Skip to content
Managed Compliance

Managed compliance services: the program, run for you

Managed compliance services hand the day-to-day operation of your security compliance program — GRC platform administration, evidence, policies, personnel workflows, monitoring remediation, and audits — to an outside team that does it full time. Agency delivers it with U.S.-based forward-deployed engineers, supercharged by proprietary AI — 1,000+ companies served since 2021, 4.9/5 on G2.

Last updated July 26, 2026
SOC 2ISO 27001HIPAAFragmented governanceQuestionnaire fatigueStartups

Managed compliance services: the program, run for you.

Managed Compliance Services · Managed Compliance Services
/0.1

What a managed compliance service actually is

Strip the category name away and it’s simple: someone has to run compliance every week — collect and check evidence, fix what monitoring flags, keep policies and access reviews current, answer auditors and customer questionnaires. A managed compliance service is a standing engagement where an outside team owns that work and answers for the outcome: passed audits, current certifications, and a program that holds up between them.

It differs from a readiness project, which ends the day the consultant hands you a findings deck. It differs from staff augmentation, which rents you a person and leaves the process design to you. The managed model carries the process, the platform expertise, and the execution — continuously, through audit windows and the quiet months between them.

Agency’s version pairs engineers with the GRC platform you already use. Scope covers platform administration, evidence collection and validation, policy lifecycle, onboarding and offboarding workflows, access reviews, vendor risk, security training, questionnaire response, and full audit management — across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and the rest of the framework stack.

On cost: for startups, Agency publishes all-in packages — GRC platform, audit, and penetration test together — at $2,500 to $12,500, against the $25,000–$60,000+ that assembling the same pieces separately typically costs. Larger environments are scoped to stack, framework mix, and audit calendar.

/0.2

Side project versus operated program

Compliance run as a side projectEvidence assembled by hand in the weeks before the audit, then abandoned until next year.Monitoring alerts pile up red because every fix competes with the product roadmap.Policies pasted from templates, accepted once, never reopened.Offboarding and access reviews run on memory — findings waiting to happen.Every big customer’s questionnaire costs a founder their week.
Compliance run by AgencyA named engineering team on your platform, on a weekly cadence.Failures fixed at the source and exceptions documented properly.Evidence validated continuously, so audit windows close without drama.Policy, training, access, and vendor cycles on a calendar Agency owns.Questionnaires answered from work that already exists, not from scratch.
/0.3

Managed compliance vs the alternatives

OptionWho does the recurring workWhere it fits
Compliance consultantYou do — consultants assess, advise, and hand the list backPoint-in-time needs: scoping, gap assessments, audit-prep coaching
MSP / MSSPThey run IT and security infrastructure; compliance evidence, policies, and audits usually stay yoursDay-to-day IT operations, endpoints, and networks — not certification programs
GRC software aloneYou do — the platform monitors, reminds, and waitsTeams with a genuine internal owner who has real hours for it
Managed complianceThe provider — at Agency, engineers and AI operating platform, evidence, policies, and auditsTeams that want the certification outcome without staffing the function
The categories blur at the edges — good consultants operate a little, good MSPs advise a little. The deciding question is who owns the recurring work and answers for the audit.
/0.4

Operated programs on the platform you already chose

Agency runs client programs on all four major GRC platforms. Start with yours.
Top-ranked partnerManaged VantaThe adoption leader, operated end to end — with negotiated partner pricing on the license itself. Explore managed Vanta.
Top-ranked partnerManaged DrataDeep automation and cross-framework mapping, put to full use by engineers who live in it. Explore managed Drata.
No resale stakeManaged SecureframeOperations without vendor politics — we run the program and give straight answers on platform fit. Explore managed Secureframe.
No resale stakeManaged SprintoBuilt for the lean teams least likely to have anyone free to run it — so we run it. Explore managed Sprinto.
/0.5

When the platform isn’t the whole problem

Sometimes the need is bigger than platform operations. If you want the entire function delivered — strategy, execution, and a bench that doesn’t take PTO all at once — that’s the outsourced compliance team model. If the acute pain is the questionnaire pile blocking deals, security questionnaire services attack exactly that. And when customers want a security leader in the room, a vCISO supplies the title, the judgment, and the accountability.

