How to get SOC 2 certified fast (2026)

Last updated October 2026

Enterprise buyers want to see a SOC 2 report before they sign. That single document can be the difference between closing a six-figure deal and watching it slip to a competitor who already has one. The good news: getting SOC 2 certified no longer requires a year of painful preparation. With the right approach, automation tooling, and disciplined execution, many startups complete the process in weeks rather than months.

This guide covers everything you need to know about SOC 2 certification in 2026, from choosing between Type I and Type II to selecting the right compliance automation platform, setting up your infrastructure, and organising the documentation that auditors will scrutinise.

What is SOC 2 and why your startup needs it

The standard explained

SOC 2 is a framework developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It evaluates how well an organisation protects customer data based on five trust service criteria: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. Unlike ISO 27001, which is an international standard with a formal certification body, SOC 2 results in a report issued by an independent CPA firm after an audit of your controls.

The report itself is what matters, not a certificate you hang on the wall. Your auditor examines your policies, technical controls, and operational processes, then writes a detailed report describing what they found. Prospective customers and partners review this report to decide whether your security posture meets their requirements.

Why startups need it now

Enterprise sales cycles increasingly stall without a SOC 2 report. Security questionnaires have become standard in B2B procurement, and having a SOC 2 report answers most of the questions before they are asked. For SaaS companies handling customer data, it has become table stakes rather than a competitive advantage.

Fundraising benefits from SOC 2 readiness as well. Investors, particularly at Series A and beyond, view compliance maturity as a signal that the company can support enterprise customers. It also reduces risk in due diligence, which can speed up the process when time is of the essence.

Regulatory pressure continues to increase across sectors. Even if your immediate customers do not require SOC 2, their customers might. The downstream effect means that compliance requirements cascade through supply chains, and being ready before the request arrives puts you in a stronger position.

SOC 2 Type I vs Type II

What Type I covers

A Type I report evaluates the design of your controls at a single point in time. The auditor reviews your policies, procedures, and technical controls to determine whether they are suitably designed to meet the relevant trust service criteria. Think of it as a snapshot: it says your controls exist and are properly designed, but it does not confirm that they work consistently over time.

Type I is faster to obtain and serves as a useful stepping stone. Many startups pursue Type I first to satisfy immediate customer requests while they build the track record needed for Type II. The audit window is essentially a single date, so preparation time is shorter.

What Type II covers

A Type II report evaluates both the design and operating effectiveness of your controls over a period of time. The observation window is typically between three and twelve months. During this period, the auditor collects evidence that your controls are not just designed well but are working as intended on an ongoing basis.

Type II carries significantly more weight with enterprise buyers. It demonstrates sustained commitment to security practices rather than a one-time effort. Most large organisations prefer Type II reports, and some will not accept Type I at all.

Which one to pursue first

Start with Type I if you need a report quickly to close deals. You can complete a Type I engagement in as little as four to six weeks with proper preparation. Use the Type I period to begin building the operational history you will need for Type II.

Go straight to Type II if your timeline allows a three to six month observation window. Some compliance automation platforms can help you accumulate evidence from day one, which means you may be able to shorten the observation period if your auditor is comfortable with the controls you have in place. Discuss this with your CPA firm early.

For a deeper look at the tools that support both paths, see our comparison of the best SOC 2 compliance tools.

The five trust service criteria

Security (required)

Security is the only mandatory trust service criterion and forms the foundation of every SOC 2 report. It covers how your organisation protects information and systems against unauthorised access. This includes firewalls, intrusion detection, multi-factor authentication, encryption, and access controls. Every SOC 2 engagement includes security; the other four criteria are optional and depend on your business context.

Availability

Availability addresses whether your systems are operational and accessible as agreed upon. If you offer an SLA to customers promising 99.9% uptime, your availability controls need to support that commitment. This criterion covers monitoring, disaster recovery, incident response, and capacity planning. SaaS companies with uptime commitments should strongly consider including availability in their scope.

Processing integrity

Processing integrity ensures that system processing is complete, valid, accurate, and timely. This matters most for companies that process transactions, calculations, or data transformations on behalf of customers. If your platform handles financial data, payments, or automated decision-making, processing integrity provides assurance that outputs are reliable.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality covers how you protect information designated as confidential. This includes intellectual property, business plans, financial data, and any information restricted to specific parties. The controls here go beyond basic security to address classification, retention, and disposal of confidential information.

