Continuous Evidence Improves SOC 2 Assurance
Christina Cacioppo, CEO of Vanta, on the value of SOC 2 compliance for startups
The real advantage is that software turns audit evidence from a pile of snapshots into a running record. Instead of an auditor checking a few screenshots or a handful of employees on one day, Vanta can show the same control data pulled directly from systems like Google Workspace, AWS, and GitHub over time, then map that data into the auditor workflow. That gives the auditor more coverage, more consistency, and a clearer trail for how the evidence was produced.
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In the old workflow, auditors often gathered point in time proof, screenshots, office walkthroughs, and spot checks on a few employees. In Vanta, the auditor reviews a repository of mapped evidence and tests tied to the audit period, which is closer to sampling a live system than collecting paper after the fact.
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That higher assurance matters most for controls that should hold continuously, like MFA, device security, access reviews, and cloud settings. A six month log of every employee’s MFA status is stronger evidence than seeing three people log in during an audit meeting, because it shows whether the control actually held over time.
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It also changes the economics for audit firms. When evidence is already organized, scoped, and synced into an auditor portal or API workflow, auditors can handle more startup audits with less manual chasing. That is why tech forward firms can charge less per engagement and still grow through higher volume.
The next step is that compliance software becomes part audit prep tool, part always on control system. As platforms keep feeding auditors cleaner system level evidence across more frameworks, the winners will be the vendors that make audits feel less like an annual document scramble and more like a continuous, inspectable data stream.