Framework Lock-In Tax

The Framework Lock-In Tax is the hidden cost an agency pays when its compliance workflow is built around one certification's control set. The first audit feels cheap because the tool maps controls automatically, but the second framework (say ISO 27001 after SOC 2) forces re-mapping, new evidence sources, and often a second vendor. Agencies that treat compliance as a reusable control library rather than a one-time certification project absorb new client requirements at marginal cost; those that don't re-buy the whole workflow each time. Sprinto's claim of coverage across 200+ frameworks and Secureframe's CMMC plus SOC 2 overlap illustrate the difference between a control library and a single-framework checklist. For an agency billing compliance work on retainer, the tax shows up as unbillable re-implementation hours on every new certification a client requests.