Actu
Appian Available as a Managed Service in Impact Level 4 Secure Cloud for Mission-critical Low-code Applications
May 2019 by Marc Jacob
Appian announced a partnership with Smartronix to deliver the speed and impact of low-code development to Federal Government and Department of Defense (DoD) agencies that require the stricter security standards of Impact Level 4 (IL4). The Appian Platform will be deployable as a Smartronix managed service in Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure government clouds supported by Smartronix’s IL4-certified managed services platform. This announcement is a major milestone in the evolution of low-code technology for government agencies that need high-security solutions.
The urgent need to increase the security of U.S. economic, industrial and defense information was highlighted in the March, 2019 “Secretary of the Navy Cybersecurity Readiness Review.” The report found that non-U.S. hackers were pilfering so much Intellectual Property and classified secrets from the Defense Industrial Base that it was "materially eroding" U.S. economic and military advantages.
Impact Level 4 goes beyond FedRAMP and FISMA Moderate requirements, covering controlled unclassified information (CUI) that under law or policy requires protection from unauthorized disclosure or other mission critical data. Approximately 20% of federal and defense systems are FISMA or FedRAMP High, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
Smartronix is Appian’s exclusive Managed Service Provider for DoD Impact Level 4 (IL4) cloud managed services and is the first DoD-approved IL2/4 commercial managed services provider. Smartronix is a "Leader" in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud Hosting Managed Service Providers, and has been a Premier Managed Services Partner for both AWS and Azure since the inception of both lists.
Through this partnership, Appian customers will be able to leverage additional benefits such as Authority to Operate (ATO) and Certificate of Networthiness (CON) Advisory Services that accelerate time-to-value. At IL4, an Appian application can be used to manage and store information, including, but not limited to the following:
• Privacy Information (including Personal Identification Information or PII)
• Protected Health Information (PHI)
• Export Control - controls on exporting outside the country, i.e. software
• Other information requiring explicit CUI designation
Appian already supplies the platform for a solution hosted in an IL4 cloud for the U.S. Air Force Contracting-Information Technology (CON-IT) program. The solution, hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is replacing seven legacy contract writing systems to standardize acquisition contract writing across the Air Force, drive efficiency for the acquisition and contracting communities, reduce costs, and provide a platform to make functionality enhancements and statutory changes faster.
In addition to the IL4 compliant solution, Appian has a comprehensive security and compliance program, including FedRAMP 2.0, that meets more industry standards than other application Platform-as-a-Service (aPaaS) vendors.
