SOC 2 for Indian SaaS: a practical primer

If you sell software to US enterprises, SOC 2 is usually the first thing their security team asks for. It's not a law - it's a trust report produced by an independent auditor - but in practice it's a gate to closing enterprise deals. Here's what Indian SaaS founders need to know.

What SOC 2 actually is

SOC 2 is an attestation, based on the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria, describing how well your controls protect customer data. There are two report types:

• Type I - controls are suitably designed at a point in time. Faster to obtain; a good first step.
• Type II - controls operated effectively over a period (typically 3-12 months). This is what most enterprise buyers ultimately want.

The five Trust Services Criteria

• Security (always in scope) - protection against unauthorised access.
• Availability - the system is available for operation and use as agreed.
• Processing integrity - processing is complete, valid, accurate and timely.
• Confidentiality - information designated confidential is protected.
• Privacy - personal information is handled per commitments and criteria.

Most SaaS companies start with Security and add others as customers demand.

How to get audit-ready without derailing the roadmap

1. Scope it. Decide Type I vs II and which criteria apply.
2. Implement controls across access management, change management, monitoring, vendor risk and incident response.
3. Collect evidence continuously. This is where teams lose weeks - automate it.
4. Run a readiness assessment to find gaps before the auditor does.
5. Engage a CPA auditor for the formal report.

SOC 2 and your Indian obligations

SOC 2 impresses US buyers, but it doesn't replace DPDP 2023 or CERT-In at home. The good news: a mature SOC 2 posture makes DPDP readiness far easier, because the underlying security controls overlap heavily.