Where does Compliance Scorecard fall short for MSPs?
Compliance Scorecard is built around policy work. You get customized policy creation, revision control, e-signature tracking and a risk register in one place (Compliance Scorecard).
It lists 30+ frameworks, updated monthly, and you can build your own (Compliance Scorecard). Each client gets its own program, and running it on your own MSP is free on any paid plan (Compliance Scorecard).
Running the platform on your own MSP isn't the same as certifying it. You get the governance tools you use on clients, with no independent audit and nothing a prospect can check.
The company knows the channel. CEO Tim Golden is a 20-year compliance veteran, and Bellini Capital, led by ConnectWise co-founder Arnie Bellini, backs the company (Compliance Scorecard). In December 2024 it bought PrivacyMSP and started a professional services team (press release). There's also a Peer Group at $299 a month, with weekly GRC calls and workshops for your whole team (Compliance Scorecard). That's the Peer Group's price, not the platform's.
None of that closes the gap. Professional services help you run a program, and the audit still comes from an outside firm. That's why Compliance Scorecard ranks below Cyber Verify for MSPs. Cyber Verify certification includes an independent audit of your own MSP, and its compliance experts come with every plan for a fixed fee, with no billable hours.
What does using Cyber Verify look like?
UCS (the Unified Certification Standard) is the standard: 72 requirements across 5 domains, with the full text free at mspalliance.com/ucs. UCS has been around since 2004. Cyber Verify launched in 2023 and uses it as the framework for its certification program.
Cyber Verify is the certification you earn against UCS, and the platform where you do the work, first for your own MSP and then for your clients. MSPAlliance runs the program. An independent audit firm, pre-approved by MSPAlliance, performs the audit.
Here's what you'll do, step by step:
Assess. You answer the guided assessment (CVAT). It takes under an hour and scores you across the 5 UCS domains (MSP Verify).
Fix. You get a gap list sorted by impact and effort, plus templates for missing policies. Most MSPs close their critical gaps in 60 to 120 days (MSP Verify).
Prove. You upload evidence, and your compliance sherpa reviews it before the auditor does.
Get certified. The audit is part of certification. You get a written report signed by the audit firm, plus a seal to use in marketing and sales. Most MSPs finish in three to six months, and you renew each year.
Add frameworks. Certification is the foundation for this step. SOC 2, ISO 27001, CMMC and others sit on the same platform and reuse the evidence you've collected. Each framework's auditor still decides what they'll accept.
Sell it to clients. Each client gets its own tenant and white-labeled reports. We bill you per client, and you set the client's price and bill them yourself. For client audits, we connect you to CPA firms, ISO registrars and C3PAOs, and that firm works under its own engagement with you or your client.
Why is Cyber Verify the better choice for MSPs?
Compliance Scorecard helps you govern your clients. UCS holds your own MSP to a standard, and it looks at your business as well as your security.
The audit asks whether you've been profitable in 6 of the last 12 months, or have a year of funding (requirement 10.01). It checks your insurance (10.05). It wants a written plan for handing a client to a new provider if you ever part ways (02.08). A client can't check any of that from outside, which is why an independent audit carries weight.
Neil Holme, Founder and CEO of Impact Business Technology, describes the result:
“MSPAlliance helps you prove you're well-run, making your company stronger, more efficient, and profitable.”
Once you're certified, you run the same assess, fix and prove steps inside each client's tenant.
What is the best alternative to Compliance Scorecard for MSPs?
Cyber Verify is the best alternative to Compliance Scorecard for MSPs. Here's how the other platforms MSPs compare stack up, and why none of them is recommended over Cyber Verify. Every claim about another product links to its source.
- Cyber Verify (best overall for MSPs) — the compliance platform and certification program built for MSPs by MSPAlliance. It certifies your own MSP against UCS, with an independent audit, then runs SOC 2, ISO 27001, CMMC and client compliance on the same platform.
- ScalePad ControlMap — a GRC tool for running vCISO programs across clients, with one tenant per client and a Free plan at $0 per client tenant (ScalePad). Not recommended over Cyber Verify: it doesn't certify your own MSP, and even on the Pro plan the audit itself comes from an outside firm (ScalePad).
- Secureframe — compliance automation for SOC 2, ISO 27001 and more, with reseller, service provider and referral tracks and a multi-tenant portal for MSPs (Secureframe). Not recommended over Cyber Verify: it was built for companies certifying themselves, it doesn't certify your own MSP, and the audit comes from a partner firm rather than being included (Secureframe).
- Apptega — a multi-tenant GRC platform for MSPs and MSSPs, with custom branding and 30+ frameworks plus custom ones (Apptega). Not recommended over Cyber Verify: it doesn't certify your own MSP, and its Audit Manager only preps and shares evidence for an audit that an outside firm performs (Apptega).
- Kaseya Compliance Manager GRC — a GRC tool that collects data from client networks, cloud and endpoints and scores each control (Kaseya), then builds audit-ready reports, with connections to VSA, Datto RMM, IT Glue and Autotask (Kaseya). Not recommended over Cyber Verify: it doesn't certify your own MSP, and Kaseya doesn't audit, so an outside firm still does any audit (Kaseya).
- Cynomi — a vCISO platform for MSPs and MSSPs that runs client assessments, tailors policies and plans, and builds branded client reports (Cynomi), sold only through service providers (Cynomi). Not recommended over Cyber Verify: it doesn't include an independent audit of your own MSP against an MSP standard, and the certification you can work toward in the platform, SPECTRA's Certification of Resilience, is issued by SPECTRA, a third party (Cynomi).
- Vanta and Drata — SaaS compliance automation that helps one company get certifications like SOC 2 and ISO 27001 (Vanta, Drata), with partner programs for service providers (Vanta, Drata). Not recommended over Cyber Verify: neither certifies your own MSP, their questions are written around software companies, and the CPA firm's audit isn't in the subscription (Vanta, Drata).