Vanta SOC Compliance Requirements

Quick Answer: Vanta is a GRC automation platform that helps you prepare for SOC 1 and SOC 2 audits by mapping your controls to the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria. Meeting Vanta SOC compliance requirements means implementing security controls, collecting continuous evidence, and passing an independent audit. The platform automates monitoring, but your team still owns the work.

Vanta SOC compliance requirements are built on the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria, with Security as the only mandatory category. SOC 2 audits evaluate up to five criteria across your infrastructure, people, software, data, and procedures. The process is more involved than most organizations expect, and using Vanta alone does not ensure compliance. This page breaks down what the requirements actually cover, where companies get stuck, and what your options are for getting through the process.

Key Takeaways

• Vanta SOC compliance requirements are grounded in the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria, with Security required and up to four additional criteria available based on your service model.
• The biggest challenge most organizations face is evidence collection and remediation, which can stretch timelines by months without dedicated compliance support.
• Getting from gap assessment to a SOC 2 Type 2 report typically takes eight to twelve months depending on your starting point.
• Handling compliance in-house requires at least one dedicated hire at $84K to $132K or more per year, before accounting for tooling and auditor fees.
• A managed compliance partner handles implementation, tooling, and auditor coordination so your team can stay focused on the business.

What Are Vanta SOC Compliance Requirements?

Vanta maps your controls directly to the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria (TSC), which define what auditors evaluate during a SOC 1 or SOC 2 audit. Understanding these criteria is the starting point for any Vanta SOC compliance program.

SOC 2 has one required category and four optional ones. You select additional criteria based on the services you provide and what your customers need you to demonstrate. SOC 1, by contrast, focuses on internal controls over financial reporting and applies primarily to service organizations that process financial transactions on behalf of clients.

Here is how the five SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria break down:

Within the Security criterion alone, auditors evaluate 33 Common Criteria organized across nine categories, including logical access, change management, and risk mitigation. If you add optional criteria, the total number of controls your team must implement and evidence grows significantly.

Vanta automates continuous monitoring against these controls and flags gaps in your environment. But the platform does not write your policies, configure your security tools, or coordinate with your auditor. That work still falls to your team or a compliance partner. You can read more about the SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria to understand how each one applies to your business.

Vanta SOC 1 compliance requirements follow a different structure. SOC 1 audits are governed by SSAE 18 and focus on controls relevant to user entities' financial reporting. If your customers are financial institutions or public companies, you may need both a SOC 1 and SOC 2 report.

Challenges Companies Face When Getting Vanta Compliant

Vanta gives you visibility into your compliance gaps, but visibility and resolution are two different things. Most organizations underestimate the amount of work that lies between onboarding the platform and passing an audit.

Here are the most common pain points:

• Underestimating scope: The Security criterion alone covers 33 Common Criteria. Adding optional TSC categories multiplies the number of controls, policies, and evidence items your team must manage.
• No internal expertise: Vanta SOC compliance requirements span IT configuration, legal policy language, HR procedures, and security engineering. Most small and mid-sized businesses do not have staff who cover all four areas.
• Evidence collection volume: Auditors require documented evidence for every control over the entire observation period. Pulling that evidence manually is time-consuming and error-prone.
• Choosing the right scope: Deciding between SOC 1 and SOC 2, selecting which Trust Services Criteria to include, and determining whether to pursue Type 1 or Type 2 first are decisions that affect your timeline and audit cost.
• Ongoing maintenance: Vanta continuously monitors your environment, but someone still needs to respond to alerts, update policies, manage vendor reviews, and track training completion.
• Auditor back-and-forth: Even with Vanta in place, remediation cycles between your team and the auditor can add weeks or months to your timeline.

What Does It Take to Meet Vanta SOC Compliance Requirements?

Meeting Vanta SOC2 compliance requirements is not a one-time project. It involves building a security program, sustaining it over time, and coordinating an independent audit. The sections below cover the main workstreams involved.

Documentation and Policy Development

You need a full set of written information security policies before an auditor will begin fieldwork. These typically include an acceptable use policy, an access control policy, an incident response plan, a change management policy, and a vendor management policy, among others. Policies must be tailored to your actual environment, reviewed annually, and acknowledged by employees. Vanta tracks policy acceptance but does not draft the policies for you.

Technical Controls and Tooling

Vanta connects to your cloud infrastructure, identity provider, endpoint management system, and other tools to check control status. But if those controls are not configured correctly, Vanta will flag them as failing. You need to deploy and configure tools like multi-factor authentication, endpoint detection, encryption, and logging before the platform can report green.

Ongoing Monitoring and Maintenance

A SOC 2 Type 2 report covers a defined observation period, typically six to twelve months. During that window, your controls must operate continuously and effectively. Vanta automates much of the monitoring, but your team must respond to failures, manage exceptions, and keep vendor assessments up to date.

Auditor Coordination and Evidence Collection

Your auditor will request evidence packages, ask clarifying questions, and issue findings that require remediation before they issue the report. This back-and-forth takes time. Having someone who knows the audit process and can respond quickly makes a measurable difference in how long this stage takes.

Staff Training and Awareness

Security awareness training is a requirement under the Common Criteria. Every employee needs to complete training, and you need documented proof. New hire onboarding, annual refreshers, and phishing simulation results all feed into this requirement.

In-House vs Managed: Approaches to Vanta Compliance

There are three realistic paths to meeting Vanta SOC compliance requirements. Each has different cost, time, and resource implications. The table below lays them out objectively so you can evaluate which fits your situation.

