FISMA ยท Advisory Service Components

For contractors with technical teams who need RMF expertise to navigate the agency authorization process

FISMA authorization requires more than documentation. It requires understanding your agency's specific interpretation of NIST controls, their assessment methodology, and the politics of their authorization process. We embed with your team, build the complete authorization package, and guide you through the RMF lifecycle from categorization through continuous monitoring.

  • RMF Readiness Assessment For contractors evaluating FISMA authorization requirements. We analyze your current security posture against NIST 800-53 baselines, identify control gaps, map inheritance opportunities, and produce a realistic authorization roadmap. You receive a technical assessment of what authorization will require, how long it will take, and where the hard problems live.
  • Phase 0: Categorization and Scoping For contractors committed to authorization. We work with your team and agency stakeholders to establish system categorization per FIPS 199, define authorization boundaries, document data flows, and build the Control Ownership Matrix that determines who implements what. The artifacts from Phase 0 flow directly into SSP development. No interim report gathering dust.
  • Advisory The core engagement. We create your complete System Security Plan with control-level implementation detail, inheritance documentation that agencies actually accept, and security architecture diagrams that answer assessor questions before they surface. We do not disappear after delivery. We work through implementation challenges, coordinate with your agency ISSO, and ensure the package represents your actual environment.
  • Bastion: Assessment Support We remain engaged through security assessment and AO review. Evidence coordination, interview preparation, finding response, and agency communication from assessment kickoff through ATO signature. The engagement ends when you have authorization, not when documentation is complete.

Every deliverable reflects your agency's expectations. We match their documentation format, their evidence requirements, their review process. When your ISSO reviews the package, it should feel familiar. When assessors dig in, evidence traces cleanly. When the AO makes the risk decision, the package supports approval.

Includes:

  • RMF Readiness Assessment
  • FIPS 199 Categorization Support
  • Authorization Boundary Definition
  • System Security Plan (SSP)
  • Control Ownership Matrix
  • Inheritance Documentation
  • Agency ISSO Coordination