Privacy

Privacy addresses how you collect, use, retain, disclose, and dispose of personal information. This criterion aligns with common privacy principles and is relevant if you handle personal data from end users. It covers consent, notice, access, and disclosure practices. Companies subject to GDPR or CCPA often include privacy in their SOC 2 scope.

Timeline: how fast can you get certified

The realistic timeline for Type I

With a compliance automation platform and dedicated effort, a Type I report can be completed in four to eight weeks. The first two weeks typically involve selecting your auditor, defining your scope, and configuring your automation platform. Weeks three and four focus on drafting policies, implementing any missing controls, and collecting initial evidence. The audit itself may take one to two weeks depending on the auditor's availability and the complexity of your environment.

Smaller startups with modern cloud infrastructure often move faster. If you are already using a major cloud provider with sensible defaults, many of the technical controls are already in place. The work shifts to documentation, policy creation, and ensuring that your processes are formalised.

The realistic timeline for Type II

A Type II engagement requires a minimum observation period of three months, though six months is more common. Add preparation time before and audit time after, and the total timeline runs between four and nine months. Some auditors accept a three-month window for first-time Type II reports, particularly when supported by robust automation and continuous monitoring.

The observation period cannot be shortcut. Your auditor needs to see evidence that controls operated effectively throughout the window. Automated evidence collection is essential here because it captures continuous proof without requiring manual effort at every checkpoint.

Factors that speed things up

Choosing an auditor early prevents scheduling delays. CPA firms that specialise in SOC 2 engagements often book up weeks in advance, particularly during busy seasons (Q4 and Q1 are especially congested). Engage your auditor before you finish preparation, not after.

Using a compliance automation platform eliminates the most time-consuming manual work. Policy templates, automated evidence collection, continuous monitoring, and readiness assessments can compress weeks of manual effort into days. We cover these platforms in detail below.

Keeping your scope focused accelerates the process. Start with security only for your first Type I if your customers do not require the other trust service criteria. You can expand scope in subsequent reports as your compliance programme matures.

Compliance automation platforms

Why automation matters

Manual SOC 2 compliance is slow, error-prone, and difficult to maintain. Before automation platforms existed, companies hired consultants, built spreadsheet trackers, and collected evidence through screenshots and email threads. This approach worked, but it consumed hundreds of hours and left significant room for gaps.

Modern compliance platforms connect directly to your infrastructure and business tools. They pull evidence automatically from cloud providers, identity systems, HR platforms, and code repositories. They map your controls to the relevant trust service criteria, flag gaps, and maintain a continuous record that your auditor can review.

The market has matured significantly since 2023. Several strong platforms now compete on features, pricing, and integration depth. The right choice depends on your company size, technical stack, budget, and how much guidance you need through the process.

Comp AI

A newer approach to compliance automation

Comp AI has emerged as a notable entrant in the compliance automation space. The platform takes a focused approach to SOC 2 readiness, emphasising speed of implementation and reducing the complexity that can overwhelm smaller teams. For startups pursuing their first SOC 2 report, this streamlined approach has clear appeal.

The platform provides pre-built policy templates mapped to SOC 2 trust service criteria. Rather than starting from blank documents, your team can customise existing templates that already align with what auditors expect. This alone can save weeks of policy drafting and revision.

Integration and evidence collection

Comp AI connects to common SaaS and infrastructure tools to automate evidence gathering. The integrations cover cloud providers, identity management, HR systems, and development workflows. Once connected, the platform continuously monitors your environment and collects the evidence your auditor will need.

Readiness assessments identify gaps before your audit begins. The platform maps your current state against SOC 2 requirements and highlights areas that need attention. This gap analysis is particularly valuable for teams without prior compliance experience, as it provides a clear checklist of work to complete.

Why it stands out for startups

Comp AI's onboarding process is designed for teams without a dedicated compliance function. Many early-stage startups assign SOC 2 to an engineering lead or operations manager who has other responsibilities. The platform's guided workflows help these non-specialists navigate the process without hiring a consultant.

Pricing is structured to be accessible for smaller companies. While exact pricing depends on your organisation's size and needs, the platform positions itself as a cost-effective alternative for companies that find enterprise compliance tools disproportionately expensive.

