Let’s say that a compliance platform costs $12,000 annually. Is that expensive?
The answer will depend on the product it replaces.
If technology can eliminate hundreds of hours repetitive evidence collection in a complex technology system, $12,000 might be a good investment. If a seven person startup could collect the same information in a couple of hours every month, the amount is very different.
It’s a great method to begin your look for Vanta. Don’t begin by asking which platform offers the most features. Determine how many hours and time these features could save your business.
The Break-Even point for automation
Compliance automation isn’t inherently either good or negative. Scale affects its value. Imagine a company that is growing that has multiple cloud environments and many applications. The burden of manually collecting evidence over time could become extremely excessive. Integrations that automatically monitor systems and gather evidence are able to justify their cost.
Now consider a 10-person startup making preparations for its first SOC 2. Consider a startup with 10 employees preparing for its first SOC 2.
It is important to know the difference when you are evaluating Vanta pricing. While an advanced platform could provide a variety of capabilities however, they’re only useful for organizations that are required by the company.
Compare Architecture And Not Just Brands
A search for Vanta or Drata can quickly become a feature-by-feature exercise. It is crucial to evaluate the services, features contract and quotes offered by each platform. Both are established systems for compliance that are focused on automation and integrations.
However, there’s another choice you need to make. Does your business have an interest in an integration-driven platform to help with compliance? Some businesses want automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring. Some businesses prefer to collect evidence themselves.
Vanta Competitors Don’t Always Follow the Same Model
Many well-known Vanta competitors compete within a similar automation-focused category. There are also platforms that are less heavy that concentrate on organization over the vast system connectivity.
CertAssist falls into the latter category. CertAssist, created by internal auditors, compliance consultants, as well as other experts, organizes control frameworks in a central place. It offers editable policies and guidelines for evidence and allows auditors to view evidence through read-only access.
It is not able to connect to operational systems or create infrastructure agents. Customers upload their own documents.
Factor System Access into the Decision
It is evident that the removal of integrations is a disadvantage. Someone must collect evidence manually.
This means that there is no need for integration and the application of compliance does not require any connection to the operational environment.
There is no universally superior architecture. The key question is what option is most appropriate for your company.
CertAssist targets teams of five to 200 employees and offers pricing information rather than having to have an in-person sales meeting. The price stated for the launch of CertAssist is $225 per monthly, as opposed to the standard $375.
Let Complexity Be In Control
The needs of a 10-person business today will not necessarily be its needs when it has 100 or 500 employees.
A simple platform could make sense if compliance remains simple. As the number of employees, systems, frameworks, and requirements for evidence increase, the financials could eventually favor greater automation. It is better to let the complexity of technology for compliance to earn its rightful place.
Affording fifty integrations because they look good in a table of comparisons isn’t worth the cost. Spend money on them if manually performing the work they replace becomes the most expensive option.