1) Why You Must Have SOC 2 Type 2

The penetration strategy for the US market goes through compliance:

In the last couple of years, we have all witnessed the exponential growth of SaaS startups worldwide. This growth, among the rest, is made possible because of the hybrid-cloud providers that supply scalable, elastic, high-availability infrastructure as a service ('IaaS'). The common ground for all SaaS companies is the fact their infrastructure (e.g. servers, VMs, storage, monitoring, etc.) is based on a cloud provider – mainly AWS, Azure, or GCP. And since SaaS companies are offering many advanced B2B solutions for many use-cases, we are witnessing enterprises that are willing to be the early adapter of new technologies and to outsource functions.

 

So far everything makes sense, so what is the problem?

The problem is that enterprises are working with multiple third-party providers, vendors, and subcontractors. Each one of them can cause a potential security and compliance risk to the business operation and reputation of the company. They want to mitigate those risks, but at the same time become more efficient and implement new technologies. In different words, they want you but they don't trust you. yet.

This is exactly what SOC 2 type 2 comes to solve. SOC 2 Type 2 is here to help you build trust in your organization.

An insight from McKinsey and Company's article describing CISOs attitude in managing risks:

When deploying SaaS offerings, security executives cited the cost and complexity of the compensating controls they had to put in place to manage the accompanying risk. Many decide to invest in specialized third-party tools to manage encryption keys, ensure compliance with corporate policies, analyze vulnerabilities, enhance encryption, or track data usage for SaaS offerings.

The report is built in a way it tests the controls in place and the efficiency of the controls. It also describes the test procedure and the test result. That is a highly valuable source in gaining trust from security executives.

SOC 2 Type 2 incubates further advantages:

These advantages will help the Management, Security, DevOps, and Sales teams in different aspects:

• First, obtain an independent third-party opinion on the organization's compliance and security standards.
• Second, Gain a Competitive Advantage by differentiating your organization from others during the sales process. Enterprises that are concerned with security are more likely to partner with service organizations that can provide a SOC 2 report; however, service organizations (SaaS) that cannot provide a SOC 2 report are likely to be at a significant competitive disadvantage when searching for prospective and maintaining current clients.
• Third, Management gains a better understanding of how risks are addressed in similar SaaS organizations in the same industry.
• Fourth, steer the organization’s operations to offer better services by better understanding the risk faced by clients.
• Last but not least – ensure controls are appropriately designed and operating effectively to mitigate risks.

A few years ago I experienced companies that were stressed to have a SOC 2 Type 2 Report – simply because it was the main barrier from signing a big contract. Nowadays, I see more and more companies engaging in SOC 2 projects as part of their business development strategy, in order to be prepared and comply with the latest industry standards.

Need help with your SOC 2? I will consult and escort you from the first assessment to the final report!

5 reasons why you need a SOC 2 Report

Service Organizations base their infrastructures on cloud providers