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SaaS Platforms

Empower your SaaS platform organization to enhance SaaS security, protect customer data, and demonstrate operational excellence with Glocert International's specialized ISO certifications, security assessments, and compliance solutions.

Why SaaS Platforms is Different

SaaS platform organizations handle sensitive customer data, operate in highly competitive markets, and are subject to evolving cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection regulations. The combination of regulatory pressure, data sensitivity, operational risk, multi-tenant architecture, and supply-chain exposure creates unique compliance challenges that require specialized expertise and SaaS-specific solutions.

Regulatory Obligations

SaaS platform organizations must navigate multiple regulatory frameworks including GDPR (EU), CCPA (California), PIPEDA (Canada), and local data protection laws. Understanding which regulations apply and how they intersect is critical for maintaining compliance, avoiding penalties, and protecting customer data across different jurisdictions. SOC 2 is commonly required by enterprise customers.

Common Compliance Mistakes

Many SaaS platform organizations make critical mistakes including treating ISO 27001 as an IT project instead of a governance system, implementing security controls without aligning with product development processes, ignoring third-party and cloud risk, and failing to maintain evidence between audits. Understanding these common pitfalls helps organizations avoid costly compliance failures.

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Regulatory Obligations

Understanding which regulations apply to your SaaS platform organization and how they intersect is critical for maintaining compliance and protecting customer data.

Mandatory Requirements

GDPR (EU): Required for organizations processing personal data of EU residents. Applies to technology and SaaS companies operating in or serving EU customers. Non-compliance can result in fines up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover.

CCPA (California): Required for businesses that collect personal information of California residents and meet certain thresholds. Applies to many SaaS and technology companies serving US customers.

PIPEDA (Canada): Required for organizations processing personal information in the course of commercial activities in Canada.

Commonly Required Frameworks

SOC 2: Commonly required by enterprise customers for SaaS providers. Demonstrates security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy controls.

ISO/IEC 27001: Widely recognized information security management system standard, often required for enterprise contracts and regulatory compliance.

ISO/IEC 27701: Privacy information management system extension to ISO 27001, helping organizations demonstrate GDPR and other privacy law compliance.

Emerging Regulatory Focus

AI Governance: Increasing focus on AI systems, including EU AI Act, ISO/IEC 42001, and transparency requirements for AI-powered services.

Cloud Security: Enhanced scrutiny of cloud service providers and multi-tenant architectures, particularly ISO 27017 and ISO 27018 for cloud-specific controls.

Supply Chain Security: Growing emphasis on third-party risk management, vendor security assessments, and software supply chain security.

Commonly Adopted Certifications

These certifications help SaaS platform organizations demonstrate compliance, protect customer data, and meet enterprise customer requirements.

ISO/IEC 27001

For information security governance. Essential for SaaS platforms. Provides a systematic approach to managing information security risks and protecting customer data across SaaS operations and product development.

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SOC 2

For SaaS platforms. Commonly required by enterprise customers. Demonstrates security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy controls for SaaS services handling customer data.

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ISO/IEC 27017

For cloud security. Critical for SaaS platforms using cloud infrastructure. Provides cloud-specific security controls and guidance for cloud service providers and SaaS platforms.

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ISO/IEC 27018

For cloud privacy. Essential for SaaS platforms. Provides controls for protecting personally identifiable information (PII) in public cloud computing environments, addressing GDPR and privacy requirements.

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ISO/IEC 27701

For privacy management. Critical for SaaS platforms handling customer data. Extends ISO 27001 to provide a privacy information management system aligned with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations.

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ISO/IEC 42001

For AI governance. Essential for SaaS platforms with AI-powered features. Provides a management system for artificial intelligence, addressing AI risk, transparency, and ethical use requirements.

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ISO 20000-1

For IT service management. Ensures effective SaaS service delivery and management processes aligned with business requirements and customer expectations.

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ISO 22301

For business continuity. Critical for SaaS platforms. Ensures SaaS platforms can maintain service availability and critical operations during disruptions, meeting enterprise customer requirements.

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Common Compliance Mistakes

Understanding these common pitfalls helps SaaS platform organizations avoid costly compliance failures and build more effective security and privacy programs.

Treating ISO 27001 as an IT Project

Many SaaS organizations implement ISO 27001 as a technical IT initiative rather than a governance system. Information security requires executive leadership, organizational culture change, and integration with product development and SaaS operations, not just technical controls.

Security Controls Without Product Alignment

Implementing security controls without aligning with SaaS product development processes, customer requirements, and agile workflows leads to friction, workarounds, and compliance failures. Security must integrate seamlessly with product development and SaaS operations.

Ignoring Third-Party and Cloud Risk

SaaS platforms often focus on application security while overlooking third-party vendors, cloud service providers, API integrations, and software supply chain risks. These represent significant risk vectors that must be assessed and managed in SaaS environments.

Insufficient Vendor and Subprocessor Management

Under GDPR and other privacy regulations, SaaS providers must ensure vendors and subprocessors protect customer data, but many fail to properly assess, contract with, and monitor vendors, creating significant compliance and breach risks for SaaS platforms.

Failing to Maintain Evidence Between Audits

Many SaaS organizations prepare evidence only during audit periods, leading to gaps, inconsistencies, and compliance failures. Continuous evidence maintenance, monitoring, and documentation are essential for effective compliance in fast-paced SaaS environments.

