#compliance

• Data Rights for Software Companies: What the Government Gets When It Buys Your Code

  How federal data rights work for software companies: commercial licenses, restricted and government purpose rights, DFARS markings and SBIR data rights.

• Authority to Operate (ATO) for SaaS Companies: What It Is and How Agencies Grant One

  What an Authority to Operate is, who signs it, how it relates to FedRAMP, and what a SaaS company has to have in place before an agency can grant one.

• FAR Part 12 for Software Companies: Selling Your Product as a Commercial Product

  How FAR Part 12 commercial product rules shape a software company's first federal deal: license terms, pricing and the clauses that apply.

• Section 508 and the VPAT for Software Companies: The Accessibility Report Federal Buyers Ask For

  What Section 508 requires of software sold to federal agencies, what a VPAT and an Accessibility Conformance Report are, and how to write one buyers trust.

• CMMC in 2026: Phase I In Force, Phase II Suspended — What Changes

  Phase I is in force, Phase II is suspended — not cancelled — per memo 26-P-1023. What that means for ISVs selling into DoW programs in 2026.

• The 2026 Federal Readiness Playbook for ISVs — Chapter 1: The 2026 Window

  FedRAMP 20x opened Class A on August 3, 2026 and Class B and C on August 31. Why the prepared first cohort sets the benchmark latecomers are graded against.

• The 2026 Federal Readiness Playbook for ISVs — Chapter 2: Readiness, Scored

  The 100-point Federal Readiness Score: 12 categories, five tiers, computed from public federal data, with your own intake answers labelled self-reported.

• The 2026 Federal Readiness Playbook for ISVs — Chapter 3: Verified vs. Self-Attested

  Self-attested compliance is not verified compliance. The three states of a federal compliance claim, and why a SOC 2 Type II does not carry over.

• The 2026 Federal Readiness Playbook for ISVs — Chapter 4: The DoW Compliance Calendar

  CMMC Phase I is in force, Phase II is suspended — not cancelled — and DFARS 252.204-7012 remains in force. The DoW compliance calendar for ISVs.

• The 2026 Federal Readiness Playbook for ISVs — Chapter 5: Your 90-Day Plan

  Your readiness score read backward: sequence 90 days by leverage, fix the gating registration gaps first, then aim the final 30 at your FedRAMP 20x submission.

• The 2026 Federal Readiness Playbook for ISVs — Chapter 6 (Appendix): The Six Federal Data Sources

  The six public federal APIs behind a readiness score — SAM.gov, USASpending, FPDS, FedRAMP, GSA CALC+, SBIR — what each informs and how a gap is shown.

• FedRAMP 20x Class A Is Open — Is Your Company Ready?

  FedRAMP 20x Class A opened August 3, 2026. Ready is not a checkbox: what federal buyers actually verify, and why self-attested compliance is not verified.

• FedRAMP 20x Class B and C Are Open — The Next Cohort's Move

  The Class B and C FedRAMP 20x pipelines opened August 31, 2026. What a company deciding now should do with the precedent already set.

• The SOC 2 to FedRAMP On-Ramp for ISVs

  Your SOC 2 is real federal credit — but not a complete authorization. What carries over, what doesn't, and the plan to bridge the gap before you submit.

• Verified vs. Self-Attested: What Federal Buyers Actually Check

  Federal buyers distinguish three tiers of compliance: unverified assertions, self-attestation, and independent verification. Know which survives diligence.

• FedRAMP 20x Class A Pipeline: What Opens August 3 and Who Qualifies

  The FedRAMP 20x Class A pipeline opens August 3, 2026. Who qualifies, the 7 required KSIs, the SOC 2 fast path, and the 2-year clock — from primary sources.

• FedRAMP 20x: Timeline, Eligibility, and Cost for SaaS Companies (2026)

  FedRAMP 20x replaces the old 12-24 month authorization process with machine-readable packages. Here's what SaaS companies need to know before Phase 3 opens.

• How to Sell Software to the Federal Government: The Complete 2026 Guide for ISVs

  A practical guide for ISVs entering the U.S. federal market — SAM.gov, compliance, contract vehicles, TAM sizing, and a 90-day action plan.