If your organization handles sensitive customer data, you’re under more scrutiny than ever, from clients, partners, and regulators alike. In 2023 alone, security breaches hit record highs, exposing over 1 billion records and costing an average of $4.9 million per incident.
In this environment, your partners and customers increasingly demand verifiable proof of your security posture before trusting you with their data.
SOC 2 certification has become the gold standard for building that trust, especially for SaaS companies, cloud service providers, and government contractors. In fact, many enterprise procurement teams now automatically disqualify vendors who can’t produce a valid SOC 2 report.
Why get SOC 2 certification when it requires significant investment in time, expertise, and resources? The answer extends far beyond simply meeting a checkbox requirement. For your organization, SOC 2 certification is essential for market access, security maturity, and business growth.
So, why is SOC 2 important?
SOC 2 (Service Organization Control 2) is an auditing procedure developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) that evaluates how service organizations manage and protect customer data.
Unlike some compliance frameworks that focus primarily on specific technical controls, SOC 2 takes a principles-based approach centered around five Trust Services Criteria: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
The average cost of a data breach has increased 15% over the past three years. This escalating financial risk makes security not just an IT concern but a business imperative. SOC 2 certification addresses this by providing a framework to protect your organization and your customers from these costly incidents.
Let’s take a closer look at the major reasons why getting SOC 2 certified is so important, including winning new business, building credibility, and strengthening your security posture.
If you're a B2B service provider, particularly in SaaS, cloud hosting, or data analytics, you've likely encountered SOC 2 as a prerequisite in vendor security questionnaires. Many enterprise clients won't even consider vendors without this certification.
According to research by Drata, 87% of companies reported losing business or other negative outcomes due to inadequate security compliance. SOC 2 certification helps overcome this hurdle, opening doors to lucrative enterprise contracts and government opportunities.
"SOC 2 certification has become a fundamental market expectation," explains BEMO's guide on who needs SOC 2 certification. "Without it, businesses increasingly find themselves excluded from consideration before conversations even begin."
In a time where data breaches make headlines weekly, customers are increasingly cautious about who they trust with their information. One example of a very costly data breach is in 2024, where the UnitedHealth Group lost $2.87 billion due to a massive data breach.
SOC 2 certification provides independent verification that your security practices meet rigorous standards, creating a powerful trust signal that differentiates your business from competitors.
This third-party validation proves you've invested in protecting customer data and have the controls to back up your security claims. For startups and growing companies in particular, SOC 2 certification can level the playing field with larger competitors by demonstrating enterprise-grade security capabilities.
Why is SOC 2 compliance important beyond the certificate itself? The process of achieving compliance forces organizations to take a comprehensive look at their security practices and make meaningful improvements.
The SOC 2 framework requires:
These requirements create a security-forward culture and establish processes that reduce vulnerabilities. Many organizations discover and address critical security gaps during SOC 2 preparation that might otherwise have led to breaches.
While the primary focus of SOC 2 is security, the framework aligns well with other common compliance requirements. Your organization can leverage SOC 2 controls to support compliance with frameworks like:
According to a report by Deloitte, companies with integrated compliance programs spend 30% less on their overall compliance activities. By building a strong foundation with SOC 2, you create a compliance infrastructure that makes additional certifications easier to achieve.
The structured approach of SOC 2 compliance directly contributes to fewer security incidents. By implementing strong controls around user access, system monitoring, change management, and incident response, organizations can prevent many common attack vectors.
Verizon's Data Breach Investigations Report notes that 82% of breaches involve human elements such as social engineering, errors, or misuse. SOC 2's focus on organizational controls and processes directly addresses these human-centered vulnerabilities.
Beyond prevention, SOC 2 certification can reduce the financial impact when incidents do occur:
Why is SOC 2 Type 2 required by so many businesses? Because it demonstrates consistent security operations over time, unlike Type 1's point-in-time assessment. This longitudinal validation provides stronger assurance that security practices are embedded in your organization's operations.
