For Cloud and IT Service Providers · 4 min read ·
SOC 2 vs ISO 27001 for Cloud and IT Service Providers
SOC 2 is the report US buyers ask for. ISO 27001 is the certificate buyers in Europe and Asia ask for. If you sell in both markets, run them together: most controls overlap.
The key differences
- SOC 2: an attestation report from a CPA firm, built on the Trust Services Criteria
- ISO 27001:2022: a certificate for your management system, with 93 Annex A controls
- SOC 2 Type II is renewed every year. An ISO 27001 certificate lasts 3 years with yearly surveillance audits
How to choose
Look at your last ten security reviews. If buyers named SOC 2, start there. If they named ISO 27001 or you sell into the EU, start with ISO. If both came up, do both.
Why running both costs less
Access control, risk assessment, vendor management and incident response map to both frameworks. Evidence is collected once and used twice, so the second framework is priced as an add-on.
Quick answers
ISO 27001 asks for a formal management system and a review of all 93 Annex A controls. Timing for either depends on how fast your evidence comes together.
Yes. Shared controls are mapped once. For 1 to 50 employees, the second framework adds $400 a month in year one on top of the first.