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If you’re looking for new revenue streams you may be wondering “Is FedRAMP authorization worth getting in 2025?”
Maybe you’ve heard the success stories – government contracts really can change the game. But, you’ve probably heard the horror stories too – it’s expensive, time consuming, and a lot of work.
FedRAMP (or any NIST 800-53 authorization/CMMC certification) can be easier, faster, and cost less than it ever has before. But, FedRAMP is still not right for every business. Take a look at the good and bad of getting FedRAMP and the most efficient way to achieve it so you can decide if the ROI is worth your business’s time and budget.
What is FedRAMP
FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) is designed to provide a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services.
FedRAMP authorization makes it possible to sell cloud services to federal government entities.
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The Pros of Getting FedRAMP Authorization
New Revenue Opportunities
Achieving FedRAMP authorization opens up the huge market of U.S. federal or state government customers. The government is moving toward more cloud adoption, so this can be a significant revenue stream.
You can still open new revenue streams by getting FedRAMP even if you don't intend to sell your product to the government. Organizations that may want to purchase your service could need you to have FedRAMP security levels to protect their FedRAMP status.
Better Security
FedRAMP enforces high security standards. Going through the process makes sure your cloud service is very secure.
A better security posture can also make you more appealing to commercial buyers.
Increased Credibility & Trustworthiness
You can boost your company's reputation with FedRAMP. It signals that your service meets or exceeds the high government standards for security and data protection.
Simplified Procurement
For government agencies, using FedRAMP-certified services simplifies procurement as they don't need to conduct their own security assessments, speeding up the adoption process.
Continuous Improvement
The continuous monitoring process means that your security practices are always under review and your security posture constantly improving.
The Cons of Getting FedRAMP Authorization
FedRAMP Authorization Costs
We don’t want to sugarcoat it – The FedRAMP journey isn’t cheap. It can be very expensive.
Costs for compliance documentation and assessment alone can skyrocket from $400,000 to $2 million, depending on your situation.
Add in control implementation, possible consultant fees, and hiring new personnel – it’s a lot.
It may also be a risk. You'll probably have to shell out the cash before you can see any of the potential revenue.
Data Impact Level Affects Cost
How much you'll spend on FedRAMP will depend on your data impact level – low, moderate, or high.
Higher impact levels have more requirements, so they'll cost more.
Reduce FedRAMP Costs
You can keep costs down when you streamline the FedRAMP process using Paramify. You’ll spend less, move faster and have better outcomes if you start with our living gap assessment/implementation guide and create your automated documentation on our platform.
Expect to save $120,000+ and increase your chance you deliver on time and under budget.
→ See if Paramify’s pricing is right for your budget
Long Authorization Timeline
The certification process can take anywhere from several months to years.
How long your process will take depends on the complexity of your service, the readiness of your security measures, how long it takes to find a sponsor, and the assessment wait with the Program Management Office (PMO).
How to Move Faster
Paramify users move faster than organizations using manual methods.
- Your gap assessment guides the process so you don’t waste time or make mistakes on implementation.
- Accurate documentation is ready in 1-7 days, rather than the 6-24 months it usually takes
- Audit moves faster with Paramify, since the documentation doesn’t have the human errors found in manually written documentation.
We recently used Paramify ourselves to get FedRAMP High Ready status. We were audit ready in 6 weeks and had a fast turnaround at the PMO.
Documentation, Bureaucracy, and Complexity
The paperwork, documentation, and procedural demands of FedRAMP can seem overwhelming.
Documentation
Manually producing the thousands of pages required for a FedRAMP SSP and ATO can be an actual nightmare. Even with templates it takes forever, the results are immediately outdated, and it’s just not completely accurate, no matter how good your writers are.
You do not have to do documentation the manual, old-fashioned way.
Our founder developed Paramify because he had lived through the nightmare documentation process and knows the struggle all too well.
Your organization will never have to manually write thousands of pages of documentation with automated, accurate documentation from Paramify. Instead you can generate accurate, automated documentation that’s easy to update, and manage in just 1-7 days.
→ Schedule your demo to see how Paramify does it.
