A compliance program should make auditing easier. Smaller businesses often find themselves in a difficult spot. Before they can put in their SOC 2 controls they must first install, configure, and learn an extensive compliance platform. This raises an interesting question. What happens when a tool designed to reduce compliance work turn into an entirely new venture?
CertAssist is the result of this anger. The creators of CertAssist were familiar with compliance audits and implementations of ISO 27001 and SOC 2 frameworks. They encountered numerous platforms with features and integrations, while firms still relied on spreadsheets for essential elements of auditing process. SOC 2 software that is simple is more appropriate for smaller businesses.
Begin with the Task that Must Be Completed
If you eliminate the terms used in software, it becomes much easier to understand. It is crucial for a company to understand the Trust Services Criteria. This involves establishing the right controls, gathering evidence, monitoring the progress of the process and establishing policies. Platforms can manage these activities without needing to be connected with the various identity or cloud-based services that a company utilizes.
Automated integrations certainly have value. Automating can save a large organization lots of time while collecting evidence in a changing environment. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the same structure will be needed for SOC 2 by startups. Startups with a limited technology infrastructure might prefer to gather evidence by hand, rather than maintain numerous integrations.
The Audit and Software are different expenses
It is difficult to budget when companies consider each compliance expense a separate number. SOC 2 includes more than just software. The internal staff must spend time preparing policies, addressing weaknesses in control, organizing evidence and working with auditors. The independent audit also comes with its own fee.
Companies researching SOC 2 certification cost should also understand a terminology distinction: SOC 2 produces an independent attestation report rather than a certification in the same sense as ISO 27001. However the phrase “certification cost”, which is often employed by companies when looking for price data, is frequently used. Whatever the terminology used in the budget, software cannot replace the independent auditor.
The Middle Ground Doesn’t Need to Be an Excel Spreadsheet
Spreadsheets can be affordable and easy to use, but they become cumbersome when they are spread across many files.
Alternatives to enterprise platforms do not necessarily need to cost a lot. CertAssist integrates the SOC 2 controls on a centralized board that can be edited policy and evidence templates, progress management, and auditing access that is read-only. Access to the platform is protected by the requirement of multi-factor authentication. Its advertised launch price is $225 monthly with a price that is regular at $375 per month, or $3,999 per year.
No integration can also mean less exposure
CertAssist does not intend to connect with the company’s operating systems. The evidence is presented without granting the compliance platform a permanent access to cloud or identity environments.
That approach involves a tradeoff. Evidence that could have easily been collected automatically must instead be supplied by the company. For smaller teams, the added work might be justified for a less complicated setup and lower costs for software and fewer external connections.
Complexity Purchase when it Solves the issue
In a business that is expanding it is possible that manual evidence collection will be inefficient. That’s when continuous monitoring and extensive integrations may pay their cost.
The purpose of the compliance stack is not to be the most advanced one that is available. It’s to get the compliance tasks organized, maintain the credibility of evidence and enable the independent audit to be manageable. Software that’s designed properly can make this process much easier. If implementing the compliance platform is beginning to feel like a much larger project than preparing for SOC 2 itself, it could be a software than a company needs.