Why US SaaS Companies Choose ISO 27001 and SOC 2 in 2026

For a SaaS company, security is no longer discussed only by the security team. It can influence enterprise sales, procurement reviews, customer contracts, vendor assessments, and expansion into new markets. In the USA, SaaS providers selling to larger organizations may increasingly encounter requests for independent evidence of how they manage security risks and operate their controls. This is one reason the conversation around ISO 27001 and SOC 2 for SaaS companies is changing. Instead of treating the frameworks as competing options, organizations are increasingly considering ISO 27001 and SOC 2 together to address different assurance expectations. But why are SaaS companies pursuing both? What does each framework demonstrate, where do they overlap, and what should a company consider before getting ISO 27001 and SOC 2 together? Understanding these differences is important before building a combined security and assurance program.

Why Are SaaS Security Expectations Changing?

Modern SaaS environments rarely consist of one application and one infrastructure environment. They can involve cloud platforms, APIs, SaaS-to-SaaS integrations, remote employees, third-party providers, privileged accounts, and increasingly, AI-enabled services. The Cloud Security Alliance's 2025–2026 State of SaaS Security research found that 86% of organizations considered SaaS security a high priority, while 76% reported increasing their budgets. The research also identified challenges around privilege management, SaaS-to-SaaS integrations, non-human identities, and over-privileged API access.

Third-party exposure is another concern. Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report analyzed more than 22,000 security incidents and found third-party involvement in 30% of breaches, up from roughly 15% the previous year. For a SaaS provider, this means customers may want more than a statement that security is a priority. They may want evidence that security risks are identified, controls are established, and those controls are operating appropriately.

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What ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Actually Demonstrate?

Before discussing the ISO 27001 SOC 2 combination, it is important to understand that these frameworks serve different purposes. While both address important aspects of information security, they differ in their structure, requirements, and assurance outcomes.

ISO 27001: A Structured Information-Security Management System

ISO/IEC 27001 defines requirements for an Information Security Management System (ISMS). ISO describes it as a risk-based framework that organizations can use to establish, maintain, and continually improve information security. It addresses the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information and takes a holistic approach involving people, policies, and technology. For a SaaS company, this means information security is managed as an organizational process rather than treated only as a collection of technical controls. An ISMS can address areas such as risk assessment, security responsibilities, access management, supplier relationships, incident management, business continuity, and continual improvement.

SOC 2: An Independent Examination of Controls

SOC 2 follows a different approach. The AICPA Trust Services Criteria cover Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. A SOC 2 engagement examines a service organization's system and controls against the selected criteria. This matters because SOC 2 results in an attestation report, rather than certification against a management-system standard like ISO 27001. For SaaS providers, the report can provide customers and business partners with information about the design and, depending on the report type, operating effectiveness of relevant controls.

ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Together: Where They Overlap

The reason SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for SaaS can work well together is that both can address related areas of information security. A SaaS company can potentially coordinate common processes and evidence across the two programs while still addressing the requirements specific to each framework.

Access Management

Both programs can involve controls around how users are granted, reviewed, modified, and removed from systems and information. A SaaS company may therefore be able to establish common processes for user provisioning, authentication, privileged access, and periodic access reviews.

Security Policies and Governance

Security policies establish expectations for how information and systems are managed across an organization. Policies covering areas such as access, acceptable use, incident management, and information security can provide a common foundation while being mapped to the relevant requirements of each framework.

Risk Management

Information-security risks are an important consideration when managing a SaaS environment. An organization can identify threats, vulnerabilities, and potential impacts through its risk-management processes and use the results to inform security controls and ongoing improvement.

Incident Response

Both frameworks can involve processes for identifying, reporting, evaluating, and responding to security incidents. A coordinated incident-response process can establish clear responsibilities for detecting events, escalating significant incidents, documenting actions, and reviewing outcomes.

Vendor Management

SaaS companies often rely on cloud providers, subprocessors, technology platforms, and other external vendors. Common supplier-management processes can address how third parties are evaluated, what security requirements apply to them, and how relevant risks are monitored.

