Question

When navigating procurement and legal gatekeepers, what is the primary technical document that must be prepared to pre-emptively clear vendor risk and security compliance hurdles?

Accepted Answer

The primary technical document required to clear vendor risk and security compliance hurdles is the System and Organization Controls 2 report, commonly known as a SOC 2 report. This is an independent audit report that verifies a service provider manages customer data securely according to specific trust services criteria including security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. Procurement and legal teams rely on this document because it serves as objective proof that an external auditor has vetted the vendor&#x27;s internal security controls. A SOC 2 report consists of two types. A Type 1 report describes the design of a company’s security controls at a single point in time, while a Type 2 report evaluates how effectively those controls operated over a period of at least six months. Providing a current SOC 2 Type 2 report satisfies the majority of due diligence requirements, allowing the vendor to avoid answering lengthy, repetitive security questionnaires that would otherwise stall the procurement process. It acts as a standardized security credential that provides legal departments with the documented assurance necessary to approve a contract.

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When navigating procurement and legal gatekeepers, what is the primary technical document that must be prepared to pre-emptively clear vendor risk and security compliance hurdles?