Key Takeaways
Software Doesn’t Absolve Responsibility: Even with SOC 2® compliance software in place, the organization remains entirely responsible for the design and operating effectiveness of its security controls. Automation tools only facilitate reporting, not accountability.
Customization is Key for Control: When selecting a software vendor, ensure the tool allows for customization of policies and procedures rather than relying solely on standardized templates. Tailoring materials to the specific service organization is a requirement for a successful assessment.
Review is Still Required: A compliance report generated by an automated tool still requires thorough review and confirmation by a qualified assessor before it can be finalized. This step ensures completeness, verifies that controls address all risks, and prevents unexpected cost increases or delays.
Understanding SOC 2® Software
In Part 1 of our SOC 2® software blog series, we took a look at what this kind of software can and can’t do for your organization. It’s important to understand the limitations of automated SOC 2® compliance software, as they are often promoted as being able to save you time and money. But is that really the case?
Choosing a Vendor
When choosing a SOC 2® compliance software vendor, it’s important to keep a few considerations in mind, as your decision now might impact your business down the road:
- What kind of licensing or other cost implications are required for this tool?
- Will your vendor offer ongoing support and training for your organization?
- Are you able to customize the tool to the security concerns of your specific service organization and industry? Or does the tool simply use standardized controls?
- Are the policies and procedures processed by the tool templated? or do you have the option to customize them to your organization?
- How does the tool collect information necessary for management to review?
- How will the tool generate evidence? Will your organization have the ability to manage records?
Speak to a Compliance Specialist.
Organizational Responsibilities of SOC 2®* Compliance Software
It’s important to be familiar with the necessary requirements with it comes to your tool’s capabilities, as your organization will still have it’s own responsibilities to fulfill come assessment time. Just because you have a software tool in place, it doesn’t absolve your organization of these key requirements:
- Your tool provider will not be able to be held responsible for any necessary SOC 2® assessment duties.
- Your organization will be required to understand how your tool works and whether or not is it operating within expected parameters.
- Software tools can often pull in unnecessary information. Your organization will still be required to evaluate the completeness of any collected data.
- Does your tool of choice use templated policies? Your organization will still be required to produce unique procedures and materials that are tailored to your business.
- Your organization will still be responsible for the design and operating effectiveness of your controls. You’ll also be responsible for the collection of evidence, even if that is a function of your tool.
Additional Requirements for SOC 2®* Compliance Software
Believe it or not, an assessment firm will still be required to sign off on a compliance report generated by an automated tool. Your assessor will still need to review and confirm the information before completing the report to ensure that all responsibilities have been met. This could cause unwanted delays or an increase in cost that your organization wasn’t expecting.
Why would an assessor need to complete these steps?
- Any policy, assessment, or procedure will need to be analyzed to ensure that it is fully tailored to your organization.
- Your organizations controls, as reported by the tool, will need to be fully reviewed and doublechecked to ensure all risks have been appropriately addressed.
- Management will still need to take responsibility for and be able to demonstrably operate controls while under evaluation. They will also need to be able to take responsibility of any data collected by your tool.
- All information collected and reported by the software will have to be reviewed for completeness.
Your One-Stop Shop for SOC 2®*
As you can imagine, there is still a lot of work to be done, even if you are utilizing SOC 2® software, but SOC 2® reporting doesn’t have to be difficult. Eliminate the back-and-forth by ensuring that your assessment is completed by a qualified assessor. If you’re ready to get started, contact Auditwerx today.
FAQs
What are the key organizational responsibilities that SOC 2® compliance software cannot fulfill?
The organization is responsible for several critical areas, even when using compliance software. These include: understanding how the tool is operating, evaluating the completeness and relevance of collected data, producing unique and tailored procedures, and being accountable for the design and operational effectiveness of all security controls.
What considerations should guide the selection of a SOC 2® compliance software vendor?
When choosing a vendor, key factors include whether the tool offers ongoing support and training, if it can be customized to the organization’s unique security concerns, and if it provides the ability to manage and generate complete, reliable evidence for the compliance review.
Why must all data collected by compliance software be reviewed by the service organization?
The organization must review all collected data for completeness because software tools can sometimes gather unnecessary or irrelevant information. Management must ensure that the data accurately represents the operational state of the controls and is fully tailored to the specific business under assessment.
Why does an assessment firm still need to review and confirm information generated by a SOC 2® software tool?
An assessment firm must review the information to confirm that all organizational responsibilities have been met. This involves checking that controls and policies are specifically tailored, confirming that management can demonstrate control operation, and ensuring the reported data is complete and accurate to ensure all risks are appropriately addressed.
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