Do You Need Automated Evidence Collection for Your First SOC 2 Audit?

If a compliance software is priced at $12,000 per year. Does that sound like a lot?

The answer depends on what it replaces.

If $12,000 is spent to cut down on hundreds of hours collecting evidence in an extremely complex technology environment this could be money that is well-invested. If a small business with seven employees could manually gather the same evidence in a couple of hours every month, the amount differs.

That’s a useful way to approach the search for a Vanta alternative. Start by asking what platform comes with the greatest features. Ask your business how these tools can help you save time and money.

Automated Manufacturing Comes with a Break-Even Level

The automation of compliance isn’t always good or bad. The value of compliance automation will change as the company expands. Imagine a company that is growing with multiple cloud environments as well as numerous applications. The manual process of gathering evidence can cause a significant operational burden. Integrations which automatically monitor systems and gather evidence are able to justify the cost.

Imagine a startup with 10 employees working on their first SOC 2. Its infrastructure may be relatively compact, and evidence collection could remain manageable without the need for extensive automation.

This distinction is crucial when evaluating Vanta’s pricing. The capabilities of a modern platform are amazing, but they only offer financial value in the event that an organization requires them.

Compare Architecture, Not Just Brands

Finding Vanta and Drata quickly turns into a feature-by practice. Both platforms are based on automation and integration with each other, which means that companies looking for this kind of solution can benefit by looking at the frameworks they support with their integrations, service as well as individual quotes and contracts.

You’ll need to make a decision on something else first. Do you have a company that is interested in an integration-driven platform to help with compliance? Certain businesses require automated evidence collection and constant monitoring. Others would rather provide evidence by themselves, especially when the work load is not too heavy.

Vanta Competitors Don’t All Follow the Same Model

A lot of Vanta competitors are also in the same space that is focused on automation. There are platforms with a simpler design that are more focused on the organization of systems rather and connectivity.

CertAssist is part of the latter group. CertAssist was created by internal auditors and compliance consultants. It organizes the framework controls into a single work space and allows for editing of guidelines for policy and evidence. Auditors can examine the evidence submitted through a read-only interface.

It is deliberately not connected to operating systems, nor install infrastructure agents. Customers can upload their own evidence if they prefer.

The system access should be considered. the system’s access.

The removal of integrations is not without its limitations: one must manually gather evidence.

This means that there is no need for integration and the application of compliance does not require an interface to the operational environment.

The designs of either are not superior to each other. It is crucial to determine what tradeoffs are appropriate for your company.

CertAssist is a solution for teams with between five and 200 participants. The pricing of the service is announced rather than requiring an appointment with sales representatives to find the first figure. The initial price is $225 per month, that’s a difference from the normal price of $375 a month.

Let Complexity Take Its Rightful Place

What a startup with 10 employees requires today may not be the same when you have 100 or even 500 employees.

A lighter platform can make sense if compliance remains straightforward. The cost of automation could grow as systems, staff and frameworks grow. Let complexity play a role when it comes to purchasing compliance technology.

Paying for fifty integrations just because they look impressive in a table of comparisons is not worth it. They should be paid for only if you realize that the cost of the task they replace manually is more expensive.

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