ISO and GRC standards for technology, SaaS and BPO: where to start: video

Proof before clients sign or renew

Enterprise clients, sourcing advisers and their auditors want independent proof before they sign or renew with a technology, SaaS or BPO provider. The standards written into those contracts include ISO/IEC 27001 for information security, SOC 2 for service assurance, ISO/IEC 27701 for privacy management, PCI DSS where card data is handled, ISO/IEC 42001 for AI governance, ISO/IEC 20000-1 for IT service management, ISO 22301 for business continuity and ISO 9001 for quality management.

The film shows how these requests fit together. Its premise is one scope across products, cloud environments and delivery centres, so that one body of evidence answers several clients.

Where the pressure comes from, and where to start

Vendor-risk teams send long security questionnaires and ask for an ISO/IEC 27001 certificate or a SOC 2 report before onboarding a supplier, and again at every renewal. Procurement teams list certifications as pass-or-fail criteria in outsourcing and software tenders, so a bid without them may never reach the scoring stage. Data protection law passes duties down the chain: under the GDPR, controllers may use only processors that can show sufficient safeguards, and under HIPAA, business associates carry direct obligations. Clients whose agents take card payments by phone, or whose platforms touch card data, bring PCI DSS into scope.

For most providers the first step is ISO/IEC 27001, with SOC 2 alongside or next where North American clients ask for a report; the same controls produce much of the evidence for both. Privacy, card data, AI governance or continuity follow as client contracts require. The result should be shorter security reviews and tenders you can bid for. Select the Standard™, a free tool on this site, shows which of these your sector most often meets. SOC 2 is an attestation by a CPA firm, and PCI DSS is validated rather than certified.

Sterling's consultants build these programmes with engineering, operations and delivery teams, around the way software ships and accounts are served.