How to prepare for SOC 2 without an internal compliance team

Over approximately two months, Talsoft helped a U.S. SaaS company assess its security controls, identify gaps and define a roadmap toward SOC 2 Type I readiness.

For companies offering technology solutions, security requirements from clients and partners can become a condition for starting or maintaining business relationships.

Many of these companies already have security controls, but not necessarily the documentation, owners and evidence needed to show that those controls work. When a compliance requirement arises, that lack of structure can make it harder to respond and create uncertainty about what to do next.

The client's challenge

A U.S. company developing SaaS solutions for the real estate sector needed to prepare for new security and compliance requirements. The need arose when a client and a supplier began asking for governance measures related to SOC 2.

Although the organization already had several security practices in place, some were managed informally or lacked sufficient documentation, defined owners and evidence of how they operated.

The challenge was to understand its actual readiness for SOC 2 Type I, identify the main gaps and establish a work plan, without creating an internal function dedicated solely to compliance and cybersecurity from scratch.

Talsoft's approach

The work began with an initial gap assessment (Initial GAP) and a SOC 2 Type I readiness assessment. The goal was to understand how prepared the organization was to address the framework's requirements: which security controls were already implemented, which needed improvement, and what documentation or evidence was missing.

Talsoft used its Maturity Framework to assess the state of the company's cybersecurity controls in a structured way. The existing controls were then mapped to SOC 2 requirements to identify gaps, set priorities and define the steps needed to move toward meeting those requirements.

Over approximately two months, the team conducted interviews, questionnaires and control reviews across identity and access, infrastructure and AWS, secure development, security governance, business continuity, incident response, third-party management and awareness.

Rather than treating SOC 2 only as a checklist, Talsoft translated the requirements into a program of concrete actions, with owners, evidence and priorities.

The project produced an executive report, a control matrix, a risk register, an evidence plan and a roadmap with actions for the first 30, 60 and 90 days, plus planning horizons of three, six and twelve months. This gave the company an organized foundation for continuing to implement the necessary controls and processes.

Results

At the end of the assessment, the organization had a clearer view of its SOC 2 Type I readiness, its existing controls, outstanding gaps and the evidence needed to move forward.

In addition, another provider used the documents Talsoft produced to continue implementation through a compliance platform. The initial assessment and plan could therefore be used directly in the next stage of the project.

At Talsoft, we help companies assess their maturity, identify gaps and turn security and compliance requirements into prioritized, sustainable action plans.

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