For a detailed look at Comp AI's features and how it compares to alternatives, see our Comp AI review.

Other compliance automation platforms

Vanta

Vanta is one of the most established names in compliance automation. The platform supports SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and several other frameworks. Its integration library is extensive, covering hundreds of tools and cloud services. Vanta's strength lies in its maturity and the breadth of its automation capabilities.

Continuous monitoring and automated evidence collection are core features. Vanta connects to your infrastructure and tracks compliance status in real time. The platform also provides trust centre pages that you can share with customers, which reduces the back-and-forth of security questionnaires.

Drata

Drata focuses on continuous compliance monitoring with a clean, modern interface. The platform automates control testing and evidence collection across your technology stack. Like Vanta, it supports multiple frameworks and provides pre-mapped controls that align with SOC 2 requirements.

Drata's autopilot features reduce the manual effort required during the observation period. The platform tracks control effectiveness continuously and alerts you when something falls out of compliance, giving you time to remediate before your auditor reviews the evidence.

Secureframe

Secureframe offers a guided compliance experience with strong support for first-time audits. The platform includes policy templates, employee training modules, and vendor management features. Its integration catalogue covers most common SaaS and cloud platforms.

The platform provides access to a network of auditor partners. If you have not yet selected a CPA firm, Secureframe can connect you with auditors who are familiar with their platform, which can smooth the audit process.

Sprinto

Sprinto takes a risk-first approach to compliance automation. The platform maps controls to risks rather than just framework requirements, which gives you a clearer picture of your actual security posture. This approach helps teams prioritise the controls that matter most to their specific environment.

Sprinto's pricing tends to be competitive for smaller organisations. The platform offers tiered plans that scale with company size, making it accessible for startups that are cost-conscious during their compliance journey.

When evaluating these platforms, consider how they fit within your broader startup toolkit. Our guide to setting up your startup tech stack covers the broader ecosystem.

Preparing your infrastructure

Cloud provider configuration

Your cloud infrastructure is the foundation of your SOC 2 controls. AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure all provide features that map directly to SOC 2 requirements: encryption at rest and in transit, identity and access management, logging, network security, and more. The key is ensuring these features are properly configured and documented.

Enable comprehensive logging and retain logs for the duration of your observation period. CloudTrail (AWS), Cloud Audit Logs (Google Cloud), or Activity Log (Azure) should capture all administrative actions. Store these logs in a tamper-resistant location and ensure they are accessible for your auditor.

Implement infrastructure as code to demonstrate repeatable, auditable deployments. When your infrastructure is defined in Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar tools, your auditor can verify that environments are consistently configured. This also makes it easier to demonstrate change management controls.

Infrastructure platforms that simplify compliance

Platforms like Exabase.io can reduce the compliance burden for your infrastructure layer. By providing managed infrastructure with built-in security controls, these platforms handle some of the technical requirements that would otherwise need custom implementation. When your infrastructure provider already meets certain SOC 2 criteria, your own compliance scope narrows accordingly.

Access controls and identity management

Implement single sign-on and multi-factor authentication across all business-critical systems. SOC 2 auditors look for centralised identity management with enforced MFA. Tools like Okta, Google Workspace, or Microsoft Entra ID provide the controls you need. Ensure that access reviews are conducted regularly and that offboarding procedures revoke access promptly.

Apply the principle of least privilege throughout your organisation. Every team member should have access only to the systems and data they need for their role. Document your access provisioning process and conduct quarterly access reviews.

HR and people compliance

Why HR controls matter for SOC 2

People are central to your security posture, and auditors evaluate your HR processes carefully. SOC 2 requires controls around background checks, security awareness training, confidentiality agreements, and employee onboarding and offboarding procedures. These controls ensure that the people accessing your systems and data are trustworthy and informed.

Security awareness training must be documented and recurring. Annual training is the minimum expectation. The training should cover your security policies, acceptable use, incident reporting, and common threats like phishing. Maintain records showing who completed training and when.

Using Deel for compliant HR

Deel simplifies HR compliance for distributed and international teams. Managing employment contracts, background checks, and compliance documentation across multiple jurisdictions is complex. Deel centralises these processes and provides the documentation trail that SOC 2 auditors expect.

Deel's platform handles contractor and employee management with built-in compliance checks. For startups with remote teams spanning several countries, this is particularly valuable. The platform maintains records of contracts, tax documentation, and compliance certifications that support your SOC 2 evidence collection.

