Frequently Asked Questions about Our Cloud Infrastructure and Hosting Services
Explore answers to some of the most common questions we receive about our secure, fully managed GovDataHosting Cloud. If you do not see your question below, our team is happy to help.
What cloud services do you provide?
GovDataHosting offers a comprehensive government cloud hosting services bundle that includes Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Security Compliance as a Service (SECaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), and Technical Support Services. Our fully managed cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) model allows customers control over their applications while GovDataHosting manages the cloud and security infrastructure, the hypervisor, and operating system.
Why do government agencies need a FISMA Compliant Cloud Infrastructure?
The Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), a U.S. federal law that mandates how government agencies must protect information systems, was originally passed in 2002 as part of the E-Government Act. FISMA aims to protect federal information systems by establishing a risk-based framework and requiring safeguards to maintain confidentiality, integrity, and availability. In 2014, FISMA was updated and modernized to better address evolving cybersecurity threats.
GovDataHosting’s FISMA compliant Cloud offers a secure, scalable, and cost-effective solution to support sensitive federal workloads. By providing virtualized computing resources, government agencies eliminate the need for on-premises hardware and only pay for the resources they use. GovdataHosting’s FISMA-compliant Cloud meets federal standards, offering assurance that data remains in compliance with government regulations. Our FISMA Cloud is the most cost-effective way to host a government system and obtain security compliance resources to satisfy government-mandated security controls. To learn more, visit FISMA Cloud
What makes your Cloud Infrastructure offering stand out from other cloud service providers?
GovDataHosting is one of the few cloud service providers with a FedRAMP High Certified Cloud Infrastructure, authorized by the Joint Authority Board (JAB Our infrastructure is designed to meet federal security standards, ensuring that sensitive data is protected with robust security measures, including encryption, access controls, and regular security audits. We prioritize data integrity and confidentiality, making our cloud services a reliable choice for government data storage.
Does your Cloud Infrastructure support DoD workloads?
GovDataHosting supports Department of Defense (DoD) workloads by providing fully managed, secure, and compliant cloud infrastructure tailored to meet stringent DoD requirements. GovDataHosting supports multiple DoD Impact Levels (IL) to accommodate different sensitivity levels of information. Govdatahositng offers DoD agency users and contractors a choice between GovDataHosting Cloud platform or AWS GovCloud to meet various demanding DoD compliance and security standards. To learn more, visit Advance Your DoD Cloud Mission Objectives
Do you offer AI solutions?
By leveraging Generative AI tools and foundation models, such as Chat GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Titan, and Gemini, GovDataHosting provides access to advanced generative AI capabilities for text, code, or visuals. GovDataHosting collaborates with you to choose the foundation model best suited for your specific use case, and our AI Fusion lab enables you to test and refine models and applications in a secure and compliant cloud environment. To learn more, visit Innovative and Compliant AI Solutions
How do you, as a cloud service provider, help your customers achieve a FedRAMP Authority to Operate (ATO)?
GovDataHosting has an impeccable record for assisting agencies and vendors in obtaining full Authority to Operate (ATO) for their systems. As a cloud service provider with a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High Certification, GovDataHosting has already undergone a rigorous security assessment.
GovDataHosting can significantly streamline the process of achieving an ATO and reduce the work required for you to get your own ATO. Our fully managed security compliance team will generate and document all required control implementation details and submit to FedRAMP for review.
Do SaaS providers need a FedRAMP certification?
Yes, obtaining FedRAMP certification is essential for SaaS providers to work with government agencies. GovDataHosting supports cost-effective SaaS implementation and FedRAMP certification. We manage all of your security documentation and coordinate with your FedRAMP 3PAO to ensure that your assessment artifacts are gathered and communicated to the assessment team. To learn more , please visit FedRAMP SaaS Connect For Government
What do your managed security compliance services include?
