As regulated industries migrate to cloud services, it’s become essential for cloud-based data operations to comply with industry regulations. Cloud compliance tools automate the complex process of monitoring, reporting, and maintaining regulatory adherence across sectors.
These specialized solutions help organizations reduce compliance risks, avoid costly penalties, and gain better visibility into their data environments.
This guide discusses:
- The fundamentals of cloud compliance and why it matters
- Leading cloud compliance tools
- Must-have features setting top solutions apart
- Choosing the right compliance tool for your specific regulatory requirements
What Is Cloud Compliance?
Cloud compliance means making sure your organization follows all necessary regulations and standards when storing and processing data in the cloud.
Once your data moves to the cloud, your compliance responsibilities follow, but they adapt to this new environment. Instead of managing everything on servers you own and control, you’re now working within platforms operated by providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.
Effective cloud compliance requires implementing proper security measures, access controls, and monitoring systems across your cloud environments. Your organization needs to satisfy multiple sets of requirements simultaneously, from broad privacy regulations like GDPR to industry-specific frameworks such as HIPAA for healthcare or PCI DSS for payment processing.
What makes cloud compliance distinct is the shared responsibility model — Your cloud provider handles security for their infrastructure (the data centers, hardware, and core services), while you remain responsible for properly configuring your applications, managing who can access your data, and ensuring your overall usage meets compliance standards.
This division of duties creates specific challenges that require thoughtful approaches and specialized tools to address effectively.
What Are the Benefits of Cloud Compliance?
There are numerous reasons why you should ensure cloud compliance, including:
- Financial implications — The financial stakes are substantial. GDPR violations can cost up to €20 million or 4% of global revenue, while HIPAA penalties can reach $2,134,831 per violation. Beyond direct fines, organizations face significant costs for breach remediation and legal proceedings.
- Tarnished reputation — Compliance failures, particularly those involving data breaches and privacy violations, damage reputation and erode customer trust. For B2B companies, these issues can violate contractual obligations with partners and clients and end valuable business relationships.
- Operational continuity — Regulators can restrict or halt operations following serious compliance violations, creating ripple effects across your business. Addressing unexpected compliance gaps also diverts resources from strategic initiatives.
- Competitive edge — While often viewed as a burden, strong compliance capabilities can actually create competitive differentiation. Companies with robust compliance frameworks enter new markets more easily, attract security-conscious clients, and complete vendor assessments more efficiently. This particularly applies to highly regulated industries like healthcare and financial services.
- Data governance benefits — Effective compliance programs promote better data management practices, providing organizations with improved visibility into their data assets. This enhanced understanding of data location, usage, and access patterns supports more informed business decisions and enables more effective risk management strategies.
All these benefits make a strong case for cloud compliance tools.
What Do Organizations Need Cloud Compliance Tools?
Cloud compliance tools are specialized software solutions designed to help organizations systematically meet, monitor, and maintain regulatory requirements across their cloud environments.
These solutions bridge the gap between complex compliance frameworks and the dynamic nature of cloud infrastructure, providing automated oversight where manual processes would be impractical.
What Are Must-Have Features in Cloud Compliance Tools?
When evaluating cloud compliance solutions for your organization, certain key capabilities separate truly effective tools from basic offerings.
The following features should be considered essential when selecting a compliance solution:
Comprehensive regulatory coverage
Look for tools that support multiple regulatory frameworks relevant to your industry.
Strong compliance solutions should offer pre-built policies and controls for frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, NIST, ISO 27001, and others.
The best platforms provide regularly updated compliance templates that adapt as regulations evolve, sparing your team from constantly researching regulatory changes.
Multi-cloud support
Most organizations now operate across multiple cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, etc.).
Your compliance tools should provide unified visibility and consistent policy enforcement across all your cloud environments without requiring separate solutions for each provider. This consolidated approach prevents blind spots and ensures consistent compliance across your entire cloud footprint.
Automated evidence collection and documentation
Manual documentation is time-consuming and error-prone.
These tools also offer powerful ediscovery capabilities that allow legal teams to efficiently search, review, and export relevant data during investigations or litigation proceedings, saving valuable time and resources.
Thanks to this automation, you can dramatically reduce the burden during audit preparation.
Risk assessment and prioritization
Not all compliance issues carry the same level of risk.
