Most success, in life and in business, is rarely achieved alone. Interconnectedness is common today between businesses of all sizes and their strategic service partners, and for good reason. These partnerships increase operational efficiency, allowing businesses to better leverage more expertise to succeed and grow. 

It’s important that businesses pick service provider partners wisely. Not only must providers be competent in their service, but the internal processes they follow to perform their work matter more than ever as security threats grow more prevalent. Your business may take every precaution, but if one of your service providers experiences a security compromise, your business can be damaged in the process.

Data security remains a hot business topic with its far-reaching implications for the success, reputation, and compliance objectives for nearly every business. Businesses today must think about security as extending beyond their own physical and digital walls. Here is where SOC 2 compliance fits into that bigger picture. 

SOC 2 Should be Part of Your Due Diligence

Short for Service Organization Control compliance, SOC 2 is a framework developed by the American Institute of CPAs. Often considered a “gold standard,” it establishes a way to assess the data security, confidentiality, privacy, and integrity of processes used by service organizations.

In order to become “SOC 2 compliant,” an organization needs to have undergone an independent audit by a third-party. The auditor evaluates and reports on the controls and processes of a service organization. When an organization passes the examination – and thereby becomes SOC 2 compliant – it provides assurance that it has established and maintained effective controls to protect customer data. 

Specifically, SOC 2 compliance means that a service provider: 

• Adheres to strong security standards, such as controls, encryption, and monitoring. 
• Can be trusted to provide reliable access to data to avoid significant downtime. 
• Uses processes that maintain that accuracy, completeness, and integrity of data. 
• Has safeguards in place to protect confidentiality. 
• Meets relevant privacy regulation and compliance standards. 
• Proactively approaches risk management. 

Working with strategic partners and vendors that are already SOC 2 compliant can greatly simplify and streamline your due diligence and risk assessment processes. Instead of conducting your own audits, you can rely on already established, well-respected security standards for verification. 

If you were wondering, B2E has obtained and consistently maintained SOC 2 compliance. We once again passed our third-party examination in September 2023 with no exceptions!

Choosing a SOC 2 Compliant Vendor Has More Important Benefits

Data security isn’t just a concern for the information technology team. It intersects with many other important aspects of a modern business and has a ripple effect through the entire organization. When your service providers take security just as seriously as you do, there are many ways your business will benefit.

Reputation and trust.  Data breaches and security incidents can damage your reputation and erode the trust of customers and other stakeholders. Partnering with service providers that prioritize security makes these incidents less likely, helping to protect your reputation and demonstrate your commitment to security.

Cost Savings. Working with SOC 2 compliant organizations can save you in the long run by helping to avoid the financial repercussions associated with data breaches. This can include incident response costs, legal fees, fines, and the cost of rebuilding customer trust.

Regulatory Compliance. Depending on your industry, some require businesses to work with organizations that meet specific security and compliance standards. SOC 2 compliance can help your business fulfill these requirements and avoid potential regulatory issues.

Business Continuity. SOC 2 evaluations examine a service organization’s business continuity and disaster recovery plans. This reduces the risk of service interruptions for your business.

Peace of Mind. Choosing SOC 2 compliant partners can provide the peace of mind of knowing they have been independently assessed for security controls. This can alleviate concerns about unknown or unverified practices.

It’s worth noting that though SOC 2 compliance demonstrates a high commitment to security and privacy, there is no such thing as foolproof data security in today’s digital world. But, in the complex cybersecurity arena, every business must make its best effort to protect valuable data assets. Choosing SOC 2 compliant service organizations is a way to show your business makes data security a priority, and puts you in a better-position to navigate the ever-evolving landscape.

Every B2E data marketing project is executed in accordance with SOC 2 standards. If you’d like to know more, reach out to set up a conversation!