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Understanding Commercial Deployment

Second Front’s Commercial Deployment environment offers a secure, government-grade platform for software vendors to deploy production-ready applications—without the delays of full DoD authorization. Deploying into this environment allows your organization to serve regulated industries, engage defense stakeholders, and prepare for future government deployment.

This guide outlines the Commercial Deployment environment, highlighting its key benefits, strategic use cases, core platform features, security expectations, and the process for transitioning to Impact Level (IL) 2-5, or FedRAMP environments.

High-value use cases

The Commercial Deployment environment is ideal for organizations that need to:

  • Serve defense and regulated markets with a secure environment that emulates DoD-grade compliance practices.
  • Validate product-market fit in a secure, government-grade environment—without needing a DoD contract. Ideal for early-stage companies to build credibility, gather feedback, and demonstrate value before pursuing formal government agreements.
  • Demonstrate mission fit to government stakeholders, accelerating sales and partnership cycles.
  • Prepare for government authorization by refining application security posture in a pre-ATO setting.
  • Deploy production applications to commercial end users, including defense contractors and primes, without crossing into FedRAMP or IL4/5 boundaries.

Key benefits

✅ Government-equivalent security Applications are hosted in a secure AWS US East environment that mimics IL2/IL4 practices, including:
  • CVE scanning
  • SAST/DAST attestation from the security team (*)
  • Body of Evidence (BoE)
all without requiring a formal Certificate to Field (CtF)/Software Approval.
✅ Faster time to market No FedRAMP or IL4/IL5 authorization required to onboard, deploy, or launch. Start engaging customers and iterating on your product sooner.
✅ Flexible onboarding and growth path Start in Commercial and migrate seamlessly to IL2, IL4, IL5, or FedRAMP environments when you're ready—no need to start over.
✅ Self-service access with managed support Self-register and begin setup with help from Second Front implementation engineers and support teams.

(*) As part of our security screening, Second Front (2F) Systems will perform the DAST scan, while your organization is responsible for conducting and providing the SAST artifacts.

Platform features

Feature Description
Isolated Commercial Infrastructure Hosted in AWS us-east-1; distinct from GovCloud environments.
Secure Identity Management Uses Keycloak with support for SAML and OAuth 2.0.
Automated DevSecOps CI/CD, container scanning, and infrastructure automation via GitLab, ArgoCD, and container registry.
Integrated Monitoring Access built-in observability tools like Grafana for logs and metrics.
Dedicated Ticketing System Manage deployments, onboarding, and support via a dedicated support portal.
BoE Required for each app; DoD-specific sections omitted for Commercial deployments.

Security expectations

Although the Commercial environment resides outside formal government boundaries (ATO/FedRAMP), it upholds rigorous security protocols:

  • Completion of a BoE within the Game Warden platform.
  • Identification and remediation of all CVE vulnerabilities. If remediation is not possible, a written justification or mitigation plan must be provided, along with a proposed remediation timeline.
  • Review and confirmation of SAST and DAST artifacts.
  • Approval of External Data Connections (EDCs).
  • Optional migration to higher assurance environments with minimal disruption.

Second Front Security Operations Center participates in onboarding and monitoring setup for each deployment.

Customer journey

  1. Register for access at https://login.gamewarden.io.
  2. Complete onboarding with help from our Implementation Engineers.
  3. Submit your BoE.
  4. Pass a security review.
  5. Deploy your application to production.
  1. Start in Commercial and mature your application.
  2. Seamlessly migrate to IL2, IL4, IL5, or FedRAMP using a shuttle service developed by Second Front.
  3. Undergo a full security review and receive AO approval in your new environment.

FAQs

How do I get started?

Create an account at https://login.gamewarden.io. You will be prompted to register your organization and users.

Can I deploy to cloud regions other than AWS US East (us-east-1)?

Currently, no. However, you may submit region requests to the product team for future consideration.

Do I need to complete a BoE?

Yes. While some DoD-specific sections are optional, the majority of the BoE must be completed before deploying to production.

Will my app be reviewed for security before going live?

Yes. All production deployments require a security review, even in the Commercial environment.

Is this a FedRAMP-authorized environment?

No. The Commercial environment is separate from FedRAMP and ATO boundaries, though it mimics IL2/IL4 practices for development and security posture.

What's next

As adoption grows, Second Front is continuing to enhance the Commercial Deployment offering with:

  • A one-click migration path to higher ILs
  • Enhanced environment labeling and navigation
  • Dynamic login methods based on region
  • Improved onboarding automation and observability

🚀 Got a question? Reach out to Second Front System today!