1920x1080 - Days vs Months

UDS: Enable ATO in Days, Not Months

We've all been there.

You've got an incredible mission-critical capability ready to deploy—but then reality hits: the dreaded Authority to Operate (ATO) process. You brace yourself for endless documentation, multiple rounds of painful reviews, and repetitive compliance checks.

In the DoD and other highly regulated environments, it's a story that plays out far too often. ATO processes stretch into months—sometimes even years—stalling crucial deployments, straining resources, and frankly, making everyone wonder: "How did it get this painful?"

UDS was designed specifically to rewrite this narrative.

Let's talk through why this matters and how it will change your day-to-day operations, your budget, and, most importantly, your mission outcomes.

The Old Way: Why Traditional ATO Processes Hurt the Mission

Before we jump into how UDS fixes this, let's acknowledge exactly what's at stake when ATO documentation drags on:

Redundant Documentation: Compliance data is duplicated across countless environments, consuming your team's time and energy.
Painful, Lengthy Reviews: Authorizing Officials drown in unclear documentation, resulting in endless back-and-forth.
Operational Delays: Software updates—critical to mission success—are delayed, impacting operational readiness, agility, and sometimes even mission success itself.

It's more than paperwork: prolonged ATO processes have a measurable, negative impact on the warfighter and the mission itself.

Simply put, we can't afford this anymore.

The New Way: How UDS Changes the Game

Enter UDS—built from day one as an airgap-native platform designed explicitly for DoD environments. UDS transforms software delivery, embedding compliance directly into the pipeline, reducing ATO timelines from months (or years) down to just days.

Here's how UDS cuts through bureaucratic red tape:

1. Declarative Compliance—Say Goodbye to Endless NIST Paper Trails

Traditional compliance approaches mean manually addressing every technical control specified in NIST 800-53—a painstaking task. UDS solves this by automatically addressing over 90% of these technical controls out-of-the-box, particularly for Impact Levels 4 and 5.

What does this mean practically? It means less paperwork, less guesswork, and more time focusing on the mission.

2. Dedication to Zero CVE Posture—Proactive Security, Always-On

One of the biggest hurdles to an ATO is ensuring software has low critical vulnerabilities (CVEs). Maintaining this state manually is a constant, exhausting battle.

UDS simplifies this process, maintaining a dedication to zero Critical/High CVE posture with proactive security measures. Your systems remain audit-ready, so you can breathe easy knowing security vulnerabilities are constantly identified and resolved.

3. Comprehensive SBOMs—Total Visibility, Zero Guesswork

In an airgap-native deployment, tracking software components isn't optional—it's mission-essential.

UDS includes a detailed, accurate Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) with each software bundle, clarifying exactly what's in your environment. This significantly streamlines your validation efforts during ATO reviews.

No more surprises, no more audits filled with frantic phone calls—just clarity and confidence.

4. Continuous Validation & Monitoring—Ready Around the Clock

Compliance isn't something you check once and forget. Traditional approaches scramble just before an audit, playing catch-up at the worst possible times.

UDS flips this around: continuous monitoring and validation are built-in from the start. You're never in scramble-mode again. Instead, you're always confident and ready, meeting DoD standards proactively—every single day.

5. Streamlined Reviews—Get It Right the First Time

Let's face it: Authorizing Officials want clear, standardized documentation—documents that actually make sense. UDS provides exactly this.

No more multiple revisions or last-minute document scrambles. With UDS, your security documentation passes smoothly, simply, and quickly.

What This Means for Your Mission and Your Team

Reducing your ATO process from months to days isn't just about saving time; it's about transforming operational effectiveness and mission agility. Here's the real-world impact:

Rapid Deployment: Accelerate your software releases to the warfighter. Imagine delivering capabilities within days—not months or years.
Cost Predictability: Firm-Fixed-Price outcomes mean no more budget overruns or endless bills for man-hours. Pay for results, not "butts-in-seats."
Operational Resilience: Decentralized deployment and portability mean your systems remain mission-ready—no matter where they're deployed. Cloud, on-prem, tactical edge? Covered.
Focus & Agility: Your team spends less time bogged down in administrative burdens and more time innovating, securing, and delivering critical capabilities.

In short, faster ATO approvals mean getting back to the mission and empowering your teams to do what they joined the mission to do.

Ready to Experience Rapid ATOs?

The reality is clear: Traditional approaches to ATO aren't just outdated—they actively hinder mission success. UDS is changing this narrative, and the results speak for themselves.

UDS takes the pain out of ATO compliance, ensuring your team remains agile, secure, and fully focused on the mission.

If you're ready to transform your software delivery, streamline your path to ATO, and reclaim mission-critical agility, let's talk.

Click on Contact Us at the top of the screen to learn how.

Blog Home

UDS: Enable ATO in Days, Not Months

Related Articles