The volume of compliance work landing on MSP desks is growing, and most of it is still being handled manually on spreadsheets.
The problem with spreadsheets isn't that they don't work. It's that they don't scale. Managing one client's ISO 27001 controls on a spreadsheet is manageable. Managing eight clients across three different frameworks, each with their own risk registers, evidence libraries, and policy acknowledgment records, is not.
This guide covers what MSPs actually need from GRC software, what the main options look like, and what to watch out for when evaluating platforms.
Why MSPs Need Different GRC Software Than Everyone Else
Most GRC platforms are built for a single organisation managing its own compliance. The architecture assumes one company, one set of controls, one risk register, one policy library.
That model breaks down immediately for an MSP. You're managing compliance for multiple clients simultaneously, and each client has:
- Different frameworks (one needs Cyber Essentials, another needs ISO 27001, another needs both plus GDPR)
- Different risk profiles and control environments
- Different audit timelines and certification bodies
- Separate evidence that cannot be mixed with other clients
If you put multiple clients into a single-tenant GRC platform, you either mix their data or create workarounds that introduce risk and admin overhead. Neither is acceptable when you're acting as a trusted compliance partner.
The non-negotiable requirement for MSP GRC software is true multi-tenancy — each client exists in a completely separate instance, with their own controls, risks, policies, and evidence, while you manage everything from a single dashboard.
What MSPs Actually Need from GRC Software
Beyond multi-tenancy, here's what matters for MSPs specifically:
Multi-framework support — your clients will be across different frameworks. ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials are the most common in the UK market, but you'll also encounter GDPR, SOC 2, NIS2, and sector-specific requirements. You need a platform that handles all of these without requiring separate tools per framework.
Cross-framework control mapping — when a control satisfies requirements across multiple frameworks simultaneously, you should only document it once. A platform that maps controls to ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, and GDPR automatically saves significant time when a client needs to comply with more than one standard.
Client-level reporting — auditors, client boards, and procurement teams all want reports. You need to be able to generate a clean compliance status report for any client at any time, without manually compiling data from spreadsheets.
Policy management and attestation — every client needs policies distributed to their staff and acknowledgments tracked. This needs to be per-client, with separate records for each organisation.
Risk registers — each client needs their own risk register with risks, owners, likelihood/impact ratings, and treatment plans. This is a core audit deliverable for ISO 27001 and increasingly expected for Cyber Essentials Plus.
Supplier/vendor assessments — managing third-party risk is increasingly required. ISO 27001 Annex A explicitly covers supplier relationships, and clients in financial services and healthcare face additional third-party scrutiny.
Questionnaire automation — as your clients grow and start receiving security questionnaires from their own enterprise customers, you need a way to respond efficiently. AI-powered questionnaire automation that draws on the client's existing documentation saves significant time.
The UK MSP Compliance Landscape
Most UK MSP content about GRC software is written for a US audience — focused on SOC 2, HIPAA, FedRAMP, and CMMC. These frameworks are largely irrelevant to the typical UK MSP client base.
The frameworks UK MSPs are actually dealing with:
Cyber Essentials / Cyber Essentials Plus — the UK government-backed certification required for public sector contracts and increasingly requested by larger private sector organisations. Basic CE is self-assessed; CE Plus requires an external technical audit. Many UK SMBs need annual renewal.
ISO 27001:2022 — the most commonly requested enterprise security certification in the UK and EU. Growing in demand as procurement teams add it to supplier requirements. Typically takes 9-18 months for an SMB to achieve, with annual surveillance audits.
UK GDPR — ongoing requirement for any client processing personal data. Documentation requirements include Article 30 records of processing activities, data protection policies, and breach response procedures.
NIS2 — the EU's updated Network and Information Security directive, which came into force in October 2024. Applies to UK businesses operating in the EU or supplying EU-regulated sectors. Significant overlap with ISO 27001 controls.
Cyber Insurance requirements — insurers are tightening technical requirements. Clients increasingly need documented evidence of controls to qualify for cover or maintain premiums.
A UK MSP GRC platform needs to handle all of these natively, not as an afterthought bolted onto a US-focused product.