Bureaucracy & Complexity
Navigating government bureaucracy can be a maze even for seasoned professionals.
If your security program is immature:
You may want to hire an advisor to help you navigate this maze. We work with the best advisors in the industry.
Reach out if you’d like help finding an advisor using Paramify.
Not sure if you need an advisor?
Our inexpensive gap assessment can help you see your gaps and build an excellent security plan. You can always start there and use it to determine if an advisor is right for you.
→ Learn more: When is the best time to hire a GRC advisor?
Ongoing Compliance (ConMon and POA&Ms)
Once you’re authorized, you're not done. Ever.
You’ll need to do annual assessments and continuous monitoring (ConMon). This means an ongoing commitment of resources that could divert focus from other business areas.
ConMon Management Options
Some businesses use consultants to manage ConMon and POA&M documentation and others hire an in-house team. Either way, it can become overwhelming if you don’t manage it carefully.
Be cautious about the type of consultant you hire. Consultants paid by the outcome will be more incentivized to improve your process than they would if they are paid by the hour.
The burden is much more manageable with Paramify’s POA&M software. Our customers cut out 90% of the time and effort POA&Ms require each month.
Limited Flexibility
The strict requirements in FedRAMP can restrict how quickly you can innovate or adapt your service. Changes to your infrastructure or offerings need to go through a re-evaluation process, which can slow down development.
Market Dependency
If your business model becomes too dependent on government contracts, you might find yourself vulnerable if there's a shift in government policy or budget cuts.
Resource Drain
Smaller companies might find that the process consumes a disproportionate amount of their resources, which could potentially stifle growth or innovation in other areas.
Our aim at Paramify is to make excellent Risk Management accessible to everyone. Large and small companies need great security. Our software improves efficiency so that something like FedRAMP doesn’t have to be such a huge drain on your resources.
FedRAMP 20x — Get FedRAMP Faster for Less
High costs, long authorization timelines and the agency sponsorship requirement have stopped many CSPs from pursing FedRAMP authorization. This has limited government access to modern software solutions.
The federal government announced FedRAMP 20x in 2025 to get things back on track without reducing security requirements.
You can now get FedRAMP authorization without a sponsor — and it'll take less time and budget.
Check out these pages for more information on 20x:
Since 20x is fairly new, we're always updated content around it. Reach out to our team anytime if you have any questions that haven't been addressed here. We'd love to help!
We helped 7 of the 25 orgs in the 20x pilot successfully get authorized — including our own authorization! Each org took only 8-30 days to prepare and submit a package.
→ Request a demo video or sign up for a live demo to learn why so many companies choose Paramify for FedRAMP 20x.
If FedRAMP isn't Right for You
If FedRAMP isn't the best fit, there are other great options to increase revenue.
One of our customers was pursuing FedRAMP, but they couldn't find the right sponsor, so they realized the lift for FedRAMP wasn't worth it. What next?
They shifted their focus to GovRAMP (formerly StateRAMP). This way they're still able to increase revenue by opening up opportunities to sell to state government agencies.
If FedRAMP doesn't seem like the best fit for you, you might consider another NIST 800-53 framework like GovRAMP or TX-RAMP too.
→ Learn the differences between StateRAMP and TX-RAMP to decide if one is right for you.
The Best Way to Start FedRAMP
Getting FedRAMP authorization is never easy, but great security and new revenue may be worth the effort.
If the benefits of FedRAMP authorization outweigh the negatives for your organization, we’d love to help. Reach out with any questions or for help evaluating if the ROI is worth it for your organization.
How Paramify can help:
The process is simpler, better, and less expensive from start to ConMon with Paramify.
- Fast, easy gap assessment becomes strategy and implementation guide
- Accurate documentation in 1-7 days
- Faster assessment with fewer rounds of remediation
- 90% less effort & time for ConMon
- Happier, easy to retain GRC teams
Sign up for a free demo or request a video demo below to learn more about how Paramify can help you achieve FedRAMP more efficiently.
Learn More:
→ How long does FedRAMP really take?
→ The pros & cons of digitizing your compliance documentation
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