Still choosing software? The platform comparison hub ranks the major options by company profile — written by the team that operates all of them, which is what keeps it honest.

/0.6

The numbers behind the model

1,000+Companies served since 2021, across every major GRC platform and company stage.
500+Programs delivered end to end by Agency engineers and AI.
200+Hours per year redirected from compliance busywork back to product.
4.9/5G2 rating from companies that handed us the work that used to slip.
/0.7

Frequently asked questions

Five questions
What is included in managed compliance services?At Agency: administration of your GRC platform, evidence collection and validation, policy drafting and lifecycle, security training, onboarding, offboarding and access reviews, vendor risk management, customer questionnaire response, and audit management — across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, FedRAMP, CMMC 2.0, ISO 42001, HITRUST, and US data privacy laws. The unit of delivery is an outcome, like a passed audit or a maintained certification, not a block of advisory hours.
Is managed compliance the same thing as compliance as a service?Functionally, yes — the market uses both labels for operated compliance programs. “Compliance as a service” leans on the subscription framing, “managed compliance” on the operations framing. The substance to verify under either label is identical: who does the work, who faces the auditor, and what happens between audits. Our full take: compliance as a service.
How is this different from hiring an in-house compliance manager?A single hire gives you one person’s bandwidth and one person’s platform history, plus a key-person risk around vacations and resignations. A managed service fields a team with 500+ programs delivered behind it and AI leverage on the repetitive work. The two aren’t exclusive — plenty of clients add an internal owner later and keep Agency on operations.
Do we have to switch GRC platforms to work with Agency?No. We operate Vanta, Drata, Secureframe, and Sprinto as they stand — the program improves because operations improve, not because a logo changed. Platform moves come up only at natural decision points like renewals or framework expansions, and the advice stays neutral because we run all of them either way.
Who actually does the work — people or AI?Both, deliberately divided. AI handles the repetitive surface: evidence collection, monitoring sweeps, questionnaire first drafts. Our engineers own everything that requires judgment — scoping, remediation, exceptions, auditor conversations. The delivery model is U.S.-based forward-deployed engineers, supercharged by proprietary AI.

Managed Compliance

Make compliance someone’s actual job — ours

Your security and compliance team, without the headcount. One conversation to scope your platform, frameworks, and audit calendar — Top-ranked Vanta & Drata partner · 1,000+ companies served since 2021 · 4.9/5 on G2.

Get Started Top-ranked Vanta & Drata partner · 1,000+ companies served since 2021 · 4.9/5 on G2
Quick answers
What is included in managed compliance services?At Agency: administration of your GRC platform, evidence collection and validation, policy drafting and lifecycle,…
Is managed compliance the same thing as compliance as a service?Functionally, yes — the market uses both labels for operated compliance programs.
How is this different from hiring an in-house compliance manager?A single hire gives you one person’s bandwidth and one person’s platform history, plus a key-person risk around…

Find your auditor

Auditnex makes buying audits simpler and more transparent.

Agency implements the controls, collects the evidence, and manages your auditor relationship on top of the GRC tools you already use.

Explore Auditnex

Common GRC Questions

GRC Platform & Virtual CISO FAQ

Answers to common managed-compliance questions — what Agency operates, how it fits with Vanta or Drata, and what a virtual CISO actually does for your program.

Read the FAQ
AI-Powered

Build a Security & Compliance Team Led by Your Own Virtual CISO

Forward-Deployed Engineers + AI that lower costs, increase velocity, and raise the bar — from policy to audit to remediation. U.S.-based forward-deployed engineers, supercharged by proprietary AI, operate your program end-to-end — on top of the tools you already trust.

Get Started Automation ends where judgment begins.