Practice Area 03
From framework selection through audit-ready certification. Our CGRC-credentialed principals navigate SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, CMMC 2.0, ISO 27001, and NIST 800-171 with equal fluency.
Compliance is no longer optional for private-sector organizations. Customer enterprise agreements demand SOC 2 reports. Healthcare technology vendors face HIPAA Security Rule obligations. Defense supply chain participants must navigate CMMC 2.0. Payment processors operate under PCI-DSS v4. Organizations that do not manage compliance proactively face lost contracts, regulatory penalties, and — increasingly — personal liability for executives and board members.
Our Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) practice is led by principals holding the ISC² CGRC (Certified in Governance, Risk and Compliance) — the gold standard credential for information security compliance professionals. This certification specifically covers the NIST Risk Management Framework, authorization processes, compliance program management, and the full lifecycle of security control implementation and assessment.
We approach compliance not as a documentation exercise but as a genuine program-building effort. Controls that satisfy auditors must also actually reduce risk — otherwise you are investing in compliance theater rather than security substance. Our engagements simultaneously advance your audit readiness and your operational security posture.
Whether you are pursuing your first SOC 2 Type I, navigating a CMMC 2.0 assessment for defense contract eligibility, or building an enterprise-grade information security management system (ISMS) aligned to ISO 27001, our principals bring the technical depth, regulatory knowledge, and process discipline to take you from gap to certified.
Trust Services Criteria — Type I & Type II. Essential for SaaS, cloud, and managed service providers serving enterprise clients.
Security Rule, Privacy Rule, and Breach Notification. Required for covered entities and business associates handling PHI.
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard version 4.0. Required for merchants and service providers handling cardholder data.
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification — Levels 1, 2, and 3. Required for DoD prime contractors and subcontractors handling CUI.
International ISMS standard. Increasingly required for enterprise vendor onboarding and global market access.
Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in non-federal systems. Foundation of CMMC Level 2 requirements.
End-to-end compliance program development — from initial gap assessment through audit-ready documentation and auditor liaison.
A repeatable, framework-agnostic compliance program methodology grounded in the NIST Risk Management Framework and CGRC-certified expertise.
Technology companies whose enterprise sales pipeline requires SOC 2 reports. A SOC 2 Type II is effectively table stakes for B2B SaaS — without it, deals stall or are lost entirely.
Healthcare providers, payers, health IT vendors, and business associates who handle protected health information (PHI) and face HIPAA Security Rule compliance obligations.
DoD prime contractors and subcontractors handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) who must demonstrate CMMC 2.0 compliance to maintain contract eligibility in the DFARS clause environment.
Merchants, payment processors, and fintech companies subject to PCI-DSS v4 requirements who need expert guidance on scope reduction, SAQ completion, or QSA engagement preparation.
A SOC 2 Type II audit requires a minimum observation period of six months. However, organizations typically require three to six months of preparation prior to beginning that observation period. A realistic timeline from engagement start to certified report is 12 to 18 months. Type I certifications can be achieved in three to six months from the start of a well-managed engagement.
CMMC Level 2 companies with contract requirements for formal certification must undergo a third-party assessment by a CMMC Third Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO). Companies subject only to annual self-assessment requirements submit a SPRS score. Our practice prepares organizations for both pathways — we help you determine which applies to your contracts and prepare accordingly.
Yes, and this is specifically how we design our engagements. A robust SOC 2 control environment shares significant overlap with ISO 27001, NIST 800-171, and HIPAA Security Rule. We map controls across frameworks from the outset to avoid redundant effort and produce a unified control environment that satisfies multiple obligations from a single set of documentation.
We do not perform the certification audit — that would create an independence conflict. We prepare you for the external auditor: building the control environment, developing documentation, managing evidence, conducting internal assessments, and serving as your expert liaison during the external audit process. We help you select the right auditor for your engagement.
We begin every engagement with a review of your existing documentation. Many organizations have partial or outdated policy suites that can be revised and expanded rather than replaced. We build on what you have rather than discarding usable work product.
HIPAA civil monetary penalties now range from $137 to $2.067 million per violation category per year. Criminal penalties can reach $250,000 and ten years imprisonment for willful neglect. Beyond regulatory penalties, business associates face contract termination and loss of covered entity relationships — which in healthcare technology can be existential. The cost of compliance is a fraction of these exposure figures.
Request a no-cost compliance scoping consultation. We will identify your applicable framework obligations, estimate the gap-to-certification timeline, and provide a fixed-fee engagement proposal within 48 hours.