What is TX-RAMP certification?
TX-RAMP (Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program) is the security certification Texas requires for cloud services that process state agency data. Created by Texas Senate Bill 475 (2021) and administered by the Texas Department of Information Resources, it assesses vendors against NIST 800-53 based controls at two tiers: Level 1 for lower-impact data and Level 2 for confidential data, with ongoing continuous-monitoring obligations after certification.
The longer answer.
Vendors without TX-RAMP certification generally cannot enter or renew cloud-service contracts with Texas state agencies, which makes the program a market-access gate rather than an optional badge. Texas also recognizes assessments from comparable programs in some cases, but the certification and continuous-monitoring obligations remain with the vendor.
Because TX-RAMP is built on NIST 800-53 controls, the configuration-management and monitoring evidence overlaps heavily with FedRAMP and StateRAMP preparation. Continuous CIS benchmark scanning mapped to NIST 800-53 produces the recurring configuration evidence the continuous-monitoring phase expects.
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