We handle this with a three-layer approach that survived our last SOC 2 Type II audit:
1. **MDM as the baseline** — Jamf for macOS, Intune for Windows. Not sufficient on its own, but it gives you the device inventory + encryption status that CC6.6 expects.
2. **Conditional access on top** — If a device isn't MDM-enrolled or fails compliance checks (disk encryption, OS version, firewall enabled), it gets quarantined from sensitive resources. This bridges the gap between 'we have a policy' and 'we enforce it.'
3. **Quarterly attestation + sampling** — The auditor wanted evidence that controls actually work, not just that they exist. We ran automated compliance checks against our fleet and provided the raw output logs. The key insight: show the *failures*, not just the passes. Auditors trust you more when you can demonstrate you're catching non-compliant devices.
The hardest part was BYOD. We ended up requiring a lightweight MDM profile on any device accessing internal systems, with explicit employee consent documented. Took legal review in three jurisdictions to get the wording right.
Good question. In our experience, the gap between theoretical compliance and operational reality is where most teams get stuck. We found that building a compliance evidence pipeline — treating each control requirement as a data source that feeds into a centralized evidence store — reduced audit prep time by roughly 60%.
Key insight: Map each control to an automated data source first, manual process last. For SOC 2 CC6.1 (logical access), that means pulling from your IdP's API, not from a spreadsheet. For CC7.2 (monitoring), pull from your SIEM, not from manual log reviews.
The auditors care about consistency and repeatability more than perfection. Show them the pipeline, not the spreadsheet.