Change Management

Changes to applications, infrastructure, configurations, and other systems can introduce information-security risks. A structured change-management process can help the organization assess changes, establish appropriate approvals, maintain records, and consider their potential impact on security and service operations.

Backup and Recovery

SaaS providers need to consider how critical information and services can be recovered following disruption. Backup and recovery processes can provide a common operational foundation for addressing availability and resilience-related considerations under the applicable frameworks.

Security Awareness

Employees interact with systems, information, customers, and third-party services every day. Security-awareness processes can establish expectations around areas such as protecting credentials, recognizing security events, handling information appropriately, and following organizational security policies.

Monitoring and Evidence

Both programs require organizations to demonstrate that relevant controls and processes are appropriately established and operating. Maintaining records, monitoring activities, and other objective evidence as part of normal operations can make it easier to demonstrate how controls function over time.

This overlap does not mean that ISO 27001 and SOC 2 are interchangeable. Their requirements and assurance models remain different, but a SaaS company can coordinate common controls, ownership, policies, and evidence instead of treating them as two completely separate security programs.

Why SaaS Companies Need ISO 27001 and SOC 2

For SaaS providers, security assurance can influence how prospective customers evaluate a service before they commit to a contract. The question of why SaaS companies need ISO 27001 and SOC 2 is ultimately connected to customer assurance and business requirements.

Enterprise Customers Want Evidence

Large customers may conduct security reviews before purchasing a SaaS service. These reviews can involve questionnaires, documentation requests, control discussions, and requests for independent assurance. AICPA notes that customers and business partners often request SOC 2 reports to obtain information about a service organization's system and controls. ISO 27001 certification can provide another form of external recognition that an organization's ISMS conforms to the standard's requirements.

Different Customers May Ask for Different Assurance

A U.S. enterprise customer may be familiar with SOC 2, while an international customer or procurement team may specifically request ISO 27001. This does not mean every SaaS company needs both. Requirements vary by customer, industry, contracts, target markets, and business model. However, for companies serving a broad customer base, ISO 27001 and SOC 2 for US SaaS companies can address different expectations without treating one framework as a substitute for the other.

ISO 27001 vs SOC 2 for SaaS Companies

So, what does ISO 27001 vs SOC 2 for SaaS companies actually look like? While both provide independent assurance around information security, they are structured differently and produce different outcomes.

Core Approach

ISO 27001 is built around an Information Security Management System (ISMS), using a risk-based approach to identify, assess, treat, monitor, and continually improve information-security risks across people, processes, and technology. SOC 2, on the other hand, focuses on the examination of controls against one or more of the AICPA Trust Services Criteria: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy.

Framework Owner

ISO 27001 is an international standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), while SOC 2 is based on the Trust Services Criteria established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Main Focus

ISO 27001 focuses on establishing and maintaining a structured ISMS for managing information-security risks, whereas SOC 2 focuses on evaluating controls against the applicable Trust Services Criteria based on the services, systems, and assurance needs covered by the examination.

Assurance Outcome

ISO 27001 can result in certification when an organization’s ISMS is independently assessed against the requirements of the standard by a certification body. SOC 2 results in an examination report issued by a licensed CPA firm, describing the service organization’s controls and the examination results against the selected Trust Services Criteria.

Geographic Reach

ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard used by organizations across regions and industries, while SOC 2 originated in the United States and is particularly familiar among U.S. technology and SaaS companies, although organizations serving international customers may also pursue a SOC 2 examination.

Scope

ISO 27001 applies to a defined ISMS scope covering the relevant parts of an organization, such as its services, locations, systems, processes, and business activities. SOC 2 applies to a defined system and service description together with the Trust Services Criteria selected for the examination, making the scope closely connected to the services and systems being evaluated.

What This Means for SaaS Companies

For SaaS companies, the distinction matters because ISO 27001 and SOC 2 address assurance from different perspectives. ISO 27001 focuses on the management system used to manage information-security risks, while SOC 2 provides an examination of relevant controls against defined Trust Services Criteria. They are not competing frameworks, and their different structures and assurance outcomes are one reason some SaaS organizations pursue ISO 27001 and SOC 2 together to address different customer, contractual, and market expectations.

