Let’s say a compliance platform is $12,000 per annum. Does that sound like a lot?
It’s all about what you’re replacing.
If automated collection eliminates hundreds of hours tedious evidence gathering in a complex technology environment, $12,000 could be a good investment. The calculation would be different when a team of seven individuals could gather the same evidence in just a few minutes each month.
It’s a smart way to start the search for Vanta. Identifying the platform with the most advanced features isn’t the first step. Ask how many hours and time these features can save your business.
The Break-Even Level for Automation
It’s not intrinsically good or evil. The benefit of compliance automation alters as the business grows. Imagine an expanding technology company with multiple cloud environments and various applications. Continuously gathering evidence manually could be a huge operational burden. Integrations that automatically monitor systems and collect evidence can easily justify their expense.
Now consider a 10-person startup getting ready for its first SOC 2. The infrastructure could be compact, and evidence collection may be manageable without significant automation.
This difference is important when evaluating Vanta’s pricing. The capabilities of a sophisticated platform are impressive, but they are only useful when an organization needs them.
Compare Architecture and Not Just Brands
Vanta vs Drata is a discussion that is a simple feature-by-feature test. Both are well-established systems for compliance built around automation and integrations, so the comparison of their frameworks supported, integrations, service, contracts, and individual quotations can be useful for organizations searching for that method.
There’s another decision to make first, however. Are you interested in an integrated platform that can help you achieve compliance? Some businesses prefer continuous monitoring, automated evidence collection, and automated evidence collection. Others prefer to present evidence themselves, particularly when the volume of work is low.
Vanta Competitors Do not All Use 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 is in the second category. CertAssist was created by compliance consultants, internal auditors, and other professionals, organizes control frameworks in a central workspace. It offers editable guidelines and policies for the auditing process, and allows auditors to look over evidence using read-only access.
It is deliberately not connected to operational systems or install infrastructure agents. Customers choose and upload the evidence they want to submit.
Factor System Access to the Decision
The removal of integrations does not come without its limitations: one must take the time to collect evidence.
The application for compliance doesn’t require integration and can be used without having to establish permanent connections to the operational environment.
The design and architecture of one is not superior to the other. The question is which best choice is appropriate to your business.
CertAssist is targeted at companies that have between five and 200 employees and gives pricing information, rather than having to have a sales conversation. The starting price is $225 monthly, which is a significant reduction from the standard price of $375 a month.
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 straightforward. As the amount of employees, systems frameworks, and evidence requirements increases, economics may eventually favour deeper automation. Allow complexity to take the lead when you purchase compliance technology.
The cost of purchasing fifty integrations simply because they look good in a table of comparisons isn’t worth it. Spend money on them when manually doing the job they replace becomes more costly.