More and more companies are outsourcing business functions to service organizations. Outsourced payroll, data centers, software-as-a-service, healthcare services, and other services can reduce cost, simplify operations, and allow organizations to focus on the core business. With those benefits, however, comes risk. The internal workings of these organizations is a “black box”, and as a result, service organizations are being asked to provide assurances to their customers that their controls over financial reporting, IT security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, or privacy are adequate. System and Organization Control (SOC) audits reports can meet these demands, be an effective marketing tool to differentiate your service organization from competitors, attract new clients, and strengthen existing client relationships.
SOC 1 reports provide assurances that your clients can rely on the financial data produced by your systems and processes, thereby supporting their financial reporting. The audits usually cover Information Security, IT Change Control, IT Operations, and Business Processes that are relevant to the outsourced process.
SOC 2 and SOC 3 reports are for both you and your customer’s compliance needs, marketing purposes, and management’s peace of mind. The audits can cover Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, or Privacy. The audits can also be tailored to cover compliance requirements such as Graham Leach Bliley Act, HIPAA, PCI, Privacy, Cloud Security Alliance Controls, ISO frameworks, and more.
Last, SOC for Cybersecurity reports provide assurances to your clients and management that your organizational cybersecurity objectives are being met. This examination can be customized to use any cybersecurity framework, such as the AICPA’s own Trust Services Criteria, NIST 800-53, NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework, Center for Internet Security’s Critical Security Controls for Effective Cyber Defense, ISO 27000/27001 or others. The choice of framework is frequently driven by the service organization’s industry or client demands.