Onboarding and offboarding workflows in Deel create auditable trails. When an employee joins, the platform ensures they complete required agreements and training. When they leave, it triggers the access revocation processes that SOC 2 requires. This systematic approach reduces the risk of gaps that auditors would flag.

Banking and financial controls

Why financial controls support SOC 2

Financial controls demonstrate organisational discipline that extends to data protection. While SOC 2 is primarily about information security, the way you manage financial systems reflects your overall approach to access controls, segregation of duties, and audit trails. Using financial platforms with their own SOC 2 compliance creates a stronger foundation.

Mercury for SOC 2 compliant banking

Mercury provides banking infrastructure built for startups with built-in security controls. The platform itself maintains SOC 2 compliance, which means your banking activities are conducted on a system that meets the same standards you are pursuing. This matters when your auditor evaluates vendor management and third-party risk.

Mercury's role-based access controls and approval workflows support your segregation of duties. Multiple approvers for transactions, view-only access for team members who need visibility without control, and detailed audit logs all contribute to your compliance posture. These features generate evidence that maps to SOC 2 trust service criteria.

Brex for expense management

Brex offers corporate cards and expense management with controls that align with SOC 2 requirements. Spending limits, approval workflows, and automated receipt collection create the kind of financial governance that auditors look for. The platform's own compliance certifications reduce your vendor risk profile.

Brex's integration with accounting platforms creates a complete financial audit trail. Every transaction is categorised, receipted, and approved through a documented workflow. This level of control supports the broader narrative that your organisation takes governance seriously across all functions, not just engineering.

For more on building a compliant financial stack, see our guide to the tools every founder needs in 2026.

Email and communication security

Why communications matter for compliance

Email and messaging systems are common vectors for data breaches, and your SOC 2 controls must address them. Auditors evaluate how you protect communications, prevent data leakage, and manage access to messaging platforms. Encryption, access controls, and data retention policies all factor into your compliance posture.

Fyxer for email management

Fyxer uses AI to help manage email workflows securely. The platform organises, drafts, and prioritises emails, which helps ensure that important communications, including security-related messages, are handled promptly. For teams managing compliance communications, vendor correspondence, and audit-related emails, this kind of organisation reduces the risk of missed deadlines or overlooked requests.

Consistent email management supports your incident response processes. When a security event occurs, timely communication is critical. Tools that help prioritise and surface important messages contribute to the responsiveness that SOC 2 expects.

Superhuman for secure email

Superhuman provides a fast email client with enterprise-grade security features. The platform offers read receipts, scheduled sends, and AI-assisted triage, all while maintaining the security controls that compliance-conscious organisations require. For founders and team leads who handle sensitive communications, a secure email platform is one less risk to manage.

Communication policies

Document your acceptable use policies for all communication channels. SOC 2 auditors expect written policies covering email, messaging (Slack, Teams), video conferencing, and any other communication tools your team uses. These policies should address data classification, retention, and the handling of sensitive information across channels.

Enable encryption and data loss prevention where available. Most enterprise email and messaging platforms offer encryption in transit and at rest. Configure these features and document that they are active. Data loss prevention rules can flag and block the transmission of sensitive data like credentials, customer records, or financial information.

If you are looking for productivity tools that support your compliance goals, our best tools for startup founders guide covers the broader landscape.

Organising compliance documentation

The documentation challenge

SOC 2 compliance generates a substantial volume of documentation. Policies, procedures, evidence screenshots, vendor assessments, training records, meeting notes, risk registers, and incident reports all need to be stored, organised, and retrievable. During an audit, your CPA firm will request specific documents, and delays in locating them extend the timeline and increase costs.

Most startups underestimate the organisational effort required. Policies are drafted in one tool, evidence is collected in another, and meeting notes live in a third. When the auditor asks for your data retention policy alongside the evidence that it is enforced, you need to pull these together quickly and confidently.

Using Fabric to manage compliance documents

Fabric provides a structured workspace for organising the documentation that SOC 2 demands. Rather than scattering compliance materials across multiple platforms, you can centralise policies, evidence, and audit preparation materials in one place.

