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Reimagining SOC 2: A Better Way to Manage Your Compliance

September 18, 2021

Is your organization struggling with SOC 2 compliance? Why not automate the process then? Seriously.

Don’t just take our word for it that achieving SOC 2 compliance can be easier though – let’s take a step back and look at why SOC 2 is so important in the first place. When we reconsider the why, the how follows logically.

Why are you implementing SOC 2, anyway?

There are, broadly speaking, two main reasons why SaaS businesses implement SOC 2. One, to reassure customers that the business meets the highest standards of data security. And two, to create a robust protocol that enables you to meet those high standards.

Of course, those are two sides of the same coin. You want an independent standard that enables you to meet rigorous data protection standards, as well as you want to be able to demonstrate that you meet those standards.  

Let’s consider the implications of those reasons:

We appreciate that SOC 2 is more than a box-ticking exercise, and we really do want to achieve excellence in information security. We don’t want to just make it look like we do. After all, all the credentials and certificates in the world will count for nothing if you suffer a reputation-destroying hack or data breach. 

However, if you truly want a secure system, you’ll appreciate that SOC 2 is not a one-time thing.  It demands ongoing evaluation and constant monitoring.

This may sound like a challenge. However, the whole point is to maintain an acceptable level of security. If SOC 2 demands rigorous processes, it is why you’re bothering with the protocol in the first place. Good information security measures are extremely rigorous.

Don’t stop us if you’ve heard this one before

Returning to our opening point: there’s a better way to do SOC 2. Specifically, it’s time to replace manual compliance with automated processes. This means smart integrations that continually monitor your networks and provide comprehensive logs and records of all incidents. 

By now you would have heard plenty of arguments for automation. The hours your team spends on spreadsheets and manual data entry can be slashed, freeing your employees to focus on their specific responsibilities. The tedious, complex process of preparing for an audit can be a thing of the past with the correct compliance-technologies.

These time-saving and value-added benefits are reason enough to consider automating SOC 2 compliance. 

How much compliance is enough?

So you achieve SOC 2 compliance – amazing. But then what?

Effective SOC 2 compliance means constant compliance, that depends on continuous monitoring. You want to be able to prove, at any given moment, how robust your systems are, at every point.

If you’re doing everything manually, you can have regular monitoring. If every member of the team is vigilant, you can have frequent monitoring. However, only automation gives you constant compliance. Only purpose-designed SOC 2 technology has the ability to assess your complete system holistically, ensuring you are meeting the high standards you’ve set for yourself.

In other words, it’s time to reimagine SOC 2 compliance not as a checklist or a protocol, but as a self-assessing integrated system.