Data privacy and security have become central aspects of businesses today. Almost 72% of Americans have concerns about how their data is collected and used, while 81% feel that the risks far outweigh the benefits of data collection.
This is why organizations have to go the extra mile to build trust among customers, and one way is to adhere to regulations like GDPR and SOC 2. System and Organization Controls (SOC) is an auditing procedure that checks if organizations manage data securely to protect the privacy of customers.
However, the road to SOC 2 compliance can be challenging, as it entails long timelines, rigorous documentation, and considerable effort from teams. This is where Sprinto comes into play. Sprinto is designed to streamline and speed up the SOC 2 certification process, making it less of a headache for organizations.
In this post, we’ll look into how Sprinto simplifies SOC 2 compliance and how it reduces the time and effort needed to get certified.
What is SOC 2 Certification?
Before we get into the details, it’s important to understand what SOC 2 certification involves. SOC 2 is a certification that revolves around data security and privacy. It’s based on five trust service criteria, namely, security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
SOC 2 is particularly significant for SaaS providers and other technology companies that handle customer data. A SOC 2 certification shows clients and partners that your organization takes data security seriously. But meeting SOC 2 requirements can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, especially if approached without the right tools.
The Challenges of SOC 2 Compliance
SOC 2 compliance requires companies to establish policies and procedures, implement the necessary security controls, and then demonstrate to an auditor that these controls are in place and functioning. This process can take months, especially for organizations that aren’t prepared or don’t have a dedicated compliance team.
Here are some common hurdles companies face in SOC 2 certification:
Complexity of Documentation
SOC 2 requires detailed documentation on security policies, incident response plans, access controls, and more. Many companies struggle to keep this documentation up to date.
Manual Processes
Without the right automation tools, companies have to manually track, monitor, and report on their compliance status. This adds layers of complexity and increases the risk of human error.
Coordination Across Teams
Compliance is not just an IT function. It involves coordination between IT, HR, legal, and even finance teams, which can be challenging without centralized tools.
Lengthy Audit Process
Even after putting the controls in place, it can take months to gather evidence, prepare for the audit, and respond to auditors’ questions.
Sprinto addresses these challenges head-on, offering an automated and streamlined approach to SOC 2 certification.
How Sprinto Simplifies SOC 2 Compliance
Sprinto is a compliance automation platform that can reduce the time, effort, and confusion around SOC 2 certification. It does this by automating many of the tasks that companies traditionally perform manually. Also, it offers real-time monitoring of compliance status and keeps all the teams aligned on the status.
Here are the key features of Sprinto that help with SOC 2 compliance.
Automated Evidence Collection
One of the most time-consuming aspects of SOC 2 compliance is gathering evidence to demonstrate that security controls are in place and working. Typically, this involves gathering logs, screenshots, and reports, which can take weeks to compile. Sprinto automates this process by continuously collecting evidence from your systems.
Sprinto integrates with your tech stack (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) to automatically track and collect evidence in real time. You don’t need to spend hours pulling reports or creating documentation. The platform does it for you.
Besides gathering data, it also generates reports that meet the requirements of internal and external auditors. This means less back-and-forth between your team and the auditor, speeding up the audit process.
Pre-built Compliance Controls
Implementing the right security controls can be a daunting task, especially if you don’t have a dedicated compliance expert on your team. The good aspect of Sprinto is that it comes with pre-built, auditor-approved security controls that align with SOC 2 requirements. The biggest advantage is that instead of starting from scratch, you can customize Sprinto’s templates for security policies and procedures to fit your organization. This helps ensure that your documentation meets SOC 2 standards.
Additionally, Sprinto regularly tests your security controls to ensure they are functioning as intended. This continuous testing gives you peace of mind that you are always compliant, not just during the audit period.
Real-time Compliance Dashboard
Tracking the status of your SOC 2 compliance manually can be a nightmare, especially when multiple teams are involved. It can even lead to overlap of work and reduced efficiency and collaboration among teams.
Sprinto addresses this bottleneck with its compliance dashboard, which gives you real-time visibility into your compliance status. With this data, you know where you stand at any given moment.
This dashboard also provides a centralized view of your compliance posture, showing which controls are in place, which need attention, and what evidence has been collected. Such readily available data enables compliance teams to collaborate and stay on track.
Furthermore, Sprinto sends alerts if any compliance issues arise, such as a security control that is not functioning properly or evidence that needs to be updated. This allows you to address issues before they become major problems during the audit.
Collaboration Tools
One of the biggest challenges in SOC 2 compliance is the need for coordination across different teams. This is also the aspect that can cause mistrust and increase friction between different teams. To avoid these consequences, Sprinto includes built-in collaboration tools that make it easy for teams to work together on compliance tasks.
With Sprinto, you can assign specific compliance tasks to team members and track their progress. This ensures accountability and keeps everyone on the same page.
Another pain point is preparing for an audit, as it can be stressful for the involved team members, especially if you’re unsure what the auditor will ask for. Sprinto provides audit preparation checklists that outline everything you need to gather and submit for the audit, reducing last-minute scrambles.
Faster Audit Completion
Sprinto’s automation tools speed up the audit process. It collects all the required evidence in real time and keeps them ready for auditors to review your compliance posture more quickly. Such preparedness reduces the back-and-forth communication that often slows down audits.
Aldo, Sprinto allows auditors to directly access the evidence they need, eliminating the need for your team to manually send reports or logs. This cuts down on delays and speeds up the audit completion time. All these measures reduce the fatigue that comes with SOC 2 audits. Your team can focus on their core responsibilities, instead of spending weeks preparing for an audit.
With the above features, Sprinto streamlines SOC 2 certification.
How Sprinto Reduces Time and Effort for SOC 2 Certification?
Now that we’ve explored Sprinto’s features, let’s look at how it directly reduces the time and effort needed to achieve SOC 2 certification.
Automation of Manual Tasks
Sprinto automates tasks that would typically take weeks to complete manually, like collecting evidence, tracking compliance status, and generating reports. This reduces the workload on your team and speeds up the entire process.
Pre-built Controls and Templates
With its pre-built controls and templates, Sprinto eliminates the need to create documentation and policies from scratch. This not only saves time but also ensures that your documentation is aligned with SOC 2 requirements from the start.
Continuous Monitoring
Instead of performing compliance checks periodically, Sprinto continuously monitors your systems and controls, ensuring that you are always ready for an audit. This proactive approach means fewer last-minute issues and a faster certification process.
Simplified Audit Process
Sprinto’s real-time evidence collection and auditor-friendly reports streamline the audit process, allowing auditors to complete their reviews more quickly. This results in a shorter audit timeline and less stress for your team.
Bottom Line
Sprinto is a powerful tool for companies looking to achieve SOC 2 certification with minimal effort. It automates key compliance tasks, provides real-time monitoring, and simplifies audit preparation. As a result, the time and effort required for SOC 2 certification go down greatly.
In all, Sprinto offers a clear path to faster, more efficient SOC 2 compliance.
Try Sprinto today.