Fabric's cloud drive stores your compliance documentation with AES-256 encryption. Upload your policies, evidence files, vendor assessments, and audit reports to a secure, organised location. The encryption standard meets the expectations of SOC 2 auditors for data protection, and the folder structure lets you organise documents by trust service criterion or audit cycle.

AI search helps you find specific policies and evidence when your auditor requests them. During an audit, the ability to locate a particular policy or piece of evidence in seconds rather than minutes can significantly reduce the stress and duration of the review process. Search across your entire compliance library using natural language queries.

Draft and refine your policies using Fabric's notes and documents feature. Policy creation is one of the most time-consuming parts of SOC 2 preparation. Having a dedicated space for drafting, reviewing, and versioning your policies keeps the process organised and ensures that current versions are always accessible.

Track compliance milestones with tasks and reminders. SOC 2 preparation involves dozens of discrete tasks: completing background checks, configuring MFA, conducting access reviews, scheduling the audit. A task management system that integrates with your documentation workspace helps ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.

Fabric is available at $8 per month on an annual plan or $10 per month billed monthly, with a free tier for getting started. For a SOC 2 preparation project, the investment is modest relative to the cost of audit delays or compliance gaps. And for every paid account, Fabric plants trees through its environmental programme, which means your compliance work contributes to something beyond the audit report.

Common mistakes and audit pitfalls

Starting too late

The most common mistake is treating SOC 2 as a last-minute project. When a major prospect requests your SOC 2 report with a deadline attached, the pressure to rush leads to corners being cut. Controls are implemented superficially, policies are drafted hastily, and the resulting report may contain qualifications that undermine its value. Begin your compliance journey before customer pressure forces your hand.

Scope creep

Including all five trust service criteria in your first audit is usually unnecessary. Security is mandatory, but adding availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy increases the scope, cost, and timeline of your audit. Start with security and add criteria as your compliance programme matures and customer requirements dictate.

Neglecting vendor management

Your auditor will evaluate how you assess and monitor your vendors. If you use third-party services that handle customer data, you need a vendor management programme that includes due diligence, contractual requirements, and ongoing monitoring. Maintain a register of your critical vendors, their SOC 2 status, and the data they access.

Treating compliance as an engineering problem

SOC 2 compliance spans the entire organisation, not just the engineering team. HR, finance, operations, and leadership all have roles to play. Access controls apply to every team member. Policies govern every department. Training is required for every employee. Treating compliance as a cross-functional initiative, rather than delegating it entirely to engineering, produces better results and a stronger report.

Inconsistent evidence collection

Gaps in your evidence trail are the fastest way to receive a qualified report. If your controls are designed to operate continuously but your evidence only covers certain periods, your auditor cannot confirm operating effectiveness for the full observation window. Automated evidence collection solves this problem by maintaining a continuous record without relying on manual effort.

Ignoring the readiness assessment

Skipping the readiness assessment and going straight to audit is risky. A readiness assessment, conducted either internally or by your auditor, identifies gaps before the formal audit begins. Fixing issues during the readiness phase is far less costly and disruptive than addressing them during the audit itself.

After certification: maintaining compliance

Continuous monitoring

SOC 2 compliance is not a one-time achievement; it requires ongoing maintenance. Your controls must continue operating effectively between audits. Compliance automation platforms provide continuous monitoring that alerts you when controls drift out of compliance, giving you time to remediate before your next audit cycle.

Schedule regular internal reviews of your controls and evidence. Monthly or quarterly check-ins ensure that policies remain current, access reviews are conducted on schedule, and new systems are brought into scope as your infrastructure evolves.

Annual audit cycles

Most organisations pursue annual SOC 2 Type II reports. Each subsequent report covers a new observation period, and your auditor evaluates whether controls continued to operate effectively. The second audit is typically smoother than the first because your processes are established and your team is familiar with what the auditor expects.

Use the period between audits to address findings from the previous report. If your auditor identified any exceptions or areas for improvement, prioritise these remediation efforts. Demonstrating year-over-year improvement strengthens your compliance narrative.

Scaling your compliance programme

As your company grows, your compliance programme must scale with it. New employees need training. New systems need controls. New vendors need assessment. The processes you establish during your first SOC 2 engagement form the foundation, but they require investment and attention as your organisation evolves.

Consider expanding your scope as customer requirements grow. Adding trust service criteria, pursuing ISO 27001 alongside SOC 2, or extending compliance to additional products or services demonstrates maturity. Enterprise customers notice when your compliance programme evolves in step with your business.

