Azure Databricks Achieves FedRAMP High Authorization on Microsoft Azure Government (MAG)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – November 25, 2020 – Databricks, the Data and AI Company, today announced that Microsoft Azure Databricks has received a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High Authority to Operate (ATO). This authorization validates Azure Databricks security and compliance for high-impact data analytics and AI across a wide range of public sector, industry, and enterprise use cases.

FedRAMP is a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud services as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The ATO was granted by the FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board (JAB) which consists of representatives from the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the General Services Administration (GSA).

“At Veterans Affairs, we included Azure Databricks as part of our Microsoft Azure Authority to Operate (ATO)," said Joseph Fourcade, Lead Cyber Security Analyst, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office (ECSO). “When Databricks received FedRAMP High approval, we were able to move quickly to inherit that same Azure ATO and approve Azure Databricks for production workloads. Timing couldn't have been better, as we have been working with a number of VA customers implementing Databricks for critical programs."

“Numerous federal agencies are looking to build cloud data lakes and leverage Delta Lake for a complete and consistent view of all their data,” said Kevin Davis, VP, Public Sector at Databricks. “The power of data and AI are being used to dramatically enhance public services, lower costs and improve quality of life for citizens. Using Azure Databricks, government agencies have aggregated hundreds of data sources to improve citizen outreach, automated processing of hourly utility infrastructure IoT data for enabled predictive maintenance, deployed machine learning models to predict patient needs, and built dashboards to predict transportation needs and optimize logistics. FedRAMP High authorization for Azure Databricks further enables federal agencies to analyze all of their data for improved decision making and more accurate predictions.”

"We are pleased to add Azure Databricks to our portfolio of services approved for FedRAMP at the high impact level in Microsoft Azure Government," said Lily Kim, General Manager of Azure Government at Microsoft. "Azure Government provides the most trusted cloud for mission-critical government workloads. FedRAMP High approval for Azure Databricks enables government customers to build fast and reliable data lakes for innovative new use cases, such as risk management and predictive analytics."

With this certification, customers can now use Azure Databricks to process the U.S. government’s most sensitive, unclassified data in cloud computing environments, including data that involves the protection of life and financial assets. From personalized healthcare and education to space exploration and energy research, Azure Databricks enables organizations to accelerate new innovation while minimizing risk when working with highly sensitive, private and public sector data.

With FedRAMP, organizations have a consistent way to evaluate the security of cloud solutions using NIST and FISMA defined standards. FedRAMP offers several levels of assurance and Azure Databricks has met all of the requirements for authorization for the highest degree of assurance. Azure Databricks joins many other Azure services with the FedRAMP High authorization, enabling public sector, enterprise and industry vertical customers to create and deploy cloud-based applications with confidence.

See the list of Azure services by FedRAMP and DoD CC SRG audit scope. Learn more about FedRAMP by reading Microsoft Documentation.

About Databricks

Databricks is the data and AI company. Thousands of organizations worldwide — including Comcast, Condé Nast, Nationwide and H&M — rely on Databricks’ open and unified platform for data engineering, machine learning and analytics. Databricks is venture-backed and headquartered in San Francisco, with offices around the globe. Founded by the original creators of Apache Spark™, Delta Lake and MLflow, Databricks is on a mission to help data teams solve the world’s toughest problems. To learn more, follow Databricks on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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