This level of verification creates meaningful competitive differentiation:
While SOC 2 benefits virtually any organization handling customer data, certain situations make it particularly crucial:
The cybersecurity requirements for government contracts have grown increasingly stringent. While CMMC applies specifically to defense contractors, civilian agencies frequently require SOC 2 as part of their vendor qualification process.
For businesses targeting government contracts, SOC 2 certification may be a prerequisite for consideration. The certification demonstrates security compliance in a standardized format that government procurement officials recognize and trust.
SaaS providers, cloud services, data analytics companies, and managed service providers handle vast amounts of customer information. For these businesses, SOC 2 certification is becoming a baseline expectation.
According to Gartner research, 90% of enterprise software procurement processes now include security and compliance verification. Without SOC 2 certification, technology companies find themselves at a severe disadvantage in competitive sales situations.
Why SOC 2 compliance matters extends beyond your own organization. If your business shares customer data with third-party vendors, SOC 2 helps ensure those relationships don't introduce unacceptable risk.
The framework includes vendor management requirements that extend your security diligence to your supply chain, helping prevent the increasingly common vendor-sourced data breaches that accounted for 18% of breaches in the past year.
When pursuing SOC 2 certification, you'll need to decide between Type 1 and Type 2. Here's what distinguishes them:
SOC 2 Type 1
SOC 2 Type 2
Most organizations start with Type 1 to establish their control environment, then progress to Type 2 to validate that controls are functioning effectively over time. However, the growing market preference is clearly for Type 2 certification, which provides stronger assurance of consistent security practices.
While the benefits of SOC 2 certification are clear, many organizations find the process daunting. The traditional approach involves significant manual effort, specialized expertise, and ongoing maintenance. This is why automation platforms and managed compliance services have gained popularity.
Working with a compliance partner like BEMO can dramatically simplify SOC 2 certification. A managed compliance approach provides:
These services make enterprise-grade compliance accessible even to organizations without dedicated security teams or extensive compliance experience.
When evaluating why SOC 2 compliance is important for your business, consider both the quantifiable and intangible returns:
Quantifiable Benefits
Intangible Benefits
According to data from the Ponemon Institute, organizations with mature security programs experience 53% fewer security incidents and save an average of $2.9 million annually compared to organizations with less developed programs. SOC 2 certification contributes directly to this security maturity.
While SOC 2 offers substantial benefits, it's important to determine if certification aligns with your specific business needs. Consider these factors:
For most B2B technology companies, SaaS providers, and businesses handling sensitive data, the question isn't whether to pursue SOC 2 certification but when and how to approach it most efficiently.
The good news is that SOC 2 certification doesn't have to be overwhelming. With the right approach and support, your organization can achieve compliance without derailing other business priorities.
Key success factors include:
BEMO's compliance automation platform helps organizations streamline their SOC 2 certification journey through expert guidance, automated evidence collection, and continuous compliance monitoring. By reducing the manual effort involved, businesses can achieve certification faster while maintaining focus on their core operations.
In today's security-conscious business environment, SOC 2 certification has evolved from a competitive advantage to a market necessity for many organizations.
By demonstrating your commitment to protecting customer data, you build trust, open new business opportunities, and strengthen your security posture against growing threats.
Book a Demo with BEMO today to discover how our compliance experts can help you achieve SOC 2 certification efficiently and effectively.
SOC 2 is U.S.-based and principle-driven, while ISO 27001 is globally recognized and more prescriptive. Many companies pursue both to support international growth.
Type 1 can take one to three months, while Type 2 requires 6 to 12 months of control observation. Timelines vary based on readiness and resources.
Yes, especially if you're selling to enterprise clients. SOC 2 levels the playing field and demonstrates your startup takes security seriously from day one.
It can. Demonstrating strong security controls may lead to reduced premiums and serve as evidence of due diligence in case of a breach.
While SOC 2 is U.S.-centric, its trust principles are globally understood. Pairing it with ISO 27001 can strengthen credibility for international customers.