Product Security Onboarding

Protecting customer data from breaches, misuse, or accidental loss.
Covering both technology (encryption, access control, monitoring) and processes (policies, vendor checks, incident handling).
Demonstrated via recognized certifications & frameworks — these give customers proof we follow industry standards.

SOC 2 Type II – US SaaS trust standard, very common in procurement.
ISO/IEC 27001 – International information security management certification.
ISO/IEC 27701 – Privacy management (pairs with ISO 27001).
FedRAMP Moderate – Required if selling to US federal agencies (government cloud).
CMMC Level 2 – Required for Department of Defense-related contracts.
PCI DSS SAQ – Payment card security compliance (usually handled by payment processor, but you still attest).
CSA STAR Certification – Cloud security certification recognized globally.

NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) – US government–favored baseline for managing cybersecurity risk.
NIST SP 800-53 – More detailed control set for government contracts.
State Privacy Laws Compliance – CCPA/CPRA (California)
GDPR – EU privacy regulation (important if expanding internationally).
CJIS Security Policy – If handling law-enforcement-related data for municipal utilities.

SOC 2 Type II – Most common for US SaaS, directly boosts sales via RFP compliance. Covers ~70–80% of ISO 27001 and aligns with many privacy/security laws.
CCPA/CPRA Compliance – Mandatory for California consumer data. Complements SOC 2 work and can be implemented in parallel.
ISO/IEC 27001 – Expands credibility internationally; much of the work overlaps with SOC 2 (~70–80%).
ISO/IEC 27701 – Adds strong privacy governance; builds on ISO 27001 (~20–30% extra work).
PCI DSS SAQ (likely SAQ A) – If processing payments, even with Stripe/DOKU, you’ll still need the light self-assessment -

- We won’t need full PCI DSS certification (because Stripe/DOKU are PCI DSS Level 1 compliant and handle cardholder data).
- We will still need to complete a PCI DSS SAQ - but the lightest version, usually SAQ A, since we never touch or store cardholder data on your systems.

6. Others only if required specifically by our customers:

FedRAMP, CMMC → Only for US government clients. (not needed if you get this data from state or municipal -> super costly process than that of SOC2 and ISO)
GDPR, CCPA → Privacy laws; implement alongside SOC 2 work for efficiency. (State Privacy Laws Compliance)
CSA STAR → Optional cloud security badge.
NIST CSF/SP 800-53 → Mostly if targeting US gov or regulated sectors.

Overlap: Completing SOC 2 first covers ~90% of ISO 27001, 50% of NIST CSF, and key privacy/security requirements.

SOC 2 Type II is the most commonly requested security certification in U.S. SaaS procurement processes.
Many RFPs, especially from utilities, municipalities, and enterprise clients, have a hard requirement for SOC 2 before you can even bid.
Without it, we’re often blocked early in the sales funnel — losing deals before we can show the product.

Enterprise customers see SOC 2 Type II as proof that we’re not just claiming security — it’s been verified by an independent auditor.
Consumers benefit indirectly, knowing their personal data is protected by rigorous controls.
Builds confidence for potential partners, resellers, and integrations.

Our current customer base is mostly U.S.-based, where SOC 2 is the gold standard for SaaS security assurance.
It’s faster to achieve than ISO 27001 (typically 6–9 months vs. 12+ months) and gets us to market-ready compliance quicker.

Completing SOC 2 lays the foundation for other certifications with reduced cost and effort later (ISO 27001, ISO 27701, FedRAMP, etc.).
Annual renewal keeps our processes sharp, preventing security drift.

SOC 2 covers ~70–80% of the requirements in ISO 27001 (international standard) and ~50–60% of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, meaning we get multi-framework progress from one effort.
It also aligns with privacy laws like CCPA/CPRA by requiring strong controls for data protection, encryption, access management, and incident response.

Factor	Manual Approach	Vendor Approach (Sprinto, Vanta, etc.)
Implementation Speed	9–12 months on average (especially first-time)	4–6 months (with automation + templates)
Team Effort Required	Heavy lift from internal team: security lead, engineering, HR, legal, ops	Vendor handles automation, reminders, control mapping; your team mainly provides evidence
Documentation	Must write every policy, process, and evidence request manually	Pre-built, auditor-approved templates; fill in and customize
Evidence Collection	Manual screenshots, log exports, and uploads — very time-consuming	Automated integrations pull logs from AWS, GCP, Okta, GitHub, Jira, etc.
Audit Coordination	You manage timelines, communicate with auditor, ensure completeness	Vendor acts as project manager, keeps you on track, talks directly to auditors
Knowledge Gaps	Risk of missing controls or misinterpreting requirements	Vendor already knows what auditors expect — reduces risk of rework or failure
Cost	Lower out-of-pocket, but high hidden cost in employee hours	Higher subscription cost, but faster completion = faster revenue impact
Renewal Prep	Repeat manual effort every year	Ongoing monitoring; renewal becomes a light lift

[Actual costs will vary depending on the specific SOC 2 requirements we choose to implement, optimization actions taken]

Baseline Today: ~$640/month.
Minimal SOC 2 setup: +$416–$521 → $1,056–$1,161/month (+65–81%).
With Cross-Region DR: +$566–$701 → $1,206–$1,341/month (+88–110%).
Biggest cost drivers:
1. AWS Inspector (~$216) – Continuous vulnerability scanning.
2. Private networking (NAT gateways) (~$36–$80) – Required for RDS/ECS in private subnets.
3. RDS Multi-AZ / DR replicas (~$129–$180) – High availability & disaster recovery. (considering the db instance size to remain the same, if the primary db size increases, these will also be increased)
Optional heavy add-ons:
- Shield Advanced: +$3,000/month (only if mandated by a client).
- We can skip Inspector, avoid Multi-AZ & DR unless contractually required