Have you been asked by one of your customers for your SOC 2 Report? If you are a Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), or co-location data center facility, or related business, it's just a matter of time before you are asked. The SOC 2 Report, developed by the AICPA, the SOC 2 standard is meant to provide assurance to users that their service organizations are adhering to best practices with regards to information security and other commitments like availability and confidentiality, among others. While the standard was originally developed in the United States, it is becoming the de facto international standard for service organization assurance. SOC 2 Audits are performed as attestation engagements and can only be issued by CPA firms. The SOC 2 is designed to be an annual audit and reporting process.

Here are five reasons to undergo a SOC 2 Audit:

1. Your customers are asking! This is an easy one. If you are a key vendor for your customers and your customers are publicly-traded or regulated in some way, the chances are good that their auditors will require a SOC 2 Report from you to satisfy their vendor risk management processes.
2. You want to take credit for the work you've done building a sound control environment. You have built a strong, robust cloud service company and you want a way to advertise to the world that customers' data is safe with you.
3. You want a competitive advantage. Having a SOC 2 Report in hand tells your customers and prospects that you have prioritized security and compliance and invested in your customers' safety. In addition, many larger organizations, especially in the United States, may only be able to do business with you if you have a SOC 2 Report.
4. You want peace of mind. Undergoing a successful SOC 2 Audit gives you the assurance that your organization has met the high bar of the SOC 2 standard.
5. You want to improve. The SOC 2 standard is rigorous and provides customers with a high degree of assurance about their key vendors. As a service organization, undergoing a SOC 2 Audit is an opportunity to assess and improve your control environment to meet the standard. Proactive organizations seize this opportunity to not only obtain a competitive advantage - but to improve their control environment and their security posture.

Contact our team of experts at OCD Tech to learn more.

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