FedRAMP • GovRAMP • CMMC • DoD • AI • Privacy

The Only 3PAO that's

Advisory-Only. Engineer-First. CLI-Comfortable. Actually Technical. DevSecOps-Native. Customer-Obsessed. Automation-First. Built for 20x. Absurdly Technical.

bladestack.io is the only accredited FedRAMP 3PAO on the marketplace that performs exclusively advisory services.
No assessments. No conflicts of interest. Just architects and engineers who embed with your team to make authorization feel like engineering, not paperwork.
bladestack.io — advisory shell
Advisory-only 3PAO
bladestack
~/fedramp
❯
The Problem with Standard Firms

One conflict of interest.
Two rulebooks policing it.

Before the diagram, read the rulebooks. Both exist for one reason: most firms sell both sides of the line.

Rulebook 01 · A2LA: ISO/IEC 17020

Two ways to be accredited

Type A bodies are fully independent third parties. Type C bodies may sell both advisory and assessment, under strict stipulations: a documented impartiality analysis, separated personnel, and never both services for the same cloud offering.

Rulebook 01 · A2LA: R311 §5.2.4

The two-year lookback

Advise a cloud offering and you cannot assess it for two years. The rule is broad enough that a compliance tool you own counts as consulting, even with zero human contact.

Rulebook 02 · FedRAMP: CR26 (2026)

Written down. Again.

All of that machinery already existed, and FedRAMP still deemed it necessary to restate the separation in the 2026 Consolidated Rules. Regulators do not write the same rule twice for problems that are not happening.

The industry’s answer stayed corporate: a “Federal” entity for the assessment practice, the shared brand, the advisory case studies on the same website. Toggle the two models.

“DIFFERENT COMPANIES” · ONE BRAND
Your companyCloud Service Provider
The “Federal” subsidiaryAssessment
The parent companyAdvisory
the marketplace rank · the case studies
“we can still get you assessment-ready”
INDEPENDENCE BY LETTERHEAD
KEPT APART BYType C stipulations · ISO/IEC 17020 impartiality analysis · R311 §5.2.4 two-year lookback · CR26 separation rules
THE LETTERHEAD

ISO/IEC 17020 demands an impartiality analysis. Type C accreditation adds stipulations. R311 adds a two-year lookback. CR26 restates the separation. When one corporate structure needs four safeguards to stay independent, the structure is the finding, and you are the one betting your ATO on the wall holding.

The fallback pitch

If you have taken the calls,
you have heard the line.

When the assessment bid goes elsewhere, the engagement does not end. It pivots, on the same call, to advisory. Step through it, then ask the firms on your shortlist what happens to their proposal if they lose the assessment.

vendor selection call · week 6line 0 / 5
What it means

Press play. This is a composite of calls every CSP that has shortlisted 3PAOs will recognize.

THE PATTERN · advisory as the consolation prize, staffed from the assessment bench, two-year clock started.
THE ONE-PITCH FIRM · bladestack.io cannot make this pivot. There is no assessment bid to lose and no bench to keep billable. Advisory is not the fallback. It is the entire firm.
THE TELL

A firm with two pitches treats advisory as the consolation prize. A firm with one pitch has to be excellent at it.

The bladestack.io Difference

Why we're fundamentally different

Three commitments that define everything we do, and set us apart from every other firm in the FedRAMP space.

Advisory-Only 3PAO

The only accredited FedRAMP 3PAO that performs exclusively advisory work. Zero assessments means zero conflicts. Your success is our only metric.

Engineer-First DNA

Not auditors who learned cloud; engineers who learned compliance. We don't hire technical writers or desk jockeys. Our cyber-samurais are architects, SREs, and engineers equally comfortable in your CI/CD pipeline and the boardroom.

No "Check-the-Box"

Compliance without security is a liability. We solve hard engineering problems to build a security posture that is a genuine asset, not a line item.

Where their scope ends, our job description starts

Ask your advisor how deep
they actually go.

Ten layers between the humans in the room and the instruction that does the encrypting, and two of them are numbered eight. Ask a network engineer why. Probe down the stack, the typical firm goes deeper than you’d think, and shallower than you need. Past L3 the tells start: “out of scope,” “change order,” “let me loop in our technical team.” We don’t loop in the technical team. We’re it.

At this depth

Artifacts at this layer
Typical advisory firm
bladestack.io
THE QUESTION

Ask what happens below L4. If the answer involves “scope,” “additional cost,” or “our technical partners,” you’ve found the bottom of their stack, and it sits comfortably above your infrastructure. Either your advisor is the SWAT team, or they’re the one dialing it. You can tell which by who sends the change order.

