You Have a SOC 2 Type 2-Is a SOC 3 Worth Adding?
One question we hear more often from clients is: Do we also need a SOC 3?
It’s a reasonable question. A SOC 2 Type 2 examination is a significant investment. You’ve spent months documenting controls, gathering evidence, working with your auditor, and demonstrating that your controls operate effectively over a period of time. So, once you have that report in hand, why would you need another one?
The short answer is, you may not need a SOC 3 examination report (SOC 3), but there are some very good reasons you might want one.
A SOC 2 Type 2 report (SOC 2) provides detailed information about your organization’s systems and controls and includes the auditor’s testing of those controls over a specified period. For customers, particularly larger organizations with formal vendor risk management programs, this level of detail can be extremely important. They may want to understand how you manage logical access, change management, security monitoring, incident response, risk management, and other relevant controls.
Your SOC 2 gives them the information they need to perform that deeper evaluation, but there’s a tradeoff. Because the report can contain detailed information about your systems and control environment, organizations typically don’t post their SOC 2 report publicly for anyone to download. Instead, it’s usually shared with customers and other appropriate parties under controlled circumstances. That’s where a SOC 3 can add value.
Think of SOC 3 as your public-facing assurance, designed for general distribution. You can use your SOC 3 to communicate that you’ve undergone an independent examination without making the detailed information in your SOC 2 publicly available. That can be particularly useful for companies that want to make security part of their public-facing message.
For most organizations, the biggest benefit of a SOC 3 isn’t getting a completely different assessment of their controls. It’s having a way to communicate the results more broadly. Your SOC 2 provides detailed assurance intended for specified users, whereas a SOC 3 examination provides a general-use report that can communicate assurance more broadly. Before deciding if a SOC 3 is right for you, we recommend starting with a simple question: How are you going to use it?
1. Your sales team wants something it can share publicly
If your sales team frequently talks about security with prospects, a SOC 3 can be a useful asset. It gives prospects something tangible to review without immediately requiring access to your more detailed SOC 2 report. That can help establish credibility earlier in the prospect conversation and potentially reduce friction in the sales process.
2. Security is part of your brand
For some organizations, security isn’t just a requirement; it’s part of the company’s value proposition. If you’re selling cybersecurity services, cloud infrastructure, SaaS, financial technology, healthcare technology, or another service where customers are particularly concerned about data protection, publicly demonstrating your security posture can be valuable. A SOC 3 can support that message.
3. You have a trust center
Many technology companies now have online trust centers where customers and prospects can learn about security, privacy, compliance, and availability. A SOC 3 fits naturally into that environment, giving visitors independent assurance that complements a list of security controls or compliance logos.
When a SOC 3 May Not Be Worth It
If your customers consistently require a SOC 2 Type 2 and rarely ask for public security documentation, the business case for a SOC 3 may be limited. Likewise, if your organization doesn’t actively market its security posture or have a need to make its assurance publicly available, you may not get much additional value from it.
Keep in mind that a SOC 3 doesn’t replace your SOC 2; it complements it by providing a more accessible, public-facing way to demonstrate your organization’s commitment to security. Ultimately, we recommend looking at the business needs first. If you already have a SOC 2 Type 2, a SOC 3 should have a clear purpose beyond simply adding another report to your compliance program. Start with how your customers, prospects, and sales teams would use it. If there’s a clear answer to that question, a SOC 3 may be worth considering.
Brandy Hendry
Senior Operations and Client Relationship Manager, AARC-360