Leading tools apply intelligent risk scoring to help organizations focus on the most critical issues first. These tools should provide context-aware risk assessments that consider factors like data sensitivity, exposure level, and potential impact to generate meaningful prioritization.
Customizable policies and controls
While pre-built compliance frameworks provide an excellent starting point, your organization likely has unique requirements.
If you select a powerful compliance tool, you’ll be able to customize policies and controls to match your specific risk tolerance, business processes, and internal governance requirements while maintaining alignment with regulatory standards.
Integration capabilities
Cloud compliance doesn’t exist in isolation. Look for tools that integrate with your broader security ecosystem, including SIEM systems, ticketing platforms, CI/CD pipelines, and identity management solutions.
These integrations enable compliance to become embedded in your workflows rather than functioning as a separate process.
User-friendly dashboards and reporting
Compliance data is only valuable if it’s accessible and understandable.
The most effective tools provide intuitive dashboards that visualize your compliance posture across frameworks, with drill-down capabilities to investigate specific issues. They should also offer customizable reporting for different stakeholders, from technical teams to executive leadership and external auditors.
Data sovereignty and privacy controls
With increasing regulations around data residency and cross-border transfers, compliance tools must help organizations understand where their data resides and implement appropriate controls based on geographic requirements.
This includes capabilities for data discovery, classification, and localization management.
Top 5 Cloud Compliance Tools for 2025
With increasing regulatory scrutiny and the complexity of cloud environments, organizations need robust compliance tools to automate processes, ensure continuous monitoring, and mitigate risks. Below are five leading cloud compliance tools in 2025, including their key features, benefits, and ideal use cases.
1. Jatheon Cloud
Best for: Email and digital communication archiving, regulatory compliance, and ediscovery
Jatheon Cloud is a purpose-built compliance and archiving solution designed for organizations in regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, government, and education.
It provides a secure, scalable way to archive emails, social media, text messages, and collaboration tools, ensuring compliance with laws like HIPAA, SOX, FINRA, FOIA, FERPA, and GDPR.
Key features:
- Regulatory compliance — Supports industry-specific regulations through advanced retention policies and secure storage.
- Tamper-proof archiving — Ensures data integrity with AES-256 encryption and immutable storage, making archived records legally defensible.
- Ediscovery with audit trail & legal hold — Enables compliance teams to search, retrieve, and place data on legal hold for investigations and audits.
- Automated audit logging & reporting — Tracks all access, modifications, and retrievals for compliance reporting.
- Granular role-based access control (RBAC) — Restricts data access based on user roles to prevent unauthorized modifications.
- Customizable retention policies — Helps organizations define how long different types of records are stored before automatic deletion.
Why choose Jatheon?
Jatheon is an excellent choice for organizations that need secure, long-term cloud archiving and easy-to-use compliance features. While it primarily focuses on email and communication compliance, it integrates well with security and IT workflows, making it a reliable solution for highly regulated industries
2. AWS Audit Manager
Best for: Organizations using AWS that need built-in compliance automation
AWS Audit Manager is a native compliance tool for Amazon Web Services (AWS), helping organizations continuously audit their cloud infrastructure against industry standards. It automates the collection of compliance evidence, reducing manual effort in preparing for audits.
Key features:
- Pre-built compliance frameworks — Supports HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and FedRAMP with predefined audit templates.
- Automated evidence collection — Captures configuration changes, access logs, and security events automatically.
- Continuous compliance monitoring — Detects misconfigurations and policy violations in real time.
- Customizable controls & reports — Allows organizations to define specific compliance controls and generate audit-ready reports.
Why choose AWS Audit Manager?
For organizations operating exclusively in AWS, Audit Manager offers seamless integration, making compliance tracking more efficient. However, it lacks multi-cloud support, so businesses using Azure or Google Cloud may need an additional solution.
3. Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager
Best for: Enterprises using Microsoft 365 and Azure that need regulatory compliance and risk assessments
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is an AI-driven compliance and risk management tool that helps organizations track, assess, and manage compliance requirements across Microsoft 365, Azure, and other cloud environments. It provides deep insights into an organization’s regulatory posture.
Key features:
Regulatory framework support — Covers HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, ISO 27001, NIST 800-53, and more.
AI-powered risk assessments — Uses machine learning to identify high-risk compliance issues.
Automated compliance score — Assigns a risk score to highlight areas needing immediate attention.
