Cloud for Government: FedRAMP, GCC, GCC High, and IL5 Without the Wrong Turns
Azure Government (GCC, GCC High, DoD IL5) and AWS GovCloud architecture for federal civilian, state, local, and defense customers. Authority to Operate from day one — not as a retrofit when the program office is six months from go-live.
Why Government Cloud Migrations Stall in the Wrong Tenant
An agency starts a cloud migration in commercial Azure or commercial AWS because that's what the integrator's team knows. Six months in, the security office discovers the workload has CUI that requires FedRAMP Moderate at minimum and ITAR data that requires GCC High. The migration stops. The data has to be re-classified, the architecture has to be redesigned, and the contractor billing for the rebuild becomes a difficult conversation with the contracting officer. The same story plays out in DoD with workloads that need IL5 ending up in IL2-only enclaves. Or state agencies with CJIS data ending up in environments that can't pass an FBI audit. The technical migration was never the hard part. Choosing the right tenant on day one was.
Government cloud done correctly starts with a data classification and authorization decision before the first VM is provisioned. CUI, ITAR, CJIS, IRS Pub 1075, and HIPAA all push data into specific tenants — Azure Government GCC for FedRAMP Moderate, GCC High for ITAR and CMMC Level 2, DoD IL5 for Secret-adjacent workloads, AWS GovCloud (US) for the AWS path. The Authority to Operate process has to start before the architecture is finalized, not after, because retrofitting controls into a system that wasn't designed for them is the longest and most expensive path possible. Done right, cloud migration takes 9-18 months. Done in the wrong tenant, it takes 24+ months and includes a difficult conversation with the contracting officer.
How Government Agencies Apply It
Tenant Selection & FedRAMP Path
Data classification analysis, tenant selection (commercial vs GCC vs GCC High vs IL5 vs GovCloud), and FedRAMP authorization path (Agency ATO vs JAB P-ATO vs inherited authorization from a hosting provider). The decision that determines whether the rest of the migration is straightforward or impossible.
ATO-Ready Landing Zones
Azure Government or AWS GovCloud landing zones built to inherit FedRAMP controls — naming conventions, network topology with FIPS 140-2 validated cryptography, identity model integrated with PIV/CAC, logging to meet NIST 800-53 AU controls, and the boilerplate that lets the security assessment team start with most of the SSP already written.
Legacy Migration & Mainframe Bridges
Migration of legacy government applications — the COBOL on IBM Db2, the VB6 case management system, the Lotus Notes databases that nobody has touched since 2009 — into supportable cloud environments. With the data archival and records preservation that NARA requires, not just lift-and-shift.
What You Receive
Government cloud delivered without the false starts: data classification and tenant selection, FedRAMP authorization path planning, landing zones in Azure Government (GCC, GCC High, IL5) or AWS GovCloud, ATO-ready architecture documentation, security assessment support, integration with PIV/CAC and ICAM, NARA-aligned records preservation, and the FISMA continuous monitoring plan that keeps the system in good standing after go-live.
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Cloud for Government — FAQ
Depends on existing investments and the workload. Azure Government wins for agencies already on Microsoft 365 and Active Directory because the identity integration is tighter and GCC High covers CUI/ITAR cleanly. AWS GovCloud wins for analytics-heavy workloads and for agencies with deep existing AWS estates. We help you choose based on technical fit, not vendor preference.
Inheriting from a hosting provider's existing FedRAMP authorization: 3-6 months for a system ATO. Building a new FedRAMP Moderate authorization from scratch: 12-18 months. JAB P-ATO: 18-24 months. We design from day one to inherit where possible because that's the only path that fits most program timelines.
Yes. Pre-qualified Azure and AWS architects with public-trust, Secret, and TS clearances for federal civilian and DoD work. CSP-certified for Azure Government and AWS GovCloud. 4-stage consulting-led matching, 92% first-match acceptance.
Cloud Built for FedRAMP
From Day One
Right tenant, right ATO path, right controls — government cloud done by architects who've actually shipped through ATO.