Software buyers expect the companies they do business with to demonstrate their security posture now more than ever. According to G2’s 2021 Software Buyer Behavior Report, mid-market and enterprise business leaders say security is their topmost factor when making a software purchase decision, even above integrations, scalability, and 1-year return on investment. The vendors who care about meeting these customers’ security expectations and winning business are strengthening their security posture and providing verifiable proof. 

Demonstrating company security posture

Trying to pass a SOC2 audit? Or become ISO 27001 compliant as your company becomes more global? Companies might want software to assist with that process instead of tracking processes in static spreadsheets that get lost in the shuffle. That’s why we’re introducing a new software category on G2—the Security Compliance Software category. 

Security compliance software allows information security and compliance teams to evaluate and manage their security processes to ensure they are in compliance with both internal controls and industry or regulatory security frameworks such as SOC2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27002, FedRAMP, NIST 800-171, NIST 800-53, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, among many other security frameworks. These tools help security and compliance analysts assess company systems and policies, document compliance areas, and identify compliance gaps.

At a foundational level, these tools will help security teams collect and document evidence of compliance with security controls in preparation for audits. Some products may include vendor security and privacy assessment functionality as well. Instead of manually uploading evidence screenshots, more robust products may offer automation with integrations to human resource information systems (HRIS) or other core HR software and cloud computing platforms. This is similar to the more narrow applicability of continuous visibility offered with cloud compliance software.

Why would a company choose to use security compliance software? 

Any company can use this software to stay organized amongst the internal team and external auditors when conducting inventories of assets, collecting evidence, documenting policies, and automating risk assessments and mitigations where possible. This is achieved with standardized controls statements, evidence collection management workflow, and in some cases, third-party integrations. 

The Security Compliance Software category on G2 allows software buyers to discover the best solution for their needs. G2 offers software solutions filters by security framework type. At present, the frameworks we have include SOC2, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27002, FedRAMP, NIST 800-171, NIST 800-53, and NIST Cybersecurity Framework. We may consider adding more frameworks as this category grows.

While security compliance software isn’t new, the category of software is becoming ever more important with the rise of cyberattacks. A quick review of the ever-growing number of significant cyber incidents tracked by the Center for Strategic and International Studies shows the escalating problem businesses face. From the Log4j vulnerability felt across global businesses to more targeted attacks on country-specific energy companies. 

Not only is security compliance critical for companies to understand their unique security risk factors, but security has also truly become a business differentiator in today’s market. Failing to adopt and demonstrate security compliance can lose a company business, especially companies that market to mid-market and enterprise-level B2B customers who demand verified security information.