Data loss prevention — Prevents unauthorized sharing of sensitive data within Microsoft platforms.
Advanced audit & ediscovery — Helps organizations search, manage, and review compliance-related content.
Why choose Microsoft Purview?
Microsoft Purview is ideal for businesses that operate heavily within the Microsoft ecosystem and need AI-driven compliance insights. However, organizations using multiple cloud platforms may require additional compliance solutions.
4. Google Cloud Security Command Center
Best for: Organizations using Google Cloud that need centralized security and compliance management
Google Cloud Security Command Center (SCC) is a built-in compliance and security management solution for Google Cloud users. It provides comprehensive visibility into security risks, compliance status, and data protection requirements.
Key features:
- Centralized compliance & security monitoring — Tracks compliance posture across Google Cloud services.
- Automated misconfiguration detection — Identifies security risks and compliance violations in real time.
- Threat intelligence & incident response — Helps security teams detect, investigate, and respond to threats.
- Custom policy enforcement — Ensures consistent security and compliance policies across cloud resources.
- Integration with SIEM solutions — Works with tools like Splunk and Chronicle for better security insights.
Why choose Google SCC?
Google SCC is tailored for Google Cloud users and excels at proactive security monitoring and compliance management. However, it does not provide archiving or ediscovery features like Jatheon.
5. Drata
Best for: Organizations needing automated compliance tracking for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR
Drata is a cloud-based compliance automation platform that continuously monitors an organization’s security posture, making it easier to maintain SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance. It integrates with cloud providers, security tools, and HR systems to streamline compliance workflows.
Key features:
- Automated compliance monitoring — Tracks security controls and alerts teams when violations occur.
- Real-time risk scoring — Identifies high-priority compliance risks based on data sensitivity and exposure.
- Pre-built compliance frameworks — Offers templates for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, and more.
- Evidence collection & audit reports — Automates audit readiness by collecting necessary compliance documentation.
- Integration with security & HR tools — Works with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Okta, and HR platforms for continuous compliance tracking.
Why choose Drata?
Drata is an excellent choice for startups, tech companies, and enterprises that need ongoing compliance monitoring with automated audit preparation. However, it does not provide data archiving like Jatheon, nor does it offer multi-cloud security compliance like AWS Audit Manager or Google SCC.
Summary of the Main Points
- Cloud compliance tools help organizations automate monitoring, reporting, and adherence to industry standards.
- Cloud compliance ensures that organizations follow regulatory and security requirements when storing and processing data in cloud environments. Unlike traditional IT compliance, cloud compliance operates under a shared responsibility model where providers secure infrastructure and businesses manage data security.
- Non-compliance can result in severe financial penalties, including multi-million-dollar fines under GDPR and HIPAA. Compliance failures can also damage reputation, disrupt business operations, and lead to loss of customer trust.
- Manual compliance tracking is inefficient in complex cloud environments. Automated tools ensure continuous compliance, streamline audits, and help mitigate security risks.
- The best tools support multiple regulations, provide continuous monitoring, and offer automated evidence collection. Features like real-time alerts, risk assessment, remediation automation, and integration with existing security systems are essential.
- Leading solutions include Jatheon Cloud, AWS Audit Manager, Microsoft Purview, Google Security Command Center, and Drata. Each tool specializes in different aspects of compliance, from archiving and regulatory tracking to security monitoring and automated reporting.
FAQ
Can cloud compliance tools eliminate the need for manual audits?
No, but they significantly reduce manual effort by automating evidence collection, monitoring, and reporting.
Are cloud compliance tools necessary for small businesses?
Yes, even small businesses handling sensitive data must comply with regulations like HIPAA, PCI DSS, or SOC 2. The potential financial penalties and reputational damage from non-compliance far outweigh the investment in appropriate compliance solutions, regardless of company size.
How often should compliance settings be reviewed?
Compliance settings should be reviewed continuously as part of your governance process, but at minimum, conduct quarterly audits and a comprehensive annual review. This regular cadence helps you stay ahead of evolving regulations and adapt to changes in your cloud infrastructure.
Can cloud compliance tools prevent all security breaches?
Not entirely, but they significantly help identify risks, enforce security policies, and provide mechanisms for rapid detection and response. A comprehensive security strategy should combine compliance tools with other security measures for optimal protection.
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