Inadequate Incident Response Planning

SaaS platforms often have incident response plans that are not tested, not integrated with operations, or fail to address customer notification, regulatory reporting, and service availability requirements effectively. SOC 2 and ISO 27001 provide essential guidance.

How Glocert Supports SaaS Platform Organizations

Glocert supports SaaS platform organizations through independent certification, assurance, and audit services aligned to international standards and SaaS-specific regulations.

Our SaaS platform compliance services include ISO 27001 certification for information security governance, SOC 2 audits for service organization controls commonly required by enterprise customers, ISO 27017 certification for cloud security, ISO 27018 certification for cloud privacy, ISO 27701 certification for privacy management aligned with GDPR and CCPA, ISO 42001 certification for AI governance if using AI-powered features, and penetration testing to identify and remediate SaaS application security vulnerabilities.

We understand the unique challenges of SaaS platform organizations including regulatory complexity, customer data sensitivity, multi-tenant architecture security, product development integration, customer trust requirements, and third-party risk management. Our auditors bring deep SaaS industry expertise and work with you to build compliance programs that integrate with product development, protect customer data, meet enterprise customer requirements, and demonstrate operational excellence across multiple jurisdictions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do SaaS platforms need both SOC 2 and ISO 27001?
Many SaaS platforms benefit from both certifications. SOC 2 is commonly required by enterprise customers and demonstrates service organization controls including security, availability, and privacy. ISO 27001 provides a comprehensive information security management system framework that can help demonstrate SOC 2 compliance more effectively. Many SaaS organizations use ISO 27001 as the foundation for their security program, add ISO 27017 for cloud-specific controls, and pursue SOC 2 to meet enterprise customer requirements. The choice depends on customer requirements, market expectations, and compliance strategy.
How does cloud hosting affect SaaS platform compliance?
Cloud hosting introduces additional compliance considerations for SaaS platforms. SaaS providers must ensure cloud providers meet security and privacy requirements, implement appropriate access controls, and ensure data encryption. ISO 27017 and ISO 27018 provide cloud-specific security and privacy controls essential for SaaS platforms. Under GDPR and other privacy regulations, SaaS providers remain responsible for customer data even when stored in the cloud, so proper vendor assessment and contract management are critical. Many SaaS platforms require cloud providers to achieve SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification.
What certifications are required for SaaS platforms serving enterprise customers?
Enterprise customers commonly require SaaS platforms to achieve SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, and ISO 27018 certifications. SOC 2 demonstrates service organization controls, ISO 27001 demonstrates information security governance, ISO 27017 demonstrates cloud-specific security controls, and ISO 27018 demonstrates cloud privacy protection. Many enterprise customers also require ISO 27701 for privacy management and ISO 22301 for business continuity. SaaS platforms serving enterprise customers often pursue multiple certifications to meet diverse customer requirements and demonstrate comprehensive security and privacy capabilities.
What happens if a SaaS platform operates in multiple jurisdictions?
SaaS platforms operating across jurisdictions must comply with all applicable regulations. A US SaaS platform with EU customers must comply with both CCPA and GDPR. SaaS platforms may need to address data residency requirements, cross-border data transfer restrictions, and jurisdiction-specific privacy laws. ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 provide frameworks that can help harmonize compliance across jurisdictions, but SaaS platforms must still meet jurisdiction-specific requirements. Many SaaS platforms use ISO 27701 to demonstrate GDPR compliance while also addressing other privacy regulations.
How do vendor and subprocessor agreements affect SaaS platform compliance?
Under GDPR and other privacy regulations, SaaS platforms must have Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) with vendors and subprocessors that handle customer data. However, DPAs alone are insufficient - SaaS platforms must assess vendor security capabilities, monitor compliance, and ensure appropriate controls. Many SaaS platforms require vendors to achieve SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification to demonstrate security capabilities. Failure to properly manage vendors and subprocessors is a common GDPR compliance mistake for SaaS platforms and can result in significant penalties.
Can SaaS platforms use ISO 27001 instead of separate SOC 2 and ISO 27017 certifications?
ISO 27001 provides a comprehensive information security management system, but SOC 2 and ISO 27017 serve different purposes for SaaS platforms. SOC 2 is often required by enterprise customers and demonstrates service organization controls. ISO 27017 provides cloud-specific security controls that complement ISO 27001. Many SaaS platforms pursue ISO 27001 as the foundation for their security program, add ISO 27017 for cloud-specific controls, and pursue SOC 2 to meet customer requirements. The choice depends on customer requirements, market expectations, and compliance strategy.
What are the implications of AI-powered SaaS features for compliance?
AI-powered SaaS features introduce additional compliance considerations including transparency, bias, data protection, and ethical use. SaaS platforms must ensure AI systems comply with GDPR, CCPA, and emerging AI regulations like the EU AI Act. ISO/IEC 42001 provides a management system for artificial intelligence, addressing AI risk, transparency, and ethical use requirements. SaaS platforms must also consider data protection implications of AI training data, model security, and AI decision-making processes. Many SaaS platforms pursue ISO 42001 to demonstrate AI governance capabilities.
How should SaaS platforms approach third-party risk management?
Third-party risk management is critical for SaaS platforms given reliance on vendors for cloud services, software components, APIs, integrations, and business processes. SaaS platforms should assess vendor security capabilities, require appropriate certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001), ensure DPAs are in place for GDPR, monitor vendor compliance, and have incident response plans that include vendors. Many SaaS breaches originate from third-party vendors, making vendor risk management a priority. ISO 27001 includes vendor management requirements, and SaaS platforms should also consider software supply chain security.

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