New Attestation Standards for Private Cloud Service Provider Environments Replaces SAS 70
NEW YORK -- (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Options IT, provider of the Options PIPE Private Financial Cloud services platform for the exchange, banking, trading and investment communities, today announced that it is one of the first cloud infrastructure providers to successfully complete the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 16 examination along with completing the Service Organization Controls (SOC2 and SOC3) reports.
The Service Organization Controls Reporting Standard is the latest technology services organization attestation standard developed in 2011 by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). They go beyond the scope of the traditional SAS 70 examinations and are the new industry standard for Private Cloud and Infrastructure-as-a-Service firms that provide managed hosting and data storage services to the financial industry.
SSAE 16 is designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an acceptable method for a user entity's management to obtain assurance about service organization internal controls without conducting additional assessments. In addition, the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 make SSAE 16 reports even more important to the process of reporting on effective internal controls by public companies.
The SOC2 and SOC3 reports offer firms both the assurance and an independent auditor opinion that a service provider's internal controls provide a level of security, availability, processing integrity and privacy in accordance with pre-defined AICPA principles and criteria. To view the Options IT SOC3 report, please click here.
"Since the launch of our Options PIPE Private Cloud services platform in 2000, we've been pioneers in providing innovative technology solutions to meet our clients' dynamic business needs," said Nigel Kneafsey, CEO of Options IT. "With the level of regulatory, investor and client scrutiny growing across all segments of the financial industry, we're happy to once again take the lead in addressing the need for a higher standard of service integrity as firms continue to push their business technology into the Private Cloud."
About Options IT (www.options-it.com):
Options IT is the provider of the global Options PIPE® Private Financial Cloud services platform, delivering ultra-low latency market data, trade execution and fully managed application hosting services to the exchange, banking, trading and investment communities. Combining innovative technology solutions with highly experienced technology management and support staff, the Options PIPE platform provides a complete financial technology infrastructure as a pay-as-you-use service. The Options PIPE delivers the scalability, strength and security of an enterprise platform with the efficiencies of a hosted solution. With offices across North America, Europe and Asia, Options IT provides solutions to more than 100 clients globally.
Options PIPE® Platform Services:
PIPE Velocity
An ultra-low latency market data, trade execution and application hosting service for all major markets across North America, Europe and Asia
PIPE Momentum
A fully managed and optimized financial application hosting service for proprietary and third-party applications spanning the front-, middle-, and back-office
PIPE Core
A complete business technology infrastructure service supporting all desktop and communication technology essential to financial services firms
CONTACT:
Options IT
Patrick Ruppe, 646-205-2500
Head of Marketing
patrick.ruppe@options-it.com