How Your Customer Success Manager fits into your journey to SOC 2 compliance

For many companies trying to achieve SOC 2 compliance, keeping up with both the work necessary to get their controls in place along with actually running their business can be quite the juggling act. Luckily, you have a Customer Success Manager (CSM) to help!

So, what exactly does your CSM do? Simply put, your CSM will be your primary point of contact and the main person managing your account throughout the audit process. They are there to help make the roadmap ahead clear,  answer questions as you begin your journey, and are then there to keep the audit engagements on track for the years ahead. In order to better understand, let’s touch on the core aspects of a CSM’s role when helping you:

Onboarding

First and foremost, from the moment you sign on to have your audit performed, your CSM is the person who will be scheduling and then holding a kickoff meeting to help set expectations and answer any initial questions you might have as you’re getting started. This meeting walks through the process from start to finish, as well as establishes what the regular communications between you and them will look like moving forward. After the kickoff meeting, they will provide any necessary documents/links to help make sure you have everything to coordinate the audit.

Answering Questions and Scheduling the Audit

Once you’ve gotten your feet wet and have an understanding of what the next steps are, your CSM will be regularly checking in with you to see how things are going as well as provide support for any questions you might have. As you’re going through setting things up, they’ll also be on hand to schedule your audit and coordinate with any readiness platforms you are utilizing to support your SOC 2 compliance.

Supporting the Audit Itself

Once you have the date(s) you want to use for your SOC 2 audit, your CSM will then hand you off to our Audit Associates so that the controls testing can begin. While the CSM will not be performing the audit themselves, they work closely with the Audit team and communicate closely so that the project continues moving forward and you get your report as quickly as possible. If there are any additional evidence pieces needed or clarifications necessary, your CSM will coordinate with the Audit team to make sure these outstanding items are settled.

Continuing and Building Our Partnership

You’ve done it!

You finally have your SOC 2 report in hand! With the audit now complete, your CSM will be one of the first people out the gate to congratulate you; not only that, but they’ll also set expectations as to when we’ll reach out regarding the next report to ensure you won’t have any gaps in your compliance. After a few months, your CSM will reach out to see what your plans for your next SOC 2 report are; in that, they’ll provide a quote as well as coordinate having the Statement of Work (SOW) signed to formalize the engagement. Once you’re signed on, they’re once again there to support you for the various SOC 2 reports to come!

Whether you’re going for your first SOC 2 report ever or you’re a seasoned compliance veteran, it’s important to us that you have every possible tool and aid at your disposal so that you can walk through each step of the audit process with complete confidence that you will succeed. 

In all, your CSM is the person to help make this happen; there to help make sure you will come out the other side of this journey with a report that leaves you and your customers satisfied. Whenever you feel stuck, you need only shoot an email over or make a phone call, and your CSM will be there!