Built for buyers whose deals depend on the framework.

The firmographics are consistent: 100 to 600 employees, Series B or C, a sales motion that has moved from mid-market to enterprise, and a security questionnaire sitting in the deal desk that nobody can answer without qualification. The compliance program is usually owned by a head of engineering or a first compliance hire who inherited it alongside three other responsibilities.

The framework need starts with SOC 2 because North American enterprise buyers ask for it by name. ISO 27001 follows within a year, typically when a European prospect or a large enterprise procurement team asks for the certificate rather than the report. For AI-first products, ISO 42001 has begun appearing in the same security addendum, and the companies certifying now are doing so ahead of the requirement rather than in response to it.

The trigger event is almost always a specific deal. A named logo, a renewal date, a procurement gate that will not move. That shapes the engagement: the work is sequenced against the deal calendar, and the interim compliance statement from Baseline exists precisely so the deal can keep moving while the buildout runs.

The multi-framework argument is straightforward here. A control implemented once should satisfy the Trust Services Criteria, ISO 27001 Annex A, and the ISO 42001 requirement that overlaps it. Run those as three separate projects with three separate firms and you will build three evidence libraries for one control environment.

These are companies applying models to clinical, administrative, or payer workflows, typically 100 to 500 employees, selling to health systems and payers. They are business associates under HIPAA from the first contract, and the diligence they face is heavier than their headcount would suggest.

The framework need is genuinely three-layered. HIPAA is the regulatory floor and is non-negotiable. HITRUST is what sophisticated payers and health systems ask for when they want an assessed answer rather than a self-attested one. ISO 42001 is the newest layer, and it is the one buyers reach for when the diligence question is not "is the data safe" but "how is the model governed."

Trigger events cluster around procurement with a large health system, a payer contract with an assessment requirement, or a clinical partner whose own compliance function has escalated the review. Occasionally it is an investor at the diligence stage who has seen the category get more scrutiny.

The three frameworks overlap heavily and sequence badly if run independently. HIPAA supplies the risk analysis and safeguard set; HITRUST scores maturity against a control catalogue that already covers most of it; ISO 42001 governs the model lifecycle that sits on top. We sequence HIPAA first, build toward the HITRUST assessment type the customer actually requires, and extend into ISO 42001 using the management system rather than starting again.

Defense industrial base suppliers and manufacturers, often 100 to 1,000 employees, frequently with an operational technology footprint and an MSP running IT. Many have carried a self-reported SPRS score for years without revisiting it.

CMMC Level 2 is the requirement, NIST SP 800-171 is the underlying control set, and NIST CSF often provides the governance structure around both. Where the supplier also serves European automotive customers — which is more common than the sector map suggests — TISAX arrives alongside, with a different assessor, a different catalogue, and a different portal.

The trigger is contractual. A clause in a solicitation, a flow-down from a prime, or a customer notification with a date attached. Unlike commercial frameworks, there is no negotiating the requirement away, and the assessment capacity in the market is finite.

Framewise handles readiness, implementation, and audit preparation, and partners with an authorized C3PAO for the formal assessment. We do not hold C3PAO status and do not assess our own work. For suppliers carrying both CMMC and TISAX, running them under one program means the enclave, the evidence, and the physical security work get built once.

Payments platforms, lenders, and financial infrastructure companies, typically 100 to 800 employees, with a bank or processor relationship that carries its own diligence obligations downstream.

PCI DSS applies wherever cardholder data is stored, processed, or transmitted, and the validation level is set by volume and role. SOC 2 runs alongside it for the enterprise sales motion. Where a New York licence is in play, NYDFS Part 500 adds board reporting and certification obligations on a separate calendar.

Triggers here are rarely a single deal. An acquirer escalates the validation level, a bank partner tightens diligence, a new product moves card data into a system that was previously out of scope, or a licensing regime introduces a filing date. The work is priced against the deal cycle because that is the calendar the business actually runs on.

The overlap between PCI and SOC 2 is substantial in access control, logging, change management, and vendor management, and negligible in segmentation and key management. We build the common spine once and treat the framework-specific requirements as the delta, which is where the cost concentrates.

Manufacturers, engineering services firms, and industrial software companies with European OEM customers, often with a US parent and one or more European sites in scope.

ISO 27001 is the general-purpose certificate European enterprise procurement recognizes. TISAX is the automotive sector requirement layered on top, assessed against the VDA ISA catalogue by an ENX-approved provider, with results exchanged through the ENX portal rather than published.

The trigger is usually an OEM issuing a label requirement with a deadline, sometimes with an assessment level and set of objectives specified in the notification. Getting those objectives confirmed before scoping is the difference between a clean assessment and a costly rescope during fieldwork.

Cross-border programs carry an entity and site problem that domestic ones do not: the certificate and the label are scoped to legal entities and locations, and the wrong scope statement is discovered late. We settle scope at Baseline, build one management system that carries both, and treat the automotive-specific objectives — prototype protection in particular — as the additional work rather than the whole program.