The ISO 27001 SOC 2 Combination Can Support Enterprise Growth

For SaaS companies, security assurance can have a commercial dimension. A prospect may be interested in the product but unable to complete procurement until its security requirements are addressed. Having recognized assurance mechanisms can give the sales and security teams formal evidence to reference during these discussions. ISO 27001 can demonstrate that the organization has established an ISMS based on information-security risk management. SOC 2 can provide an independent report concerning relevant controls within the service environment. Together, these can create a broader assurance package for organizations serving enterprise customers in the USA and international markets. There can also be operational value. Where controls overlap, a coordinated approach can reduce unnecessary duplication in areas such as control ownership, evidence collection, policy management, and risk documentation.

What Are the SOC 2 and ISO 27001 Requirements for SaaS?

The exact SOC 2 and ISO 27001 requirements for SaaS depend on the organization's scope, services, systems, risk profile, and the SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria selected for the examination. While the two frameworks have different structures, several security and operational areas commonly become relevant when a SaaS company is building its control environment.

Information-Security Risk Management

A SaaS company should have a defined approach for identifying and evaluating information-security risks and determining how those risks will be treated. For ISO 27001, this forms part of the risk-based ISMS approach, while SOC 2-related controls may provide evidence of how identified risks are addressed through the organization's control environment.

Identity and Access Management

Access to applications, infrastructure, and sensitive information should be appropriately managed based on business and security requirements. This can include user provisioning and deprovisioning, authentication, privileged access, periodic access reviews, and controls over administrative accounts, particularly where SaaS environments rely heavily on cloud infrastructure and centralized identity platforms.

Third-Party Risk Management

SaaS companies often depend on cloud infrastructure providers, software platforms, subprocessors, and other external service providers. These relationships should be evaluated based on the risks they introduce, with appropriate processes for due diligence, contractual requirements, monitoring, and ongoing oversight where applicable.

Incident Management

The organization should establish defined processes for identifying, reporting, evaluating, and responding to information-security incidents. This includes determining how incidents are escalated, who is responsible for response activities, how relevant information is documented, and how lessons from incidents are incorporated into subsequent risk and control activities.

Change Management

Changes to applications, infrastructure, configurations, and other systems should be managed through defined processes appropriate to the organization's environment. For SaaS companies with frequent development and deployment cycles, this can include change approvals, testing, code review, segregation of duties, and records showing how changes were evaluated and implemented.

Availability and Recovery

Availability can be particularly important for SaaS providers because customers depend on the continued operation of the service. Relevant controls may cover backups, recovery procedures, system availability, disaster recovery, business continuity, and testing of recovery processes, depending on the organization's scope and applicable assurance criteria.

Security Policies and Employee Awareness

A SaaS company's control environment also depends on defined security policies and employees' understanding of their responsibilities. Policies should reflect the organization's actual operations, while relevant personnel may need appropriate security awareness and role-based training based on their access, responsibilities, and involvement with information-security processes.

Monitoring and Evidence

Both ISO 27001 and SOC 2 require organizations to demonstrate that their security practices are not simply documented but are being managed and evaluated. SaaS companies therefore need appropriate records and evidence to demonstrate that relevant controls and processes are operating as intended over the applicable period.

The important point is that these areas should not be treated as a generic checklist. ISO 27001 requirements are determined by the organization's ISMS scope and risk-based approach, while SOC 2 requirements depend on the system being examined and the applicable Trust Services Criteria. The controls, processes, and evidence a SaaS company needs will therefore depend on its actual environment, services, and assurance objectives.

Is There Such a Thing as SOC 2 ISO 27001 Combined Certification?

The phrase SOC 2 ISO 27001 combined certification is sometimes used informally when organizations pursue both programs. Technically, however, there is no single “combined certification” that replaces the two separate outcomes. ISO 27001 can result in certification against the ISO/IEC 27001 standard, while SOC 2 results in an attestation report issued following a SOC 2 examination. Similarly, phrases such as ISO 27001 SOC 2 dual certification can be misleading because SOC 2 is not a certification. A more accurate description is that an organization maintains SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance together or pursues both ISO 27001 certification and a SOC 2 examination. This distinction is more than terminology. Understanding the separate assurance models helps organizations communicate accurately with customers, auditors, certification bodies, and other stakeholders.

