SOC 2 vs ISO 27001: Which One Does Your Start-up Need?
- gs9074
- Jul 30, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 18, 2025
If you're building on Azure and selling into regulated industries, you’ve probably heard the question:
“Are you SOC 2 compliant or ISO 27001 certified?”
For many start-ups, the answer is neither yet.
This post breaks down the differences and overlap between SOC 2 and ISO 27001, how they apply to cloud-native teams, and how to decide which path to take first.
What are SOC 2 and ISO 27001?
SOC 2
Created by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)
Focuses on how customer data is handled across five Trust Services Criteria: Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy
Popular in US tech and SaaS markets
Assessment is a formal attestation by a licensed CPA firm
Comes in Type I (point-in-time) and Type II (tested over 6–12 months)
ISO/IEC 27001
Published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Focuses on implementing and maintaining an Information Security Management System (ISMS)
Globally recognised — often required in Europe, Asia, and by multinational enterprises
Certification issued by accredited audit bodies
Requires periodic surveillance audits and a three-year certification cycle
Key Differences
Area | SOC 2 | ISO/IEC 27001 |
Purpose | Demonstrate controls over customer data | Build a formal security management system |
Assessment | CPA audit (attestation) | ISO audit (certification) |
Region | US-centric | International |
Framework | Trust Services Criteria | ISMS + Annex A controls |
Timeline | 3–12 months for Type II | Usually 6–12 months to certification |
Evidence | Focused on specific systems | Organisation-wide policies and procedures |
Where They Overlap
Despite different origins, the control expectations are similar:
Access control Role-based access, least privilege, and review cycles.
Change management Code deployments, approvals, rollback procedures.
Logging and monitoring Audit trails, alerting, anomaly detection.
Incident response Documented process, stakeholder communication, root cause analysis.
Vendor management Risk-based reviews of sub-processors and service providers.
In practice, Azure-native teams can use the same tools to meet both:
Microsoft Entra for access control and Just-in-Time (PIM)
Azure Policy and Azure Monitor for enforcement and visibility
Defender for Cloud and Purview for data classification and threat detection
Which Should You Do First?
If your customers are US-based SaaS, fintech, or health start-ups: Start with SOC 2 Type II. It’s the expected standard and provides strong social proof.
If you’re targeting enterprise or international clients: Start with ISO 27001. It opens doors to procurement processes in regulated markets and public sector deals.
If you’re doing both eventually: Start with ISO 27001 as the foundation. Its management-system focus makes layering in SOC 2 easier later.
How Azure Supports Both
Azure-native teams have an advantage — Microsoft has built most of the required capabilities into the platform.
But having features available isn’t the same as using them correctly.
Entra ID must be configured with Conditional Access and PIM, not just user groups
Key Vault must have logging and purge protection enabled
Resource Groups must be tagged, access-scoped, and aligned with policy enforcement
Infrastructure as Code should embed compliance controls like diagnostic settings, tagging, and approval gating
Both standards require that these settings aren’t just configured once — but consistently reviewed, traceable, and auditable.
How We Help
If you're unsure where your Azure setup stands, we offer a fixed-scope audit designed for this exact situation.
In just 1 to 2 days, we:
Review your architecture against SOC 2 and ISO 27001 expectations
Identify policy and identity gaps
Provide a prioritised list of actionable fixes
Help you decide which standard to pursue — and what’s required to get there
This is not a theory exercise. It’s a fast, practical review that gives you clarity on what to do next.
Ready to assess your readiness?
[Download the SOC 2 / ISO 27001 Comparison Checklist]Includes a side-by-side view of controls and Azure services that support them.
Or book a 2-day Azure Compliance Audit. You’ll get guidance that’s grounded in reality not frameworks.
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