For any company, compliance and associated audits (like forSOC 2 or ISO 27001) are frightening and the ideal solution is when it is done by itself. Documentation, audit coordination, and ongoing maintenance are handled for you.
While many compliance automation platforms promise to simplify the compliance journey, they often deliver a "do-it-yourself-with-a-tool" experience. The good news is that a truly white-glove, done-for-you option does exist, but it's distinct from the popular software-only solutions.
Key Takeaways
- Automation tools are "DIY-with-a-tool": most platforms provide software for evidence collection and monitoring (sometimes excellent), but they require significant internal effort from your team to set up everything, manage and run the program, and coordinate the audit.
- True white-glove means "done-for-you": A hands off solution means a dedicated team manages the entire compliance process on your behalf, from policy creation and control implementation to auditor communication and ongoing maintenance. Probo offers a white-glove/”done-for-you” compliance solution.
- Identify your team's capacity: The choice between a software tool and a white-glove service depends on your internal bandwidth. If your engineering and operations teams are stretched thin, a done-for-you approach is often the most efficient.
Tools and services
When researching compliance solutions, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the marketing, with many promising to make compliance "easy". However, these solutions generally fall into two broad categories, each requiring a different level of internal effort:
When researching compliance solutions, it’s easy to be swept up in marketing promises that make compliance sound “effortless.” In reality, every approach sits somewhere along a spectrum between do-it-yourself tools and done-for-you expertise.
Broadly, there are three main models you’ll encounter - each demanding a very different level of internal effort.
1. Automation platforms
These are software tools designed to streamline specific, often tedious, aspects of compliance. Their strengths lie in automating the monitoring and collection of evidence. They integrate with your cloud providers, identity providers, and other SaaS tools to continuously check for compliance and gather proof for auditors.
However, these platforms are fundamentally tools for your team to use. They provide policy templates that you must customize, dashboards that you must monitor, and a list of tasks that you must complete. The responsibility for conducting the risk assessment, writing final policies, managing the auditor relationship, and driving the project forward still falls squarely on your team.
These are software tools designed to streamline specific, repetitive aspects of compliance - things like evidence collection, control monitoring, and integration with your cloud stack. They can connect to your AWS, Google Workspace, or GitHub accounts and continuously verify whether your configurations align with SOC 2, ISO 27001, or GDPR requirements.
Their advantage is clear: automation saves time and reduces human error.
But the trade-off is that they don’t do compliance for you - they only make certain tasks faster. Your team still has to:
- Write and customize all the policies;
Conduct and document your own risk assessments;
Coordinate with auditors and respond to evidence requests; - Drive the entire compliance project to completion.
In other words, the software gives you the tools but you’re still the builder.
2. The “Hybrid” model - hiring a vCISO and paying for a platform
This is the middle ground many companies experiment with. The idea sounds appealing: hire an external compliance consultant or vCISO for strategic guidance, and pair them with an automation platform for the operational heavy lifting.
In practice, though, this setup often means you’re paying twice - once for the human expertise, and again for the software subscription. And yet, you’re still the one holding the glue together.
Here’s what typically happens:
- The platform provides dashboards, alerts, and integrations - but it expects your team to follow through on tasks, update evidence, and maintain the system.
- The vCISO or consultant offers advice, but often works outside the platform. They’ll send you documents, checklists, and Slack reminders, but you still have to upload everything, match it to controls, and keep the platform “green.”
- Your internal team ends up coordinating between the two - translating between the consultant’s guidance and the platform’s requirements.
This setup can work for larger organizations with established security or operations staff, but for small companies, it becomes a hidden time sink.
You’re not just paying more - you’re also managing two separate systems and a growing web of dependencies that were supposed to make your life easier.
3. Services on top of its compliance automation platform.
This is where Probo operates. We are not just a software tool; we are your dedicated compliance team. We replace the DIY effort with a complete, managed service built on an open-source foundation for full transparency.
Our process is fundamentally different:
- We talk to you, then do the work: We start with a conversation to understand exactly how your business and tech stack work. From there, we do the compliance for you. Our experts create the right documents, policies, inventories, and risk analyses that perfectly match your ways of working.
- We manage the audit process: We act as the primary point of contact and manage auditor coordination and communication on your behalf. We coordinate all meetings, prepare and present all evidence, and handle the back-and-forth communication on your behalf.