Start Here

Gap Analysis/Discovery

Before you spend a dollar on remediation, know exactly where you stand. We identify what's blocking your path to authorization and build a technical roadmap tailored to your architecture.

Best Results

Engineers who get your architecture

We embed with your engineering team. Our architects speak your stack, understand your CI/CD pipeline, and guide implementation so controls actually make sense for how you build.

Your Path to ATO

Our Battle-Tested Methodology

From Gap Assessment to full ATO, we own the technical heavy lifting.

Gap / Discovery

We ruthlessly focus on the critical controls and showstoppers that determine your Go/No-Go decision. No theater. Just a technical roadmap.

STEP 1

Advisory & Build

Our team works alongside yours, guiding implementation, reviewing architecture, and keeping you on track. We create 100% of your documentation. We solve the hard engineering problems so you don't have to.

STEP 2

Assessment Support

We sit on your side of the table through the 3PAO assessment until you have your ATO. We manage the evidence, defend the architecture, and support every interview.

STEP 3
Managed Services

bladeRAMP:
Stay Authorized.

Continuous monitoring, incident response, and compliance management, because authorization isn't a one-time event.

  • HANZO (SecOps)
  • GENJI (ConMon)
Engagement Models

Choose your blade.

Flexible engagement models to suit your mission. From strategic advisory to fully managed platforms.

FedRAMP

Full-stack advisory from gap assessment through ATO. We architect compliant solutions, build your complete documentation package, and defend your system through 3PAO assessment. No conflicts. No shortcuts.

Federal

FedRAMP 20X

Purpose-built for the automation-first future. We engineer evidence pipelines, design machine-readable documentation, and build Trust Repositories that satisfy Key Security Indicators without adding engineering burden.

20X

DoD IL 4/5/6

Elevated baselines for mission-critical workloads. We navigate the additional DoD overlays, DISA STIG requirements, and classified environment considerations that separate FedRAMP from true defense-ready authorization.

DoD

GovRAMP

GovRAMP authorization with federal-grade rigor. We apply the same engineering discipline to state and local requirements, ensuring your documentation and controls exceed reciprocity thresholds.

State

CMMC

Protect CUI with implementation that actually works. We engineer 800-171 controls into your operations, not checkbox documentation, but defensible security architecture that survives DIBCAC assessment.

CMMC

FISMA / NIST RMF

NIST 800-53 implementation for federal information systems. We guide you through categorization, control selection, and continuous monitoring with documentation built for agency ATO packages.

RMF

IRAP

Australian government cloud authorization. We translate NIST expertise to the ISM framework, building PROTECTED-level documentation that satisfies ASD requirements for government workloads.

Australian

TX-RAMP

Purpose-built for Texas DIR requirements. We deliver technical documentation that satisfies Level 1, 2, or 3 certification while positioning you for federal reciprocity when you're ready.

Texas

ISO 42001

Demonstrate responsible AI management. We engineer governance frameworks that satisfy the first AI-specific management system standard, proving your AI systems are trustworthy, transparent, and controlled.

AI
Ready to Strike?

Compliance is a task. Technical excellence is an art.

Join the ranks of the absurdly technical. Let's build your path to ATO. Tell us about your architecture, your timeline, and your frustrations. We'll tell you exactly what it takes.

Contact Us
⚔️
The Engineer Approach
Technical excellence mindset
"Your Terraform module needs a lifecycle block, here's why."
"We can satisfy AC-2(1) with AWS Config rules. Let me show you."
"Here's the exact implementation."
✓
Architects solutions alongside your team
✓
Lives in the terminal
✓
Your engineers trust our guidance
Our Deliverable
📋
EXT_CSP_Name-SSP_Appendix_A-FR_Mod_Security_Controls-2025-04-23.md
Custom • Code-blocked • Mapped
$ aws iam get-account-password-policy
✓ MinimumPasswordLength: 14
✓ RequireMFA: true
✓ MaxPasswordAge: 60
✓
Engineers who live in the CLI
✓
Verifiable technical evidence
✓
"Here's exactly how to implement it"
Their Deliverable
📄
SSP_Template_v3_FINAL.docx
Last modified by: unknown

"The organization shall implement account management procedures in accordance with organizational policy..."

✗
Generic RMF boilerplate
✗
No CLI proficiency
✗
"That doesn't meet the requirement"
Our Clients

Trusted by Leading Companies

Just some of the companies which came for the expertise. They stayed for the engineering.