Acquiring the SOC 2 compliance is critical for early-stage startups as well because with SOC 2 compliance they can avoid the potential loss of business. The process of getting SOC 2 certification isn’t easy but you can get certified with ‘SOC 2 certification’ fast with Socly.io.
However, our world has gone online and with that our data has also gone online. And, with that the risk of getting your data into the wrong hands has also risen exponentially.
Talking about a recent data breach that took place in June 2021 where LinkedIn saw a breach of selling the personal data such as names, emails, geo location, and more of its 700 million users in a Dark Web forum.
However, such security threats not only exist for the individuals but these threats also exist for the enterprises and especially for those enterprises that are working with the third-party vendors. Just imagine what if the third-party vendors mishandle the data and enterprises stand vulnerable to some serious security issues such as theft of the proprietary secrets or the intellectual property, extortion, and installation of the malware and viruses.
Hence, no company wants to take the information security lightly and therefore no company will ever want to work with a service provider that can’t guarantee the safety of their customers’ data.
SOC 2 certification is an auditing framework and it is a voluntary compliance standard that is applicable to SaaS and other technology service companies i.e. the companies that store the clients’ data in the cloud.
However, this framework has been developed by the American Institute of CPAs and it defines a set of criteria for safely and effectively managing this data and the best part is that this benchmark is accepted globally.
In fact, a company that is SOC 2 compliant ensures that the controls and practices it follows protect the privacy as well as the security of customer data. As a result, such companies earn not just the business but also the trust of their client organizations.
Why Should a Startup be SOC 2 Compliant?
When you’re building a startup then you already have a lot of work to do and many responsibilities to fulfill i.e. from hiring the right candidates to finding the perfect product-market fit while accelerating the growth.
However, at the same time, you might be wondering whether acquiring SOC 2 compliance is critical at such an early stage or not.
But, the answer to your question is “Yes”, it is critical for the startups. Well, there are the reasons why SOC 2 certification is critical –
Demand –
Your customers require the SOC 2 compliance so that they can trust you with their data. In fact, the enterprise-level clients will be ready to work with you only if you address their security concerns properly. Hence, you could lose the prospective customers as well as a very big business if you’re not SOC 2 compliant. In the similar manner, you can also scale your revenue and growth at a much faster rate by attracting the potential clients with your SOC 2 compliance.
Reputation –
SOC 2 certification shows your accountability and reputation and at today’s times when the U.S. has reported its highest number of data breaches in 2021, it shows how data breaches can erode trust while causing the reputation of a company to vanish in just seconds. In fact, this may also result in significant legal issues and very high reparation fees. So, it’s clear that no company would want to risk such damage by working with a non-SOC 2 compliant vendor.
Security –
SOC 2 compliance at an early stage of a startup helps the organizations establish a security-first culture, just think about your development team that is building a more secure product and at the same time your marketing team will be complying with various data privacy laws. In fact, your IT team will also be ensuring the security of all your systems i.e. right from the get go. However, the best part is that you will save a lot of time and money because you’re preemptively dealing with the security threats and not required to address them later after the damage has been done.
What Kind of Startups Need SOC 2 Compliance?
The startups that provide the technology services such as B2B SaaS or the cloud computing, then such startups should invest in SOC 2 compliance. However, the certification or SOC 2 compliance is not legally mandatory but it is advantageous or essential to have SOC 2 compliance by considering the reasons mentioned above.
How can your Organization Achieve SOC 2 Compliance in the least time possible?
Achieving the SOC2 compliance may generally take you anywhere between 2 weeks to a month once the audit is complete and the preparation phase for achieving an SOC 2 compliance is even longer than this and it depends upon the nature as well as the scope of compliance you opt for. However, you can decrease this time by following the below-mentioned steps –
- Identify the type as well as the scope of the SOC 2 compliance,
- Choose such a compliance platform that helps you automate the compliance processes,
- Sign up an audit partner,
- Conduct an internal risk assessment,
- Have a robust security in your organization structure,
- Establish the audit readiness by closing all the security loopholes,
- Write your SOC 2 security system description, and
- Receive your compliance certification.