If a compliance software costs $12,000 per year. How much is it?
It all depends on the item you’re replacing.
If automating the collection of evidence in a complicated technology-driven environment will eliminate hundreds of hours of repetitive work then $12,000 may be an appropriate amount to spend. If a startup with seven employees could have the same proof by hand in just a few hours every month, the total will be very different.
That’s a useful method to begin your search for the Vanta alternative. Start with asking which platform offers the greatest features. Ask your company about how these tools can help you save time and money.
The Break-Even Point for Automation
It’s not inherently either good or bad. The scale of the business can affect its value. Imagine a technology company which is growing, numerous cloud environments, numerous applications and frequent changes to access. It is possible to manually collect evidence, which could be a major operational burden. Integrations which automatically monitor systems and collect evidence easily justify their costs.
Now consider a 10-person startup that is preparing for its initial SOC 2. The system may be compact, and evidence collection might be manageable with significant automation.
This is a crucial distinction in evaluating the pricing offered by Vanta. A high-end platform can offer significant capabilities, however those capabilities will only be of value in the event that an organization really requires they.
Compare Architecture, Not Just Brands
Vanta vs Drata is a debate which can be easily a feature-by feature exercise. Both platforms are based upon automation and are integrated, so organizations looking for this approach can benefit from looking at the frameworks they support along with their integrations and services along with individual quotations and contracts.
It’s important to choose the other thing first. Do you think your business is ready for an integration-driven platform for compliance in any way? Certain companies want automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring. Others prefer to produce their own evidence, particularly when workload is modest.
Vanta Competitors do not all use the same format.
Many well-known Vanta competitors compete within a similar automation-focused category. There are also platforms that are less heavy which focus on organization and the vast system connectivity.
CertAssist is a member of the second group. CertAssist, created by internal auditors, compliance consultants, as well as other experts, is a system for organizing controls frameworks within a central workspace. It provides editable policies and guidelines for evidence and allows auditors to examine evidence with read-only access.
It is not able to connect to operating systems or install infrastructure agents. Customers upload their own evidence.
The System Access consideration in the Making
The detachment of integrations has its disadvantages: someone must manually gather evidence.
This is a way to eliminate the need to integrate, and the process of compliance is not dependent upon an integration with the operating environment.
There is no universally superior architecture. The relevant question is which option is most appropriate for your business.
CertAssist is targeted towards teams that have between five and 200 employees and offers pricing information rather than having to have an actual sales call. The price for its launch is $225 per month as opposed to the regular cost of $375 monthly.
Let Complexity Have Its Proper Place
The requirements of a 10 person startup today won’t necessarily be the same for a company with 100 or 500 employees.
The compliance can be maintained using a a simple platform. As the number of employees, systems frameworks, evidence and requirements grow, the economics will ultimately favor more automation. Let complexity play a role when it comes to purchasing compliance technology.
Don’t buy fifty integrations because they appear impressive in a chart of comparison. You should pay for them only if the manual work they replace becomes the more expensive option.