FedRAMP and DoD SRG authorization for Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP

Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP now has FedRAMP Moderate authorization in US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (N. California), and US West (Oregon), and FedRAMP High authorization in AWS GovCloud (US) Regions. This assures government agencies that FSx for ONTAP meets rigorous FedRAMP standards for security and risk assessments.

Additionally, Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP is now authorized for Department of Defense Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide Impact Levels 2, 4, and 5 (DoD SRG IL2, IL4, and IL5) in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions. With this security assurance, government customers can migrate to AWS and adopt agile cloud technologies with reduced operational risk.

Why it matters

With this announcement, agencies at all levels of government can confidently move data workloads to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud.

News of these authorizations has been expected, but it's still exciting for existing and new NetApp^® public sector customers alike. With the wait over, agencies that were previously restricted to on premises or cloud.gov can take advantage of the speed and flexibility of both hybrid cloud and dedicated AWS Cloud environments.

The announcement of FedRAMP and DoD SRG authorizations is the green light to begin moving obvious workloads to AWS Cloud, and it's also an opportunity to begin modernization projects that support transformation and optimization initiatives.

FedRAMP is the government program that promotes the adoption of secure cloud services across the federal government by providing a standardized approach to security and risk assessment for cloud technologies. State and local governments and supporting agencies also refer to the program, making it a must-have for cloud innovation strategies in the public sector.

The new FedRAMP authorization covers both Moderate and High impact levels, meaning that it can be used for the most critical data privacy and security demands, including DoD and healthcare verticals. Other related compliances, such as NIST SP 800-53, are also cleared with this announcement.

DoD SRG Impact Levels 2, 4, and 5 authorization for FSx for ONTAP is significant. Provisional authorization from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) provides a reusable certification that attests to AWS compliance with DoD standards, reducing the time necessary for a DoD mission owner to assess and authorize one of their systems for operation in AWS.

Michelle Rudnicki, NetApp VP of US Public Sector, notes that these new authorizations for Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP build on previous certification announcements and offer new opportunities to leverage existing efficiencies. "Because NetApp storage management solutions are so tightly integrated with the AWS Cloud, government agencies can see immediate benefits of migrating workloads by using the same NetApp tools and processes they are already using in on-premises environments and by seamlessly integrating into existing AWS workloads."

The bigger picture

Right away, public sector entities can move workloads like file services and disaster recovery to the AWS Cloud with little effort and major benefits. This is an opportunity for true cost savings, flexibility, and manageability. FSx for ONTAP is the first fully managed AWS storage solution supporting multiple protocols including NFS, SMB, and iSCSI. It also adds unique AWS service benefits like pay as you go pricing, automated patching, automated high availability, storage capacity that grows and shrinks automatically, and SSD performance at a fraction of the cost with built-in storage efficiency and tiering technologies. As the only cloud-native service to support both AWS and NetApp APIs, FSx for ONTAP lets you set up and manage your data from the AWS Management Console or NetApp BlueXP^™ control plane.

If innovation is on your agenda, these authorizations invite you to think bigger and start consuming other services. Now these government entities-and smaller companies and service providers that enable them-can start thinking about critical workloads. We're talking about enterprise apps like SAP, VMware, and Oracle; enhanced manageability through virtualization, artificial intelligence and machine learning; and high-performance analytics workloads. For example, you can run federally compliant vSphere workloads on VMware Cloud on AWS integrated with Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP.

We're moving for authorization of other NetApp services, too. NetApp Cloud Insights and CloudCheckr (part of Spot by NetApp) are currently in process for FedRAMP authorization. Each service provides complete visibility to monitor, optimize, and secure resources across your entire technology stack.

It's an exciting time to be in the public sector at any level. The momentum is building for using public clouds as an alternative to cloud.gov and on-premises environments. If you're ready to step on the accelerator, NetApp is ready to navigate and help you with proofs of concept, free trials, and other incentives.

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