SOC 2 Readiness for SaaS Companies
SOC 2 readiness is the work you do before an auditor arrives: define what's in scope, put the required controls in place, write policies that match how you operate, and collect evidence that the controls work. Defensible runs that work end to end for SaaS companies whose enterprise deals are waiting on a report.
Led by former Stroz Friedberg leaders. We prepare you for the audit; an independent CPA firm issues the report.
Who Needs SOC 2?
Any SaaS or service company that stores, processes or can access customer data, and sells to buyers with a security review, will be asked for SOC 2. Buyers use the report in place of hundreds of questionnaire answers.
SOC 2 is not a law or a certification you pass. It is an attestation report issued by a licensed CPA firm under the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria. The best time to start is one or two quarters before a deal needs the report.
Deals stalled in security review
Procurement asks for a SOC 2 report and the deal waits until you have one.
Questionnaire overload
Your engineers spend days answering the same security questions for every prospect.
No security owner
Nobody owns policies, risk decisions or the auditor relationship.
Policies that don't match reality
Auditors test what you wrote. A promised review you don't perform becomes a finding.
What Does SOC 2 Readiness Actually Prepare You For?
Readiness gets you to the point where an auditor can test your controls without surprises. Security, the common criteria, is required in every report. The other four criteria are optional.
The production application, cloud accounts, identity provider, code repositories and the people who run them.
SSO and MFA, least-privilege access, logging, vulnerability management, change review and backups.
A core policy set written to match how your team actually works, approved and acknowledged.
Proof mapped control by control, so fieldwork is a review, not a scramble.
What's Included in SOC 2 Readiness?
Four workstreams take you from scoping to auditor handoff, done alongside your team.
Gap Assessment
We compare your environment with the SOC 2 common criteria and give you a gap register with owners and dates.
- Scoping workshop — Choose the criteria and draw the system boundary
- Risk assessment — Documented and repeatable for future years
- Vendor inventory — Subservice organizations and their own SOC 2 reports
Policies and Procedures
The core policy set auditors expect, written to match what your team really does.
- Information security and access control — Plus acceptable use and data classification
- Change management and incident response — With roles, severity levels and customer notification steps
- Business continuity and vendor management — Recovery objectives and review cadence
Control Implementation
We help close the gaps, from identity to endpoints, instead of handing you a to-do list.
- Identity — SSO, MFA everywhere, quarterly access reviews and a joiner–mover–leaver process
- Endpoints and cloud — EDR, disk encryption, device management, logging and alerting
- Testing — Scheduled vulnerability scanning and an annual application penetration test
Evidence and Auditor Handoff
A mock audit before the real one, then a clean handoff to the CPA firm you choose.
- Evidence mapping — Each control linked to the proof an auditor will ask for
- Mock audit — Find and fix gaps before fieldwork starts
- Auditor kickoff — Scope, period and report date agreed in writing
SOC 2 Type I vs Type II: Which Do You Need?
A Type I report tests control design at a single point in time. A Type II report tests whether controls operated effectively over an observation period. Many companies start with Type I to unblock a deal, then move to Type II.
| Question | Type I | Type II |
|---|---|---|
| What it tests | Control design at one point in time | Control operation over a period |
| Observation period | None | Typically 3 to 12 months |
| How buyers see it | A good start | What most enterprise buyers eventually require |
| Best for | Unblocking a deal while the Type II window runs | Ongoing enterprise sales and annual renewals |
SOC 2 Readiness for Growing Companies
Most of our SOC 2 work is with companies selling software or services into larger, security-conscious buyers.
First report to unblock enterprise deals and shorten security reviews.
SOC 2 alongside HIPAA-aligned controls for health data.
SOC 2 for bank and enterprise partners, often next to NYDFS or GLBA obligations.
Firms whose clients send detailed vendor security questionnaires.
What Does a SOC 2 Readiness Path Look Like?
For many startups, readiness fits in about a quarter. It moves faster when SSO, device management and logging already exist, and slower when production access is broad.
- STEP 1Scope
Pick the criteria and inventory systems, vendors and people in scope.
- STEP 2Gap assessment
Test against the common criteria and build the gap register.
- STEP 3Policies and controls
Approve policies and implement the missing controls.
- STEP 4Evidence
Collect evidence, run an access review, a tabletop and a backup restore test.
- STEP 5Auditor handoff
Mock audit, fix findings, then kick off Type I fieldwork or the Type II window.
Which Compliance Tools Do You Work With?
Defensible is a technology partner of Vanta, a compliance automation platform that supports audit readiness. If your team already uses a different platform or a disciplined evidence folder, tell us during scoping and we'll confirm how evidence will be collected and mapped. See our full list of technology partners.
Whatever the tool, the program needs an owner. Automation collects evidence; people make the risk decisions.
Navigating Complexity in a Global Healthcare SaaS Merger
- Customer: A global healthcare technology SaaS company formed by merging three private equity-backed firms
- Challenge: Fragmented IT across the U.S., India and Israel, with HIPAA-ready security and compliance required
- Result: Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace consolidated into one secure tenant, on time and on budget, with zero disruption to critical business processes
"Defensible Technology is an amazing company to work with. We have utilized their services and are very pleased with the results. They have been incredibly effective in helping us to discover, understand and remediate security vulnerabilities in our environment. Thanks to their insight and expertise, we have been able to implement better safeguards and improve our firm's security posture."
— Shawn Campbell, Chief Information Officer at Lankler Siffert & Wohl LLP
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SOC 2 a certification?+
No. SOC 2 is an attestation report. A licensed CPA firm examines your controls against the AICPA Trust Services Criteria and issues an opinion. There is no pass or fail certificate; buyers read the opinion and any exceptions.
Does Defensible perform the SOC 2 audit?+
No. Only an independent CPA firm can issue a SOC 2 report. Defensible prepares you for the audit: scoping, gap assessment, policies, control implementation and evidence. We then hand off to the auditor you select.
How long does SOC 2 take?+
Readiness for many startups takes about a quarter, depending on what is already in place. A Type I report can follow once controls are designed and implemented. A Type II report also needs an observation period, typically 3 to 12 months, before the auditor issues it.
Which Trust Services Criteria should we include?+
Security is required. Add Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity or Privacy only when customers ask for them. Every extra criterion adds controls, evidence and audit cost.
Do we need a compliance automation platform?+
It isn't required, but it helps with evidence collection. Defensible partners with Vanta. A platform collects evidence, but you still need an owner for the program.
Who owns SOC 2 after the first report?+
Someone has to keep controls running all year. Many companies use a vCISO to own the program and the auditor relationship after readiness.
Need SOC 2 for a Deal This Year?
Tell us which customers are asking, and when. We'll scope the readiness work, map the gaps and give you a clear plan to auditor handoff.