for Faster, Easier FedRAMP High Authorization

For most cloud service providers, FedRAMP certification feels like scaling Mount Everest: expensive, time-consuming, and reserved for only the well-resourced. The traditional path to FedRAMP approval has been notoriously complex, often taking multiple years and millions of dollars to navigate successfully.

But what if that didn’t have to be the case? What if the right approach, powered by intelligent automation, could make FedRAMP certification not just accessible but faster and more cost-effective for organizations of all sizes?

At RegScale, we didn’t just theorize about a better way forward; we created it. By using our own AI-driven platform to achieve FedRAMP High authorization in a quarter of the average time, we’ve not only unlocked federal opportunities for ourselves but also charted a course that other organizations can follow. And we’re actively helping to shape the future of federal compliance and make the entire ecosystem more efficient as FedRAMP 20x and other changes roll out.

This is the story of how we transformed our own FedRAMP High certification from a daunting obstacle into a competitive advantage — and how we’re using that experience to lead the industry toward a more automated, efficient future.

Walking the walk: how we achieved FedRAMP High Approved using our own platform 

When we tell clients that RegScale can help them achieve FedRAMP certification faster and more efficiently, we’re speaking from direct experience. We decided early on that if we were going to build a Continuous Controls Monitoring platform to help others navigate compliance, we needed to use it ourselves, starting with our own pursuit of FedRAMP High authorization.

We knew that setting our sights on FedRAMP High as a Series A startup was ambitious. This authorization, which we ultimately received with sponsorship from the Department of Homeland Security, typically requires the resources of a large enterprise. The standard timeline runs 18 to 24 months and costs around $2 million, largely due to the intensive manual documentation process.

Going through the process showed us just how much manual work typically bogs down FedRAMP efforts. Traditional compliance teams usually spend 12 to 16 weeks just writing FedRAMP control implementation statements, a process that involves a lot of starting from scratch and cross-referencing between different systems and documents. Our AI Author feature changed that dynamic entirely, allowing us to generate implementation statements that were already 80-85% complete and skip the heavy lifting.

Our small but mighty security team ultimately completed documentation for all 410 FedRAMP controls in just two weeks. The other numbers were even more encouraging: we were designated as FedRAMP High In Review in 6 months at roughly 50% of the typical cost.

More importantly, the experience helped us understand firsthand where the pain points are and how automation can address them — and it gave us confidence that our approach could work for other companies facing similar challenges. FedRAMP High doesn’t have to be exclusively for large enterprises with dedicated compliance budgets. The right tools and approach can level the playing field, making federal opportunities accessible to companies that might have previously considered them out of reach.

From our experience to yours: helping companies navigate FedRAMP faster 

The traditional FedRAMP journey is notorious for its manual, siloed, time-intensive processes. Teams spend months toggling between spreadsheets, documents, and different systems, trying to maintain consistency across hundreds of controls while gathering evidence and preparing documentation. It’s not just slow; it’s error-prone and expensive.

Our OSCAL-native platform takes a different approach. Rather than treating compliance as a series of isolated tasks, we’ve built an end-to-end system that connects every phase of the FedRAMP process. What makes this particularly powerful is our focus on OSCAL: the NIST Open Security Control Assessment Language that’s becoming the standard for machine-readable compliance documentation. While many organizations are still catching up to OSCAL, RegScale’s platform generates all the critical FedRAMP artifacts in proper OSCAL format from the get-go. That includes System Security Plans (SSPs), Security Assessment Plans (SAPs), and Plans of Action and Milestones (POAMs), all generated automatically and ready for submission.

RegScale’s automated, end-to-end monitoring process streamlines every phase, from evidence collection and control gap assessments to risk management and ongoing reporting. Instead of security teams manually updating documents every time something changes, the system maintains real-time visibility across the entire compliance posture. When controls are updated or new evidence is collected, the documentation automatically reflects those changes, eliminating tedious paperwork and human error.

The result? Our clients typically see turnaround times reduced by up to 60%. RegScale cut its own FedRAMP High timelines down to a quarter of the average time.

Beyond speed, what we hear most often is relief. Relief from the constant worry about missing deadlines or making errors across complex documentation packages… not to mention the relief of getting your weekends back. The one-click export functionality alone saves weeks of work, allowing teams to generate hundreds of pages of correctly formatted compliance artifacts instantly.

Ultimately, though, what we’ve learned from our own FedRAMP journey (and from working with other organizations on their authorization process) is that automation isn’t just about doing things faster. It’s about doing them more consistently, with fewer errors, and with greater confidence that you’re meeting all the requirements. That combination of speed, accuracy, and peace of mind is what we’re all about.

Shaping the federal compliance conversation: our role in FedRAMP 20x

We’re not just creating a faster, easier path to FedRAMP; we’re also helping to shape the future of the federal compliance landscape.

FedRAMP is currently at the start of a major transformation with the launch of FedRAMP 20x, a pilot initiative that aims to reduce authorization timelines from years to weeks. Launched in late March of this year, the pilot program aims to eliminate redundant layers of review and prioritize industry-led automation.

What’s particularly exciting is how this shift aligns with the direction RegScale has already been moving the industry in. FedRAMP Director Pete Waterman’s emphasis that “the public sector deserves access to modern tools” and his acknowledgment that “we can’t keep pushing paper” validates the automation-first philosophy we’ve been advocating since day one.

But we’re not just preparing for these FedRAMP changes; we’re also helping to define them. Our team is actively participating in the FedRAMP 20x community working groups, contributing insights from our real-world experience with navigating federal compliance requirements. These working groups are focusing on exactly the areas where we have the most expertise: streamlined continuous monitoring, automated assessment processes, leveraging commercial security frameworks, and building continuous technical attestation models.

Beyond FedRAMP 20x, we’re proud to be founding members of the OSCAL Foundation, a nonprofit working to establish the standards and best practices that will govern machine-readable compliance documentation across the entire federal ecosystem. This isn’t just about staying ahead of trends — it’s about helping to create the infrastructure that will make compliance more efficient and effective for everyone.

Our involvement in these initiatives reflects our broader commitment to transforming how organizations approach GRC. We’ve seen firsthand how the right tools and approach can democratize access to the world’s largest buyer, the US federal government, and we’re working hard to ensure that future frameworks continue moving in that direction.

Ushering in the future of FedRAMP

The message is clear: the future of FedRAMP is automation, efficiency, and accessibility. What once required armies of compliance specialists and years of manual documentation is beginning to evolve into a streamlined, technology-driven process that opens federal opportunities to organizations of all sizes.

We’ve had the privilege of not just witnessing this transformation but also actively participating in it. From using our own platform to achieve FedRAMP High, to helping other companies navigate their compliance journeys more efficiently, to contributing to the working groups and standards that will define the next generation of federal compliance, we’re deeply invested in the outcomes.

As FedRAMP 20x and other initiatives continue to develop, we’re excited to keep leading the charge. The path to FedRAMP excellence is a future we’re proud to be building — and one that we’re committed to helping our customers navigate successfully.

Your Guide to FedRAMP Authorization Levels

Read More Your Guide to FedRAMP Authorization Levels