GovDataHosting provides a full range of managed security compliance services to ensure your cloud environment is secure and up to date with the latest policies for FISMA, and other compliance standards for government agencies. Our security compliance services also include expedited system Authority to Operate (ATO), continuous monitoring, vulnerability and log monitoring, identity management, compliance documentation, system hardening, continuous monitoring, and audit support. To learn more, visit Full Service, Managed Government Cyber Security Compliance
How do you handle incident responses in the event of a breach?
GovDataHosting has an established incident response plan that aligns with FISMA requirements. Our Incident Response and Tracking Service is fully compliant with NIST Special Publication 800-61 Revision 2- Computer Security Incident Handling Guide, FedRAMP incident response guidelines and agency-specific tailored incident response procedures to ensure every customer system has access to GovDataHosting SOC Computer Security Incident Response Capability (CSIRC).
What certifications and credentials support your services?
GovDataHosting is one of few providers with FedRAMP High Impact Authorization, issued by the Joint Authorization Board (JAB). Govdatahosting combines its FedRAMP High Certified IaaS with managed security compliance services to support a wide range of sensitive federal workloads. We also maintain FISMA High certification for federal government and contractor clouds services.
GovDataHosting is certified under key international standards: AICPA SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001:2013 (information security management), ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 (IT service management), and ISO 9001:2015 (quality management).
GovDataHosting operates exclusively within the continental U.S. and employs only U.S. citizen personnel, which include PMI-certified project managers and staff holding active security clearances and ISACA/ISC certifications.
How do you provide customer support?
GovDataHosting offers 24/7 “white glove” technical support. Our point of contact ServiceDesk acts as the primary interface to customers. Our centralized ServiceDesk Portal Service provides an electronic service request and change request tracking capability for customers. We track each request individually with emphasis on expedient request assignment for quick resolution and high quality of service performed. Our cloud technical support desk is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week- including Federal holidays.
Does your technical team provide application and software support?
Our application support team provides custom applications and software support for platforms like Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, Apache, and Drupal. Our services ensure 24/7 mission-critical support for government decision-makers.
How do you perform data backups?
Our Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) offers a plan to simplify the process of storing and managing data backups. Our Robust disaster recovery service delivered across 3 cloud zones with flexible RTO/RPO options. GovDataHosting has three cloud infrastructure datacenters (Columbia, MD, Dallas, TX and Cleveland, OH), so if one location is disrupted due to a power outage or natural disaster, workloads can fail over to another facility. This prevents a single point of failure and ensures continuity of operations for critical government systems. To learn more, please visit our Disaster Recovery page.
Where are your datacenters located?
GovDataHosting has three cloud infrastructure datacenters located in Columbia, MD, Dallas, TX and Cleveland, OH. All government tenants in IT-CNP’s GovDataHosting datacenters environment are logically separated into independent segments: Development, Staging, Production and other environments. This configuration ensures a secure, independent operating environment which will isolate and safeguard sensitive information.
We perform additional separation within each customer’s environment to segment system components into purpose-specific zones (e.g. DMZ, Application Zone, Data Zone) to minimize direct breach exposure from Internet visitors and to store all system data away from the Internet traffic’s first point of entry.
How flexible are your services?
GovDataHosting’s cloud hosting plans are customizable based on your organization’s needs and workloads. Our pricing allows you to only pay for the resources you use. You can also choose from various plans based on your specific workloads. To learn more, please visit Cloud Support Plans
What are the best practices for cloud service usage cost optimization?
GovDataHosting will regularly analyze usage patterns and adjust the size of your resources to fit actual needs (e.g., CPU, memory). By implementing monitoring tools and conducting regular audits of cloud services, GovDataHosting tracks cloud service usage costs and ensures all resources are necessary and utilized effectively.
What is your pricing structure?
Our cloud infrastructure and services are provided to government agencies and their contractors as a subscription service. Our services are bundled to ensure cost-effectiveness and streamlined deployment. One setup fee initiates service, while predictable fixed monthly payments keep your all-inclusive hosting packages operational.
