Datacenter Certification – SAS 70 Type II

Choosing the right cloud hosting provider can be a difficult task for companies. There is no overarching regulatory agency overseeing the cloud computing industry. There are few objective standards or industry-specific certifications look for.

One important standard to look for in a cloud hosting or colocation provider is a SAS70 Type II Certified Datacenter.

SAS 70 Type II is an auditing statement issued to service providers, such as cloud hosting providers and datacenter colocation operators, by the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

What is SAS 70 and why should it matter to your company?

SAS 70 simply means “Statement of Auditing Standards Number 70”. An SAS 70 report demonstrates that a service organization has implemented effective control objects and activities.

For cloud hosting, web hosting, and colocation service providers such as EarthLink Cloud, SAS 70 certification means we can offer our business customers a SAS 70 report to use to assist their financial reporting. EarthLink Cloud also prepared a description of controls to help our assess their own internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) Auditing Standard No. 5 (AS 5).

Make sure you look for Type II certification when selecting a datacenter for hosting or colocation. Type I certification only states that policies and procedures exist, although there is no audit to ensure that the organization adheres to these procedures. Type II certification comes only after a lengthy and rigorous in-person audit that ensures the service provider adheres to their procedures.

EarthLink Cloud’s SAS 70 Type II certification is especially important to our clients who are larger institutions and publicly traded companies who must comply with security requirements such as Sarbanex-Oxley. Those clients can use our audit report for their specific security and reporting requirements.

Type II certification shows that we are following industry best practices, are operating in a transparent way, and can be trusted with your data. Learn more about SAS 70 certification guidelines.

Learn more about our secure EarthLink Cloud colocation and hosting datacenter.