The Vendor Compliance Questions MSPs Must Ask

When it comes to matching customers with solutions, the conversation is no longer just about features, it’s about trust, data protection, and compliance. With cloud platforms handling everything from call recordings to customer information, knowing what data is stored, where, and who has access to it, is more important than ever.

If you’re reselling vendor solutions that, for example, store data overseas, or you cannot prove the supply chain of information, you could be putting your customers at risk (and inviting liability on your business). So let’s break down some of the key areas.

Data Compliance Isn’t Optional, It’s Critical

UK businesses are required to comply with strict data protection regulations, including the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act. Certain industries have even more stringent frameworks they have to keep within, including healthcare, education, and financial services. 

While some customers may be savvy enough to ask those pressing questions around “where is my data held”, “can you ensure adherence to sovereignty rules”, and “do you know who has legal jurisdiction over my data”, many won’t - and your legal obligations don’t end when the solution you’re providing is an upstream vendor.

If you cannot answer these types of questions from an end customer, it’s time for a conversation with your vendor - understand the data supply chain and mitigate your risk.

From our own research, here are just a handful of the compliance risks we’ve uncovered with some existing channel vendors:

• No ICO registration, which is required for any company handling personal data in the UK.

• Privacy policies that allow data transfer outside of UK oversight, in regions with no GDPR-equivalent protection, and where data is subject to foreign surveillance laws.

• Terms of Service that are governed by non-UK law. 

• Opaque supply chains, where the vendor cannot confirm its cloud infrastructure partners, where and how backups are handled, or provide details on how data is encrypted, processed, or accessed.

So as a managed service provider, how do you navigate the minefield of vendor selection and due diligence?

UK-Based, UK-Regulated

If you’re selling solutions to customers in the UK, you cannot play safer than a UK-based, UK-owned vendor. It’s the best way for you to ensure alignment with UK compliance and data sovereignty laws. Here’s how we keep your customer data safe:

UK-Owned and Developed

CallSwitch One is a fully-owned, proprietary platform. We don’t outsource technology or rely on third-party development from local or overseas vendors. Everything is built and maintained in our own walled garden, right here in the UK. It’s a key component of our value proposition (and that of our partners) and gives end customers the confidence they need.

UK-Hosted, UK-Supported

Building a cloud-native platform in-house and on-shore is a big thing, but equally as big is where you put the data (and that means living by the same rules). All our data is stored and processed in the UK, using one of the most trusted names in public-cloud - Google Cloud Services. It ensures (among many other benefits, including threat defence) that no data is ever transferred overseas, there are no loopholes in data handling, and ensures full alignment with UK GDPR and privacy laws. Make sure you ask these questions of your vendor.

ICO Registered

It’s amazing that we have to bring this one up - our compliance team couldn’t believe it when they uncovered that some vendors selling in the UK aren’t ICO registered. 

For some context, under the Data Protection Act 2018 (which supplements the UK GDPR), organisations that process personal data for business purposes must register with the ICO and pay an associated annual fee (which varies depending on your annual turnover and number of employees). This is a searchable database, so if you’re at all worried check your vendor. You can see our registration here.

UK Legal Jurisdiction

Looking separately from platform, hosting, and all the technical related elements for a moment, it’s also important to pay attention to the small print. Terms of service, and privacy policies are the ones to watch here. As mentioned at the start of this blog, you need to ensure anything you supply to your customer is governed by UK law (for your protection and theirs). In the rare event of a dispute, you need to know that any resolution takes place in the UK, under UK law, and in the English language (yes, we have seen some policies where arbitration doesn’t take place in English - and the partner inadvertently agreed to it).

Built for Trust, Designed for Growth

With CallSwitch One, you get more than just a feature-rich, unified communications platform, you get peace of mind. Security and compliance shouldn’t be a premium add-on, they should be non-negotiable.

Talk to us today to learn how CallSwitch One can replace your current system, simplify your setup, and eliminate compliance worries, all in one secure, cloud-based solution. 02080509059