Answer a FedRAMP question with your exact status and nothing softer: authorized at a named impact level, in process with a sponsor, or building toward a baseline without authorization. Customers and agencies can tell the difference, and blurring it in a questionnaire is a risk to the deal and to your credibility.
What is the question really asking?
When a questionnaire says "Are you FedRAMP compliant?" it usually means one of three things. Is the cloud service authorized for federal use? Can the customer's agency rely on an existing authorization? Or does the vendor follow comparable controls, so the customer's own auditors can map them?
Those are different answers. Reading the question closely before you reply saves a second round of emails.
What does FedRAMP actually define?
According to fedramp.gov, cloud service offerings are categorized at one of three impact levels, Low, Moderate and High, across confidentiality, integrity and availability. An offering has to meet the highest level required by any one of those objectives. So "FedRAMP" is not one thing. It is an authorization for a specific offering at a specific level.
That has an implication for wording. Saying you are "FedRAMP ready" or "aligned" tells a buyer nothing until you say which level, which offering and what the status is.
A status ladder you can copy
Pick the line that is true today. Do not pick the one you hope to reach.
- Authorized. "Service X holds a FedRAMP authorization at the Moderate level. Our listing is on the FedRAMP marketplace." Give the identifier the customer can check.
- In process. "We are in the FedRAMP process for service X at the Moderate level with a named agency sponsor." State what stage, and do not give a date as a promise.
- Architecture aligned, not authorized. "We have designed service X against the Moderate baseline controls. We do not hold a FedRAMP authorization." Say plainly what has not been done, such as an independent assessment.
- Not pursuing. "We do not hold or pursue a FedRAMP authorization. Here is what we do hold and how we map to your control list."
What should you attach?
- A control mapping to the customer's list, with a column marking each control as implemented, partially implemented or not applicable.
- Your data flow diagram and where data is stored.
- Subprocessor list.
- The date of the last review of every answer, so a reader knows how fresh it is.
What should you never write?
- "Certified" for something that is not an authorization. FedRAMP is an authorization, not a certification you can hold by self declaration.
- An impact level you are only designing toward, stated as a fact.
- A future date for authorization, written as if it were settled.
- A control marked implemented because a tool vendor says it is.
An honest example from us
Safeguard's own compliance documentation says Safeguard does not currently hold a FedRAMP authorization, and that its FedRAMP HIGH and IL5 sections describe intended architecture, not granted authorizations. That is the kind of sentence we recommend you write about your own service. It is short, it is checkable and it keeps a buyer from finding out the hard way.
Process for your team
- Keep one master answer for FedRAMP status, owned by one person.
- Have legal or compliance approve any change to it.
- Reuse it verbatim across questionnaires instead of rewriting.
- Review it every quarter and whenever your status changes.
- If a salesperson wants to say more, route it to the owner first.
Quick check
Is aligned to FedRAMP the same as authorized?
No. Authorization applies to a specific offering at a specific impact level. Alignment is your own claim about design and has not been through the authorization process.
Can we give a target date?
You can share a plan, but label it as a plan. Do not word a target as a commitment unless contracts and sponsors confirm it.
Sources
Last reviewed: 18 October 2026.