- We save your engineers' time: We give your technical team a clear, prioritized checklist of only the necessary tasks. They can stay focused on building your product while we handle the entire compliance project. This is how we get startups audit-ready with less than 10 hours of their team's time.
3. Services Built
on Top of
an Automation Platform — The Probo Approach
This is where Probo stands apart. We combine the power of modern automation with the expertise of a dedicated compliance team - without making you manage both.
We’re not “software plus a consultant.”
We’re your compliance department, powered by technology.
Here’s how it works:
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We talk to you, then do the work. Our process begins with understanding your business model and tech stack. Then, we create and maintain your compliance documentation, asset inventories, and risk analyses - fully aligned with how your team actually operates.
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We manage the audit process. Probo becomes your single point of contact for auditors. We handle scheduling, evidence presentation, and all communications, ensuring consistency and zero stress for your team. You still get to meet the auditor of course.
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We save your engineers’ time. Instead of long compliance sprints, we give your technical team a short, clear checklist.
Our model delivers the peace of mind and precision of a vCISO, without the overhead or coordination burden. It’s compliance as a managed service - transparent, efficient, and built on an open-source foundation you can actually trust.
Conclusion
For many companies, time is the scarcest resource. Every hour your team spends on compliance is an hour not spent improving your product, serving customers, or shipping features.
That’s why a truly hands off compliance model isn’t just more convenient - it’s more strategic. While automation platforms are impressive in what they can automate, they still rely on you to manage the project, interpret the results, and bridge the gap between the software and the auditor.
Probo eliminates that burden. We deliver a complete, “done-for-you” compliance service - a model where technology and human expertise work as one. We don’t just provide the platform; we become your compliance team.
From initial documentation and control mapping to audit coordination and ongoing maintenance, we handle every step. The result:
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A clear, confident path to audit readiness
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Minimal disruption to your team’s focus
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Peace of mind knowing experienced professionals are managing it all
With Probo, compliance stops being a distraction and becomes a strength - a foundation that lets you scale faster, build trust with customers, and focus entirely on growing your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What’s the biggest difference between a compliance automation platform and a done-for-you service?
A compliance automation platform gives you the tools to manage compliance, requiring your team to do the work. A done-for-you service provides experts who manage and execute the entire compliance process on your behalf, minimizing your team's involvement.
2. Is a hands off compliance option more expensive?
Not necessarily. While the upfront cost might seem higher than a software subscription, a done-for-you service can save you significant internal labor costs (especially engineering time), reduce the risk of errors, and accelerate your timeline to certification. When factoring in the opportunity cost of your team's time, it often proves more cost-effective.
3. How much of my team's time will a "hands off" service really save?
A true white-glove service aims to save your team hundreds of hours. With Probo, small companies typically reach compliance with almost no team's involvement (some part of the job still needs to be done internally). The compliance provider handles everything else.
4. How does a white-glove service handle ongoing maintenance?
A done-for-you service typically includes ongoing support for continuous monitoring, annual reviews, policy updates, and managing the re-certification process each year, ensuring your compliance posture is consistently maintained with minimal effort from your side.
1. What’s the biggest difference between a compliance automation platform and a done-for-you service?
A compliance automation platform provides tools and dashboards to help your team manage compliance internally. It streamlines the process, but the responsibility - writing policies, collecting evidence, coordinating audits - still falls on you.
A done-for-you service, on the other hand, provides experts who manage and execute the entire compliance journey on your behalf. Your involvement is limited to approving key decisions, not performing the work.
2. Is a hands off compliance option more expensive?
Not necessarily. While the upfront fee may seem higher than a software subscription, a done-for-you model typically reduces total cost once you factor in internal labor, engineering time, and opportunity cost. It also minimizes the risk of costly delays or audit failures. In most cases, the result is faster and lower overall spend.
3. How much of my team’s time will a “hands off” service really save?
A true white-glove service can save hundreds of internal hours. At Probo, most small companies reach audit readiness with minimal team involvement - usually just a few short check-ins to confirm technical details. We handle everything else, from documentation to auditor coordination, so your team can stay focused on building.
4. How does a white-glove service handle ongoing maintenance?
A done-for-you service doesn’t end at certification. It includes continuous monitoring, annual reviews, policy updates, and re-certification support, ensuring your compliance posture stays strong year after year. You maintain the assurance of being always audit-ready - without the recurring operational burden.