Summary
For Indian SaaS selling to US and global enterprises, a security attestation is frequently the difference between winning and losing. Deals stall in the security-review stage for want of SOC 2 (usually Type II) or ISO 27001.
Type II
What US enterprise buyers usually require
93
ISO 27001:2022 controls (from 114)
6-10 wk
Typical SOC 2 Type I readiness
Adoption pattern
- SaaS selling primarily to US enterprises leads with SOC 2 Type II.
- SaaS selling globally or into regulated procurement leads with ISO 27001.
- Scaling SaaS increasingly needs both — and does them together from one ISMS.
- DPDP is the newer, often-unaddressed gap for Indian SaaS handling consumer data.
The bottleneck
The recurring bottleneck is starting the attestation only after a deal stalls in security review. Because Type II tests controls over months, late starts cost quarters of revenue. Evidence collection set up from day one is the differentiator.
Priorities
- Start SOC 2/ISO when the first enterprise deal enters security review.
- Build one ISMS and evidence both attestations from it.
- Instrument continuous evidence collection immediately.
- Add DPDP where consumer data is processed.