--- title: "PolicyCortex vs GCC High: evidence compared" description: "GCC High is FedRAMP High hosting for CUI and ITAR data. PolicyCortex is the hash-chained record of what happened inside it, verifiable by an assessor." url: https://policycortex.com/compare/policycortex-vs-gcc-high sealed: 2026-03-17 amended: 2026-09-05 register: compare/policycortex-vs-gcc-high records: 6 digest: sha3:54ba7e2013c02af6166f654795f67b1c321b956c233d67b2a991923c1a9eabc2 --- # PolicyCortex vs GCC High Register / Compare / GCC High GCC High is hosting: Microsoft's FedRAMP High authorized Microsoft 365 and Azure boundary for CUI and ITAR data. PolicyCortex is the record of what happened inside a boundary like that: what the environment was, what changed it, and what machines were allowed to do, hash chained in your tenant and verifiable by an assessor. The two are complementary. [Request Access](https://app.policycortex.com/auth?mode=request-access) ยท [All comparisons](https://policycortex.com/compare) ## Where the evidence lives, and who can check it. Both products, asked the same eight questions. PolicyCortex cells restate the register; GCC High cells restate what GCC High states about itself in public documentation, and say so where it does not. **PolicyCortex and GCC High, eight questions** | Question | PolicyCortex | GCC High | |---|---|---| | Where the evidence lives | The customer's tenant. Collectors, policy engine, evidence store, decision layer and export surface all run there. No telemetry pipeline to PolicyCortex servers and no egress of evidence. | Your Microsoft tenant. GCC High is a FedRAMP High authorized Microsoft 365 and Azure hosting environment for CUI and ITAR data; it is the boundary, not an evidence system. | | Verifiable by a second party | By recomputation. Export the stream, recompute SHA3-256 over each record plus the digest of the record before it, compare: INTACT, or the first sequence number where integrity fails. No PolicyCortex account or API in the loop. | Not applicable as stated. GCC High provides the hosting environment and infrastructure boundary, not evidence collection for the workloads inside it. | | Tamper evidence | Hash chained and append-only. There is no update or delete verb in the store; an edit breaks the edited record and every digest after it. | Not stated by vendor | | Gaps declared | Declared. When a collector is down or a scope is unobserved, the chain carries a gap record: stream, interval, reason, declared_at. | Not stated by vendor | | Remediation model | Approval-gated proposals. The reasoning layer proposes and cannot execute. SHADOW executes nothing; GATED, the default, puts a named human on each action; AUTONOMOUS is limited to narrow, well-tested action classes with all three policy gates still run. | None. GCC High is hosting; configuration inside the boundary is yours to govern. | | AI agent coverage | Proof of agency: the envelope that permitted each autonomous action, the chained record of what it did, and the counterfactual that would have blocked it. Models and agents in scope are inventoried and mapped against 64 MITRE ATLAS techniques, with unbounded techniques recorded as declared gaps. | Not stated by vendor | | Federal packaging | OSCAL 1.1.2 export with SSP, SAR, POA&M, eMASS XML and evidence indexes generated from one implementation record. AWS and Azure boundaries for ATO packaging. | The hosting is FedRAMP High authorized. SSP, POA&M or authorization packages for your own system are not provided. | | Evaluation | Request Access. Our team reviews your requirements and agrees on scope and commercial terms before onboarding in your tenant. | Not stated by vendor | PolicyCortex cells restate the register pages. Competitor cells restate the vendor's public product documentation as read in March 2026; where it does not state a fact, the cell says so. Corrections to hello@policycortex.com. The register facts are stated on the [architecture](https://policycortex.com/architecture), the three proof records, and the [federal record](https://policycortex.com/federal). ## What is on record about GCC High GCC High is Microsoft's FedRAMP High authorized Microsoft 365 and Azure environment for CUI and ITAR data. It provides the hosting environment and the infrastructure boundary. It is Microsoft only, with no AWS, GCP or hybrid coverage, and it is licensed per user. ## Where the two differ This is not a rivalry. GCC High is where a regulated workload lives; PolicyCortex is the record of what that workload was, what changed it, and what machines were allowed to do inside it. The hosting boundary inherits a great deal, and inherits nothing about your configurations. Whether a storage account inside GCC High enforced encryption at rest on a date the assessor names is a fact about your tenant, not about Microsoft's authorization. PolicyCortex captures that fact from the provider API, hashes it, chains it, keeps it seven years, and lets the assessor recompute it. It does the same across AWS GovCloud, Azure Government and GCP where those are connected, so one record covers the estate rather than one cloud. ## When to use both The two are complementary: a contractor on GCC High still owes the assessor evidence of what happened inside it. GCC High gives you the boundary; the register gives you the evidence of what happened inside it. PolicyCortex runs inside the customer tenant, including GCC High, and observes GCC High workloads on the same chain as everything else connected. ## Questions buyers ask about the two. **Q: Do we need PolicyCortex if we already use GCC High?** A: They answer different questions. GCC High is the authorized hosting boundary for Microsoft workloads. PolicyCortex is the record of what your configurations inside it were, what changed them, and what machines were allowed to do, verifiable by your assessor. The two are complementary: a contractor on GCC High still owes the assessor evidence of what happened inside it. **Q: Can PolicyCortex run inside GCC High?** A: Yes. It runs inside the customer tenant, including GCC High, AWS GovCloud and Azure Government, and it observes GCC High workloads on the same chain as every other connected cloud. **Q: Is GCC High enough for CMMC Level 2?** A: GCC High provides the hosting baseline. CMMC Level 2 assesses the 110 requirements of NIST 800-171 against your system, and the assessor examines your configurations and your evidence. The register produces that evidence with the raw payload attached; the assessor makes the determination. **Q: How does pricing compare?** A: GCC High is licensed per user by Microsoft. PolicyCortex is an annual software license with optional fixed-scope delivery engagements. Request Access so our team can review your requirements and agree on scope and commercial terms before onboarding. They are budgeted separately. ## What this comparison is not. **Stated limit.** This page compares what GCC High states in public documentation, as read in March 2026, with what the register pages state about PolicyCortex. It is not an assessment of GCC High and it does not certify anything. Where GCC High does not state a fact, the cell says so rather than guessing. Ask us the same eight questions, in your own tenant. [Request Access](https://app.policycortex.com/auth?mode=request-access) ## Register colophon | Seq | Label | SHA3-256 | Prev | |---|---|---|---| | REC 0000 | THE EVIDENCE TABLE | d7f7c44d02af | 0a803288d7ff | | REC 0001 | WHAT IS ON RECORD ABOUT GCC HIGH | 1e53d643d2b6 | d7f7c44d02af | | REC 0002 | WHERE THE TWO DIFFER | c5e48f25f3d8 | 1e53d643d2b6 | | REC 0003 | WHEN TO USE BOTH | 686417a4cbc3 | c5e48f25f3d8 | | REC 0004 | QUESTIONS | 5bc45628a7d4 | 686417a4cbc3 | | REC 0005 | STATED LIMIT | 54ba7e2013c0 | 5bc45628a7d4 | Head sha3:54ba7e2013c02af6166f654795f67b1c321b956c233d67b2a991923c1a9eabc2. Each digest is SHA3-256 over the previous digest, the register key, the record label, and the record copy; a second party can recompute it from this document.