Federal Secure Cloud Advisory Committee May 20, 2024 public meeting agenda and minutes

May 20, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time

In person at 1800 F St. NW, Room 1425, Washington, DC 20270

Virtually at Zoom

Agenda

Call to order and roll call

Michelle White, FSCAC Designated Federal Officer

Michelle White introduced the purpose of the meeting and FSCAC. She welcomed members of the public attending & thanked those who left public comments. A quorum was established. Michelle welcomed the new chair, new FSCAC members and reappointed members, who introduced themselves. Michelle reviewed the purpose, outcomes, and agenda for the meeting.

Roll call

• Larry Hale – Present
• Bo Berlas – Present
• Branko Bokan – Present
• Daniel Pane – Not present
• Bill Hunt – Present
• Carlton Harris – Present
• Kayla Underkoffler –Present (virtual)
• Josh Krueger – Present
• Joshua Cohen – Present
• Matt Scholl –Not present
• Nauman Ansari – Present (virtual)
• Jackie Snouffer – Present (virtual)
• La Monte Yarborough – Present
• Marci Womack – Present
• Mike Vacirca – Present

Public comment

Members of the public

There were two public comments in person from Josh Blaher at RedHat who offered comments about how FSCAC can best deliver priorities based on the output of the previous meeting. Josh discussed the timely delivery of boundary guidance and providing knowledge for conversations around authorizations and ConMon. Rob Gill from Okta offered comments virtually about the replacement of the JAB and if FedRAMP could provide guidance about the JAB transition and multi-agency authorization. Public comment period ended at 11:15 a.m.

Chair remarks with review & vote on Annual Report

Larry Hale, FSCAC Chair

Larry Hale introduced himself as the new FSCAC Chair and briefly discussed his professional background. Larry reviewed the FSCAC annual report and its upcoming due date of June 14, 2024. Branko Bokan addressed the issue of unattributed individual comments in Appendix A of their final deliverable regarding the draft OMB memo titled, “Modernizing FedRAMP,” in the report. Two additional members agreed. Josh Cohen suggested including a note that the comments do not represent the committee. Michelle White (DFO) reminded the Committee that there was already language that said this comment in the final deliverable and annual report. Larry Hale introduced a motion to approve the report as written. All members present virtually and in person voted to approve. The committee adjourned early for lunch.

Vote: Motion made by Larry Hale to approve FSCAC’s 2023-2024 Annual Report for delivery to Congress and the GSA Administrator. The motion was seconded by Branko Bokan.

• Larry Hale – In favor
• Bo Berlas – Not present
• Branko Bokan – In favor
• Daniel Pane – Not present
• Bill Hunt – In favor
• Carlton Harris – In favor
• Kayla Underkoffler – In favor
• Josh Krueger – In favor
• Joshua Cohen – In favor
• Matt Scholl – Not present
• Nauman Ansari – In favor
• Jackie Snouffer – In favor
• La Monte Yarborough – In favor
• Marci Womack – In favor
• Mike Vacirca – In favor

Deliberations & vote on next priorities

FSCAC Membership

The Committee deliberated on areas of focus going forward. The Committee reviewed priorities from the last meeting on March 28, and Larry Hale suggested that today’s discussion focus on those. There was deliberation on the current language and how it can or should change. Many of the issues and changes discussed were around risk, costs, consistency, standards of practice, small vs. large businesses, CSPs vs. 3PAOs, and timelines. After deliberation, the committee decided to view bullet C as desired outcomes and add additional language to bullets A & B to include more details and examples.

The following language was changed and Larry Hale made a motion to approve the following priorities: For this committee to work on priorities of “A) identifying challenges and proposed solutions around the barrier entry for CSPs with the focus on small businesses, 3PAOs, small and large agencies,” and to include the previous issue underneath that as a desired outcome, “a) evaluate provide guidance, a minimum risk threshold/minimum acceptability standard baselines for sponsoring agencies and 3PAOs.” Additionally, for this committee to “B) consider ways to expedite the certification process, explore agile authorizations and other potential cost reductions, both labor and financial,”, and again, include the same desired outcome as above underneath it, “a) to evaluate and provide guidance for a minimum risk threshold, minimum acceptability standardized baselines for sponsoring agencies and 3PAOs.”

The motion was approved. Larry proposed forming subcommittees to work on priorities.

Several committee members expressed concern around splitting into smaller groups and decided to not form subcommittees. Michelle collected feedback from the group of what information they need in advance of their next meeting and what additional information they would like to see in their next meeting.

Vote: Motion made by Larry Hale to work on priority A to include the sub bullet (a) and priority B to include sub bullet (a) as our next initiative. The motion was seconded by La Monte Yarborough.

• Larry Hale – In favor
• Bo Berlas – Not present
• Branko Bokan – Abstained
• Daniel Pane – Not present
• Bill Hunt – Opposed
• Carlton Harris – In favor
• Kayla Underkoffler – In favor
• Josh Krueger – In favor
• Joshua Cohen – Abstained
• Matt Scholl – Not present
• Nauman Ansari – In favor
• Jackie Snouffer – Abstained
• La Monte Yarborough – In favor
• Marci Womack – Abstained
• Mike Vacirca – In favor

Closing remarks & adjournment

Larry Hale, FSCAC Chair

Larry thanked the committee for their input and expressed that he is looking forward to continuing the discussion. Michelle White adjourned the meeting at 1:38 p.m.