October 23, 2023

What Is SOC 2 Compliance Automation Software?

Devon Lane
Content writer
at Flowbase

How do we make compliance easier? That’s the big question for a lot of companies that are building or maintaining a SOC 2 compliance program. 

From speeding up the sales process to introducing security best practices, being compliant with SOC 2 has a number of benefits for vendors. That said, it can be quite burdensome to accomplish — especially if you do it manually. 

SOC 2 compliance automation software helps to minimize the burden by streamlining compliance and introducing important efficiencies. Not only does it reduce the amount of work employees have to do to ensure compliance, it also lowers the chance of human error and the risk of non compliance.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what SOC 2 compliance automation is, the core features in a modern solution, and its core benefits.

What Is SOC 2 Compliance Automation Software?

SOC 2 compliance automation software is designed to help companies become compliant with SOC 2 and maintain that compliance. This software often includes monitoring capabilities to ensure that controls are being met. In addition, robust solutions also have dashboard capabilities to ensure visibility into all compliance performance, allowing team members to respond to any non-compliance scenarios quickly and effectively.

Common Features in SOC 2 Compliance Automation Software

SOC 2 compliance automation software comes in different shapes and sizes. As you look for a solution, we recommend taking these steps: 

  • Assess your needs to determine the required features
  • List the software this tool would need to integrate with
  • If you’re working with an advisory team like Marana, ask them for recommendations
  • Ask your auditor which tools they recommend 
  • Ask the vendor to share details on their own security and compliance program

Drata, for instance, has a trust center where they share real-time updates on their security posture. 

A compliance automation tool is typically worth the investment if it has the following features: 

  • Continuous control monitoring: The tool is continuously reviewing compliance and issues alerts any time there’s a security risk. For example, the system would flag if a leaving employee hasn’t been offboarding properly. 
  • Automated evidence collection: This continuous monitoring should enable the tool to automatically gather any relevant data and information that can then be used for audits and reports. 
  • Scalable systems: Your software should be able to evolve and adapt as your business grows and has more controls to monitor for. 
  • Employee onboarding and offboarding support: The tool should be able to consistently support employee provisioning and deprovisioning across systems and applications. 
  • Vendor management support: A modern tool will help you automatically manage third-party vendors in a way that’s compliant. 
  • Sample auditor-approved security policies: Some tools include standard security policies that can be quickly incorporated as a foundation for your compliance program.
  • Configurable features: Your tool should allow for the creation of custom controls that are unique to your business or industry, as well as intuitive interfaces that make it easy to use.
  • Customer support team: The best tools supplement their automated features with compliance experts on call that ensure you’re employing best practices as part of your compliance program.

Together, these various features and capabilities will ensure that your SOC 2 compliance automation software sets you up for success, allowing your teams to focus on their core competencies. 

Benefits of a Modern SOC 2 Compliance Automation Tool

Introducing automation into your SOC 2 compliance program — and choosing the right tool to do it — can help your business in a variety of ways. 

It saves time and money. Taking a manual approach to compliance monitoring takes a lot of time. Team members have to be continually updating spreadsheets and databases, gathering evidence as they go. With automation software, your team members won’t have to spend as much time on compliance and can focus on other core tasks, instead. This also means you’ll be spending less of your compliance budget on full-time staff.

Reports can be spun up easily. With automated tools for monitoring, data gathering, and evidence collecting, it becomes much easier to produce reports for customers, prospects, and auditors. An advanced tool will also enable you to have a publicly facing report that outlines your security posture and any measures you’re taking. These reports are also useful internally as they facilitate decision making.

It reduces security risks. When a company meets all their SOC 2 security controls, that means they’re upholding security best practices and maintaining a strong security posture. By facilitating compliance, SOC 2 compliance automation software helps ensure that your business is safe from bad actors.

Mitigates the chance for human error. Beyond requiring a lot of time and money, manual tasks are also likely to introduce human error — thus increasing the chance of non-compliance. Automated software ensures that teams have accurate and actionable information at all times. 

Boost Your Compliance Program

Compliance can feel like an overwhelming and complex task to manage continually — but it doesn’t have to be. By leveraging the right tools and partnering with the right advisors, you can set yourself up for success so that compliance is simply another operational process within your business. 

‍At Marana, we take a comprehensive approach to helping companies achieve SOC 2 compliance. Keen to learn more about how we do it? Let’s chat.

We’re here to help.

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Frequently Asked
Questions

What type of compliance standard can you help with?

We help our clients based on their needs. The majority of our contracts involve SOC-2, HIPAA, and most recently GDPR. Feel free to ask us if we can help with your particular case. If we aren't able to, we can most likely recommend you to someone who can.

How long does a SOC 2 engagement usually take?

We move as fast as our clients are able to make progress. Our fastest client to date got their SOC-2 Type I four months after signing our engagement letter. That record is up for grab if you are up for it.

In our experience however, it takes 6-9 months to achieve a SOC-2 Type I,  and 3-6 additional months to obtain a SOC-2 Type II report.

Which standard do you follow for your security policies?

All of our security policies follow the ISO-27001 standard. The Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability standards cover the range of standards we like to work with for SOC 2.

Why do we have to become SOC 2 compliant if we are relying on AWS which is already compliant?

SOC 2 stands for Service Organization Control, meaning your clients are interested in understanding your controls, not your hosting provider’s control. As part of your vendor assessment we recommend reviewing AWS’ SOC 2 report, but relying on their report is not enough to become SOC 2 compliant.

Who is behind SOC 2?

The American Institute of CPAs. The AICPA is an established and respected organization that provides two forms of audits to companies that demonstrate evidence of a secure data-protection infrastructure. A Type I is a point in time audit that addresses the company’s description of its system, the suitability of the system’s design, and the effectiveness of its internal data controls. A Type II report happens over a period of time and emphasizes design and also focuses on the validity of the company’s controls.

Are SOC 2 reports a legal obligation?

No, but most enterprise level organizations that engage with sensitive data (again, almost all of them) have an obligation to their stakeholders to prove due diligence regarding data security, which means they’ll want to vet their service providers using this tool. SOC 2 can help these prospective service providers set themselves apart from the competition. Just as important, a SOC 2 report represents a meaningful and respected signifier of trust.

What can happen to a company without a SOC 2 report?

A lack of a SOC 2 report won’t result in legal problems, but it can and will limit outside assessments of the company’s commitment to data security. When large-scale clients look for providers, or large-scale backers look for a likely return on their investment, they don’t want concerns about security to stand in the way. Trust is a chain made of links that have each been put the test and have proven their ability to withstand pressure and scrutiny. Company leaders are wise to let SOC 2 auditors apply this pressure so their clients and backers don’t have to.

When is it too late for a SOC 2 audit?

Never. Even companies that have been in business for years but have never obtained a SOC 2 report can—and should—take steps in this direction now. Being compliant with SOC 2 can open the door to a broader base of more significant clients and larger contract opportunities. That being said, startups in the threshold of the marketplace, and new business owners who hope for an eventual public offering, should obtain a SOC 2 report during the development and financing process. By the time the company approaches Series B and C fundraising rounds, a report should be in hand.

How complicated is the auditing process?

The auditing process can be easy, or complicated depending on your level of preparation.

Preparing for the audit can take some time, attention, and the guidance of reliable data security experts. Don’t leave any part of this process to chance. Approach SOC 2 compliance one step at a time, and start by contacting a consulting firm with track record of experience in your area of the marketplace.

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