We are excited to announce that VMware SD-WAN™ on AWS GovCloud has achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High Authorization through the Joint Authorization Board (JAB). VMware SD-WAN is now available in the FedRAMP Marketplace listed under VMware Government Services (VGS).
Continuing to forge a path as a market leader, VMware is the only SD-WAN vendor today to receive FedRAMP High Authorization. FedRAMP High Authorization certifies that VMware SD-WAN can protect federal agencies’ highly sensitive, unclassified information within a cloud environment. This allows government agencies to accelerate their path to the cloud.
VMware SD-WAN, a key element of VMware SASE™, meets FedRAMP requirements for continuous monitoring, access control, auditing, security assessment and authorization, contingency planning, secure software development lifecycle, and incident response. FedRAMP standards also extend to state, local, and tribal agencies, companies working with the federal government, and critical infrastructure sectors.
Government agencies are on a digital transformation journey
Across the public sector, agencies are laying the groundwork for cloud-smart adoption. 97% of agencies have a cloud strategy, with 37% of them actively using multiple clouds. Federal leaders are also looking at edge solutions to realize the potential of specialized IoT devices such as cameras and sensors, and 5G.
Telework and remote work are becoming the new norm for many government agencies. In November 2021, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) laid out a plan for reimagining how federal agencies work. The OPM recognized the many benefits of flexible workplaces, including the ability to continue critical government services during a disaster. With over 4.4 million employees, the U.S government is the largest employer in America. Some agencies are spread across thousands of locations. Like the private sector, government workers need ubiquitous access to cloud applications and data. Agencies’ progress towards accomplishing mission goals is hampered if this highly distributed workforce that may not always have adequate connectivity for fast and secure access to SaaS apps and cloud-based resources.
Legacy networks are a transformation barrier
Traditional network architectures for government agencies use a hub and spoke network to connect agency locations to cloud-based applications resulting in a poor application experience for the distributed workforce. This in turn affects employee productivity. It is not uncommon to hear government employees complaining that network connectivity is faster at their house than at their office. Traditional networks are very expensive and difficult to scale to meet the performance requirements of cloud applications.
The General Services Administration (GSA)’s Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) $50 billion contract describes how the government will modernize IT infrastructure with solutions including zero-trust architecture, IPv6 and SD-WAN in response to the recent Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. Agencies can now proceed to fulfill this contract with hardened, certified solutions.
Network modernization starts with SD-WAN
VMware SD-WAN, the industry leading software defined WAN (SD-WAN) solution, connects users across distributed agency locations securely, reliably, and efficiently to cloud-based applications, cloud services and agency data centers. Agencies can rely on VMware SD-WAN to improve employee productivity with secure and optimized application access, no matter where they are located.
VMware SD-WAN’s cloud-first architecture for government follows the highly successful commercial offering with added security and compliance requirements of federal agencies. This means federal agencies can trust VMware SD-WAN to simplify operations and maximize ROI like thousands of our happy customers. According to a Forrester study commissioned by VMware, our customers achieved an ROI of 218% with payback in less than 6 months with VMware SASE solution.
VMware SD-WAN is a key enabler for agencies to deliver on their vision of 5G and edge compute by eliminating IT complexity while delivering greater efficiency and faster deployment. Furthermore, agencies can leverage VMware SD-WAN as a critical component of a multi-layered security strategy while implementing initiatives such as Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 to help accelerate their journey towards a zero-trust architecture.