Main Options for MSP GRC Software
Compliance Manager GRC — US-focused, strong on NIST, CMMC, and HIPAA. Built specifically for the MSP model with multi-tenant architecture. Limited UK framework support — Cyber Essentials and UK GDPR are not native. Better suited to US MSPs with clients in regulated federal sectors.
6clicks — Australian-built with a hub-and-spoke multi-tenant model. Broader framework coverage than Compliance Manager GRC. More complex to set up and positioned at the higher end of the market. Less UK-specific.
Risk Cognizance — multi-tenant, broad framework coverage, positioned as an MSSP/MSP platform. US-centric marketing and framework focus. Limited track record with UK SMB clients.
Vanta / Drata — not built for MSPs. Single-tenant architecture, US-first framework focus, enterprise pricing starting at $10,000+/year per client. Unsuitable for MSPs managing multiple clients at scale.
SnapGRC — built specifically for UK SMBs and MSPs. Multi-tenant architecture with per-client instances. Native support for ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, UK GDPR, NIS2, SOC 2, DORA, and 40+ other frameworks. Per-client or multi-client pricing model designed for MSP economics. Includes risk registers, policy management with attestation tracking, supplier assessments, compliance gap analysis, and AI-powered questionnaire automation.
How to Evaluate GRC Software as an MSP
Start with the architecture question. Ask every vendor directly: is this true multi-tenancy with complete data separation between clients, or is it a single-tenant system with workarounds? If they hesitate or describe workspaces/folders as their multi-tenant solution, that's not what you need.
Check UK framework coverage. Ask whether Cyber Essentials, UK GDPR, and ISO 27001:2022 are natively supported with pre-mapped controls. Not "we can configure it to support those" — natively supported out of the box.
Understand the pricing model. Most GRC platforms price per user or per organisation. For MSPs, per-organisation pricing adds up fast. Look for MSP-specific pricing — either a flat monthly fee covering multiple clients or a model that scales reasonably with client count.
Ask about onboarding time. Some platforms require weeks of professional services engagement before you can use them with a client. For an MSP, you need to be able to onboard a new client quickly — ideally in a day or two, not a month-long implementation project.
Check reporting. Ask to see a sample client compliance report. This is what you'll be handing to auditors and client boards. If it looks like a raw data export, that's a problem.
Compliance as a Service: The MSP Opportunity
GRC software isn't just a tool for managing your own compliance — it's the enabler for a new service line.
Compliance as a Service (CaaS) is one of the fastest-growing revenue streams for UK MSPs. The model is straightforward: rather than clients trying to manage ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials internally with spreadsheets and occasional consultant visits, they outsource it to you on a monthly retainer.
The economics work well. A monthly retainer of £300–£800 per client for managed compliance — covering risk register maintenance, policy management, evidence collection, and audit preparation — is achievable with the right tooling. At that rate, ten compliance clients adds £36,000–£96,000 in annual recurring revenue with relatively low marginal cost per client once your processes are established.
The tooling is the bottleneck. Without a proper multi-tenant GRC platform, the time cost of managing compliance across multiple clients manually makes the economics unworkable. With one, you can manage 10-15 clients with the same effort that would otherwise go into three or four.
Getting Started
If you're evaluating GRC software for your MSP practice, the fastest path to a decision is:
- List the frameworks your current clients need — Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001, GDPR, or others
- Shortlist platforms with native support for those frameworks and true multi-tenant architecture
- Request a demo specifically focused on the MSP workflow — onboarding a new client, managing their risk register, generating a compliance report
- Check the pricing model against your client count and target retainer economics
SnapGRC is built for exactly this use case — UK MSPs managing compliance for SMB clients across ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, and GDPR. The multi-tenant architecture means each client is completely separate, and the per-client pricing model is designed to work at MSP scale.
See how SnapGRC works for MSPs →
SnapGRC is a compliance management platform for UK SMBs and MSPs. ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, GDPR, NIS2, SOC 2 and 40+ frameworks — multi-tenant, MSP-ready, without enterprise pricing. Learn more →
