Case Study
Forescout Turned FedRAMP High Into a Launchpad for Federal Growth
Forescout used its move from FedRAMP Moderate to FedRAMP High to accelerate the next phase of its federal and defense market journey.
For Forescout, FedRAMP was not a future initiative.
It was the requirement standing between the company and the federal, military, and government customers already asking to use its cloud services. In those environments, FedRAMP High was not a box to check. It was the bar.
Forescout had been exploring FedRAMP as customer demand grew for secure cloud services in federal defense environments where security, compliance, and operational resilience are paramount. As requirements evolved and demand increasingly pointed toward FedRAMP High, the company aligned its strategy to that higher standard. Forescout planned its FedRAMP journey around customer demand, business priorities, and a strategy aligned to long-term federal growth without slowing its broader product roadmap, with Coalfire supporting every step of the way.
The Market Was Already Pulling
The strategic importance of FedRAMP authorization had become increasingly clear. Large government customers needed certified cloud services, and that requirement was only getting sharper.
At first, Forescout was working toward FedRAMP Moderate. Then customer needs started to shift. Government buyers were becoming more sensitive to CUI and PII, and the company saw the market moving toward a higher standard.
Forescout made a strategic call. Rather than optimize for the smaller target, the company decided to aim for FedRAMP High while maintaining momentum against its broader roadmap and growth objectives.
A Different Kind of Decision
That shift raised the importance of selecting a partner with the right experience and a long-term perspective.
Forescout had already evaluated the market and shortlisted three FedRAMP accelerators. As the company’s FedRAMP High and future IL5 objectives were defined, the team broadened its evaluation and ultimately selected Coalfire as the partner best positioned to support Forescout’s long-term federal strategy.
From Forescout’s perspective, the decision came down to what the next chapter required. The team wanted a partner with deeper experience around high-end certifications and IL5-aligned work. It also wanted a program that would support the move from certification into continuous monitoring without creating a new gap after authorization.
Just as important, Forescout wanted an advisor, not just an auditor. The value was in pattern recognition, pragmatic guidance, and a partner that could help the internal team avoid rework while keeping engineering and security focused on the product.
That gave Forescout confidence that the program was positioned for successful, efficient execution.
The Program Started to Look Like the Customer Journey
Once the work began, the difference was not just in pace. It was in framing.
Forescout worked with Coalfire to map the customer journey to the maturity of its cloud environment. That helped the company focus the FedRAMP effort on the customers and milestones that mattered most instead of treating compliance as a generic checklist.
With that view in place, Forescout built a more concrete plan. The company could see how cloud progress connected to customer commitments, where to focus first, and how to move toward a higher target without losing momentum. The goal was never authorization at the expense of the broader roadmap. Forescout wanted a program that could scale through continuous compliance, not a one-time push that drained the business.
Achieving FedRAMP at Forescout was a critical priority, and success required the right strategy, team alignment, and execution plan. When we worked with Coalfire, they helped us understand the journey for our customers, map that to the progress we had in our cloud, and build a concrete plan that allowed us to deliver for our most critical customers.”
- Paul Kao, Chief Product Officer, Forescout
FedRAMP High Opened a Bigger Door
The move to FedRAMP High changed the opportunity in front of Forescout.
It expanded the company’s path into civilian government and created a clearer runway into defense and military environments. It also strengthened Forescout’s position with defense contractors that need secure federal cloud services, even when a direct mandate is not driving the decision.
And when Forescout achieved FedRAMP High authorization, the outcome became tangible. The company’s cloud services were listed as Authorized in the FedRAMP Marketplace, giving eligible federal customers a path to deploy in high-impact environments where uptime, accountability, resilience, and assurance are non-negotiable.
The value reached beyond access alone. FedRAMP High validated that Forescout’s cloud services could deliver the kind of continuous visibility, policy enforcement, and operational control federal agencies need across complex environments that span IT, OT, IoT, and unmanaged assets.
That matters for agencies trying to turn Zero Trust from policy into execution. It also matters for customers working to reduce exposure gaps, cut through fragmented tooling, and operate with more confidence in heterogeneous environments.
The value reached beyond government
Forescout also saw the signal this sent to major financial services customers, along with other regulated markets, who could look at the rigor of the cloud program and understand the level of security discipline behind it.
That trust signal has practical value. It can shorten procurement, reduce the need for long security reviews, and make it easier for customers and partners to move with confidence.
For Forescout, FedRAMP High was not the end state. It was the faster step toward IL5 and the next set of markets the company wanted to serve.
What the Journey Made Possible
Now, Forescout is continuing forward on its IL5 path with the foundation already in place. FedRAMP High is the foundation, not the finish line.
That is the real story. This was not just a certification milestone. It was Forescout aligning a critical initiative to market demand and building a stronger path into federal growth, with Coalfire there to support the work at the right moments.
Forescout has supported federal agencies for more than 20 years and is deployed across more than 70 federal entities. FedRAMP High gave that long-standing federal story a new chapter: a cloud authorization built for mission-critical environments, a stronger platform for what comes next, and a growth catalyst for deeper expansion across federal accounts and adjacent regulated markets.