Extract from Reveal’s article “eDiscovery Hosting in a FedRAMP Environment”
eDiscovery hosting in a FedRAMP environment refers to the deployment of litigation support and document review platforms within cloud infrastructure that meets the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program’s standardized security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring requirements. For government agencies and federal contractors, FedRAMP authorization is the baseline for using any cloud-based eDiscovery platform with federal data. But authorization alone does not define reliability. Technavio’s government cloud computing market analysis identifies 99.9% system uptime as the critical benchmark for government cloud infrastructure, a standard that applies equally to eDiscovery hosting platforms where review teams and legal deadlines depend on uninterrupted access. Understanding what reliability actually requires in a FedRAMP eDiscovery environment means looking beyond the authorization certificate to the operational controls beneath it.
Why FedRAMP Authorization Is the Starting Point, Not the Answer
FedRAMP.gov describes the program as providing a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services used by federal agencies. That description captures what FedRAMP is designed to do: establish a verified, reusable security baseline so that agencies do not need to independently assess every cloud provider they consider. What it does not describe is operational reliability. A platform can hold FedRAMP authorization and still fail to meet the uptime, recovery, and availability standards that eDiscovery workflows demand.