The DIY path works if you already have internal compliance expertise and security staff with bandwidth. The platform-only path accelerates monitoring and evidence collection but still requires your team to handle implementation. A managed compliance partner takes on both the build and the ongoing management, which makes sense if your team is stretched or compliance is not a core competency.

You can read more about how to choose a compliance provider if you are still evaluating options.

Getting Started With Vanta Compliance

Getting from zero to a SOC report is a four-stage process. Here is how it works in practice:

1. Book a GAP Assessment: Evaluate your current security posture against Vanta SOC compliance requirements and identify the gaps between where you are and where you need to be before an audit.

1. Get Your Implementation Roadmap: Receive a prioritized plan covering controls, tooling, policy development, and realistic timelines based on your specific environment and audit scope.

1. Deploy Controls: Stand up your security controls, configure your environment, integrate GRC automation, and build the documentation library your auditor will review.

1. Achieve and Maintain Compliance: Coordinate with your auditor to complete fieldwork, respond to findings, and receive your report. Then keep controls operating and evidence flowing for annual renewals.

Why Choose BEMO for Vanta SOC Compliance

The challenges covered above, from evidence collection to auditor coordination to ongoing monitoring, are exactly what BEMO is built to handle. BEMO is a managed compliance partner, not a software platform, which means a dedicated team takes on the work rather than handing it back to you.

Here is what that looks like in practice:

• Dedicated team assigned to your account: You get a Customer Success Manager, Project Manager, Delivery Engineer, Security Engineer, SOC Analyst, IT Manager, Support Engineer, and virtual CISO working on your compliance program.
• Microsoft-native security stack: Controls are deployed using M365, Entra ID, Purview, Sentinel, Intune, and Defender, so your environment is production-ready, not just audit-ready.
• GRC automation with hands-on management: BEMO uses Drata for continuous monitoring and assigns compliance engineers who actively manage it. You are not left to interpret alerts on your own.
• Full auditor coordination: BEMO works directly with auditors including Sensiba, A-LIGN, and Johanson Group on your behalf, managing evidence packages and remediation cycles.
• Proven track record: BEMO is SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 certified, a 2023 Microsoft US Partner of the Year winner, and an Inc. 5000 company four consecutive years.
• Cost advantage: Starting at approximately $4,800 per month, BEMO costs less than a single in-house compliance hire at $84K to $132K or more per year, before accounting for tooling and auditor fees.
• 24/7 SOC coverage: AI reviews more than 100,000 monthly logs with approximately 100 per month human-verified by BEMO's SOC team.

BEMO is also a Vanta partner, which means the team knows the platform and can configure it correctly from day one rather than learning it alongside you.

Start Your SOC 2 Compliance Journey

BEMO assigns a dedicated compliance team to your account and owns the outcome, from gap assessment through your audit report and annual renewals.

Book a Compliance Assessment

Frequently Asked Questions About Vanta SOC Compliance Requirements

What Are Vanta SOC 2 Compliance Requirements?

Vanta SOC 2 compliance requirements follow the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria. Security is the only mandatory criterion, covering 33 Common Criteria across access controls, risk management, and incident response. You can add availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy based on your service model. Vanta maps your environment to these criteria and monitors for gaps, but your team or a partner must implement and maintain the underlying controls.

What Are Vanta SOC 1 Compliance Requirements?

Vanta SOC 1 compliance requirements are governed by SSAE 18 and focus on internal controls over financial reporting. They apply to service organizations that process financial transactions or data that affects their clients' financial statements. If your customers are financial institutions or publicly traded companies, they may require a SOC 1 report in addition to or instead of a SOC 2 report.

How Long Does It Take to Become Vanta Compliant?

Getting a SOC 2 Type 1 report typically takes three to six months from the start of implementation. A SOC 2 Type 2 report requires an additional six to twelve months of observation period after your controls are in place. With a managed compliance partner, BEMO's typical initial implementation timeline is approximately eight months. You can read more about how long SOC 2 compliance takes to set realistic expectations.

What Does a Vanta GAP Assessment Include?

A GAP assessment evaluates your current security controls, policies, and tooling against the Trust Services Criteria you plan to pursue. It identifies which controls are missing, which are partially implemented, and which already meet audit requirements. The output is a prioritized remediation list that becomes the foundation of your implementation roadmap.

What Is the Difference Between SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2?

A SOC 2 Type 1 report evaluates whether your controls are designed correctly at a single point in time. A Type 2 report evaluates both design and operating effectiveness over an observation period of six to twelve months. Most enterprise buyers and procurement teams require a Type 2 report. You can review the differences between SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 to decide which to pursue first.

Why Choose a Managed Compliance Partner for Vanta SOC Compliance?

Vanta automates monitoring and evidence collection, but it does not implement controls, write policies, or coordinate with your auditor. A managed compliance partner fills those gaps and takes ownership of the outcome. For organizations without dedicated compliance staff, this approach is typically faster, less expensive than building an internal team, and more likely to result in a clean audit report.

What Team Is Assigned for Vanta SOC Compliance at BEMO?

BEMO assigns a full compliance team to each client account. That team includes a Customer Success Manager, Project Manager, Delivery Engineer, Security Engineer, SOC Analyst, IT Manager, Support Engineer, and virtual CISO. Bi-weekly status meetings keep implementation on track, and BEMO's 72-hour SLA covers remediation items that come up during the process.