How to Approach ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Compliance for SaaS?

Companies considering ISO 27001 and SOC 2 compliance for SaaS can take a coordinated approach by identifying shared security practices first, then addressing the specific requirements of each framework. This can create a more consistent control environment and reduce unnecessary duplication across security, governance, and evidence-related activities.

Define the Scope

Start by identifying the products, services, systems, infrastructure, locations, information, and teams that are relevant to the security program. A clearly defined scope provides a basis for determining which information-security risks, controls, processes, and evidence need to be considered for ISO 27001 and which systems and services fall within the SOC 2 examination.

Identify Common Controls

Next, identify controls and processes that may apply across both frameworks. Areas such as access management, incident response, vendor management, change management, security awareness, and risk management can often form part of a shared control environment, although the specific requirements and evidence may differ between ISO 27001 and SOC 2.

Establish the ISMS

Use the ISO 27001 risk-based structure to establish how the organization identifies, assesses, treats, monitors, and reviews information-security risks. For a SaaS company, this provides a management framework for connecting security objectives, policies, responsibilities, risk treatment, operational controls, and continual improvement rather than treating individual controls as isolated activities.

Map the SOC 2 Criteria

Determine which SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria are relevant to the services and systems within scope. Security is a core consideration, while Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy may also be applicable depending on the organization's services, commitments, and examination scope. Mapping the selected criteria against existing controls can highlight areas that require additional attention.

Build Evidence Into Daily Operations

Evidence should be generated as part of normal business and security processes rather than collected only when an audit or examination is approaching. Access reviews, security monitoring records, incident documentation, change records, risk reviews, training records, and vendor assessments can provide evidence of how relevant controls operate over time.

Coordinate Assurance Activities

Where practical, coordinate control owners, evidence collection, review activities, testing schedules, and relevant internal assessments across the two programs. The objective is not to make ISO 27001 and SOC 2 identical, but to establish a coordinated approach where shared controls and evidence can be managed consistently while framework-specific requirements remain clearly addressed.

A coordinated approach can make getting ISO 27001 and SOC 2 together more structured, but the two frameworks should still be treated according to their individual requirements and assurance models. The goal is to build one coherent security environment that can provide appropriate evidence for both ISO 27001 certification and a separate SOC 2 examination.

What Should SaaS Companies Consider Before Getting Both?

Not every SaaS company needs to pursue both frameworks immediately. A company should consider its customer requirements, target markets, existing security maturity, contractual commitments, available resources, and growth plans. For example, a SaaS provider primarily selling to U.S. enterprises may encounter significant demand for SOC 2. A company expanding into international markets may also encounter customers that recognize or request ISO 27001. The decision should therefore be based on actual business requirements rather than the assumption that having more certifications automatically means having a better security program.

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What Happens After Certification and the SOC 2 Examination?

Neither ISO 27001 certification nor a SOC 2 report should be treated as the finish line for information security. SaaS environments change continuously. New applications are introduced, employees change roles, vendors are added, infrastructure evolves, APIs are modified, and AI services may introduce new data flows and access considerations. ISO 27001 specifically emphasizes maintaining and continually improving the ISMS. SOC 2, meanwhile, provides assurance around the controls within the defined examination scope and period. For this reason, companies pursuing SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance together should treat security as an ongoing operational discipline rather than a one-time project.

Where ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Fit Into SaaS Growth

For SaaS companies, pursuing ISO 27001 and SOC 2 together is not simply about adding security credentials. ISO 27001 provides a structured, risk-based ISMS, while SOC 2 examines controls against the applicable Trust Services Criteria. Together, they can address different assurance expectations from enterprise customers, procurement teams, and business partners. For U.S. SaaS companies, understanding how the two frameworks differ and overlap can help shape an assurance approach aligned with their risks, services, and customer requirements.

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