Document process changes and control updates systematically. When you change a policy, update a control, or modify a procedure, record the change with a date and rationale. This change log provides your auditor with context and demonstrates that your compliance programme is actively managed rather than static.

Frequently asked questions

What is SOC 2 certification?

SOC 2 is a compliance framework developed by the AICPA that evaluates how organisations protect customer data. The result is a report issued by an independent CPA firm, not a formal certification. However, the term "SOC 2 certified" is widely used in the industry to indicate that a company has completed a SOC 2 audit and received an unqualified report.

How long does SOC 2 certification take?

A SOC 2 Type I report can be completed in four to eight weeks with proper preparation and a compliance automation platform. A Type II report requires a minimum three-month observation period, with total timelines typically running four to nine months. The exact duration depends on your readiness, scope, and auditor availability.

How much does SOC 2 certification cost?

Costs vary significantly based on company size, scope, and approach. Auditor fees typically range from $15,000 to $50,000 for a Type II engagement. Compliance automation platforms add $10,000 to $50,000 annually depending on the provider and tier. Consulting fees, if used, can add another $10,000 to $30,000. Total first-year costs for a startup commonly fall between $30,000 and $100,000.

What is the difference between SOC 2 Type I and Type II?

Type I evaluates the design of your controls at a single point in time. Type II evaluates both the design and operating effectiveness of your controls over a period of three to twelve months. Type II is more rigorous and carries more weight with enterprise customers.

Which trust service criteria should I include?

Security is mandatory for every SOC 2 engagement. The other four criteria (availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy) are optional. Include them based on customer requirements and the nature of your business. Most first-time audits focus on security alone or security plus availability.

Can I do SOC 2 without a compliance automation platform?

Yes, but it is significantly more time-consuming and error-prone. Manual compliance involves creating policies from scratch, collecting evidence through screenshots and spreadsheets, and tracking controls without automated monitoring. For most startups, a compliance platform pays for itself in time savings.

What is the role of a SOC 2 auditor?

The auditor is an independent CPA firm that examines your controls, collects evidence, and issues the SOC 2 report. They do not implement controls or provide consulting during the audit. Some firms offer advisory services separately, but the audit itself must be conducted independently.

Do I need a penetration test for SOC 2?

Penetration testing is not strictly required by the SOC 2 framework, but many auditors recommend or expect it. An annual penetration test demonstrates that your security controls have been validated by an external party and can identify vulnerabilities that automated tools might miss.

How often do I need to renew my SOC 2 report?

SOC 2 reports are typically renewed annually. Enterprise customers expect current reports, and a report more than twelve months old is generally considered stale. Plan for annual audit cycles to maintain your compliance posture and keep your report current.

What happens if my SOC 2 audit finds issues?

If your auditor identifies control deficiencies, they will be documented in the report as exceptions or qualified opinions. A small number of minor exceptions is common and does not necessarily undermine the report's value. Significant deficiencies, however, can result in a qualified opinion that may not satisfy customer requirements. This is why readiness assessments are important.

Is Fabric free?

Fabric offers a free tier that lets you explore its features, including the cloud drive, AI search, notes, and task management. Paid plans start at $8 per month on an annual plan or $10 per month billed monthly, providing additional storage and features. For SOC 2 preparation, the paid plan provides the capacity you will likely need for your documentation library.

Can a startup get SOC 2 certified in under a month?

It is possible for a very small, well-prepared startup to complete a SOC 2 Type I engagement in under a month, but this requires existing controls, pre-written policies, and an auditor with immediate availability. Four to six weeks is a more realistic fast-track timeline for most organisations.

What is the difference between SOC 2 and ISO 27001?

SOC 2 is a report issued by a CPA firm based on AICPA standards, primarily used in North America. ISO 27001 is an international certification issued by accredited certification bodies. Both address information security, but they use different frameworks and assessment approaches. Many organisations pursue both, as different customers may require different standards.

Do all employees need to be involved in SOC 2 compliance?

All employees are affected by SOC 2 compliance in some way. Everyone must complete security awareness training, follow acceptable use policies, and comply with access control requirements. However, the day-to-day work of managing the compliance programme typically falls to a smaller team, often led by someone in engineering, operations, or a dedicated compliance role.