What is FedRAMP 20x? Everything You Need to Know
FedRAMP 20x is designed to streamline the FedRAMP process and create new federal opportunities for Cloud Service Providers.
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) was introduced in 2011. Since its introduction, meeting FedRAMP requirements has often been a multi-year, multi-million dollar challenge for organizations.
Now, in an effort to make FedRAMP faster and open it up to more organizations, FedRAMP 20x is being rolled out. As the name suggests, FedRAMP 20x is targeting a 20x reduction in time and cost in order to bring more providers into the federal marketplace.
In this guide, we’ll dive into what FedRAMP 20x is, the key milestones, and what it means for organizations looking to work on US government contracts.
What is FedRAMP 20x?
FedRAMP 20x is a new initiative within the FedRAMP program. It’s designed to speed up the FedRAMP authorization process using automation, machine-readable data, and cloud-native tooling.
FedRAMP has historically relied heavily on written documentation and narratives to demonstrate compliance, with assessors manually reviewing those materials to validate security controls. With FedRAMP 20x, organizations are able to submit structured, machine-readable evidence in a bid to speed up the process.
The objectives of FedRAMP 20x are to:
- Bring more Cloud Service Providers into the federal market by reducing the barrier to entry.
- Reduce wait times for FedRAMP automation and audits.
- Reduce the time and cost associated with a FedRAMP authorization
Why is FedRAMP 20x Being Introduced?
Due to the cost and timelines involved, FedRAMP authorization has only really been accessible to large, enterprise businesses with the cash (often millions of dollars) and resources (full in-house GRC and compliance teams).
FedRAMP 20x aims to shift FedRAMP from a manual, time consuming, and expensive process into one that’s more accessible to a wide range of organizations in order to ensure that the most innovative companies are able to become a part of the FedRAMP Marketplace.
FedRAMP has published five key goals for the 20x program:
- Automate validation to replace narrative fluff: Move away from narrative-based validation and toward a model where 80% of security requirements are validated automatically.
- Reduce documentation: Currently, FedRAMP has extensive documentation requirements. 20x aims to reduce FedRAMP documentation to just a few pages, if companies provide existing security policies, change management policies, and other documentation.
- Hands-off continuous monitoring: Moving from manual check-ins to standardized, machine-readable validation
- Streamline agency trust through direct business relationships: Cloud service providers and agencies will interact directly over established business channels to review and maintain security. This decentralized approach lets companies maintain control of their intellectual property while adhering to shared procedures that actually fit their operational reality.
- Enable rapid innovation by removing bottlenecks: Remove unnecessary oversight and replace annual assessments with simple automated checks in order to level the playing field between companies without ghost regulations.
FedRAMP 20x: Implementation Timeline and Roadmap
FedRAMP 20x was announced in March 2025 and is being rolled out in defined, time-bound phases. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is aiming to move fast, with the goal to roll out FedRAMP 20x Low and Moderate authorization standards to be rolled out in Q1 2026.
Here’s a breakdown of the FedRAMP 20x timeline so far:
Phase 1: Low Baseline Pilot (Completed)
Phase 1 ran from April 2025 to September 2025 and focused on the FedRAMP Low baseline to test automated validation using Key Security Indicators (KSIs) and machine-readable data.
Phase 2: Moderate Baseline Pilot (Active)
Active through March 31, 2026 as part of FY26 Q1–Q2, this phase targets Moderate baseline authorizations with a limited cohort of participants (approximately 10). Participation was only open to selected CSPs (Cloud Service Providers) to work closely with FedRAMP and assessors to meet expanded automation and KSI-based requirements.
Phase 3: Wider Adoption (Planned)
After concluding Phase 2, FedRAMP plans to move into broader adoption of the 20x pathway for both Low and Moderate baselines in FY26 Q3–Q4 (mid- to late-2026). This will formalize standards and enable more CSPs to pursue 20x authorization
How Workstreet Can Help with FedRAMP Compliance and 20x
When you’ve got a business to run, keeping up with the latest compliance developments can be challenging, especially with something like FedRAMP 20x where things are moving fast. At Workstreet, we can help your business expand into the public sector cloud services market with expert-led implementation of traditional FedRAMP and FedRAMP 20x.
Whether 20x or sponsored, Workstreet is the fastest, most automated, cost-effective route to FedRAMP and GovRAMP authorization.
