The Compliance Software Shopping Trap: Paying for Features Your Team Won’t Use

Imagine a compliance platform costing $12,000 annually. How much is that?

It depends on what you’re replacing.

Automating the gathering of evidence in a complicated technology system eliminates hundreds of hours of tedious work, then $12,000 is an investment worth it. It would be a different calculation if a startup of seven individuals could gather the same information in only several minutes each month.

That’s a useful way to approach the search for a Vanta alternative. Start by asking what platform has the most features. Ask your company how these features can help you save time and money.

Automated Manufacturing is an Break-Even Point

Compliance automation isn’t inherently either good or negative. Its value varies with the size. Imagine a technology firm that is growing, and has several cloud environments, a variety of applications, and regular changes in access. The task of collecting evidence over time could become extremely high. Integrations that automatically monitor systems and record evidence easily justify the cost.

Take a look at a startup that has 10 employees working on their first SOC 2. The infrastructure could be small, and evidence collection may be manageable without the need for extensive automation.

This is a crucial distinction when looking at Vanta pricing. While a well-developed platform can provide a variety of capabilities, they are only valuable when the organization is in need of them.

Compare Architecture with Brands, not just Brands

Searching for Vanta and Drata will quickly turn into an exercise of feature-by-feature. It is crucial to evaluate the services, features, contracts and quotes of each platform. Both are well-established compliance platforms that focus on integrations and automation.

You’ll have to decide on an additional thing before you do. Are you interested in an integration-driven platform for compliance? Certain businesses want continuous monitoring and automated evidence collection. Some companies prefer to collect evidence themselves.

Vanta Competitors Do Not All Utilize the Same Model

A number of well-known Vanta rivals have a place in the market, that is centered around automation. On the market, there are also platforms with less cluttered designs which are focused more on the system’s organization, rather and connectivity.

CertAssist is a member of the second group. CertAssist was created by compliance consultants, internal auditors and other professionals, organizes controls frameworks in a central place. It offers editable guidelines and policies to support the auditing process, and allows auditors to view evidence through read-only access.

It doesn’t connect to operational systems or install infrastructure agents. Customers can upload their own evidence.

Consideration of System Access in the Decision

Removing integrations has an obvious disadvantage: one must collect evidence manually.

It also removes the need for integration setup and also means that the application does not require connections to the organization’s operational environment.

Both are equally effective. Which choice is best for your company?

CertAssist is targeted towards teams with five to 200 employees and gives pricing information, rather than having to have a sales conversation. The advertised price of launch for CertAssist is $225 monthly in comparison to the usual $375.

Let Complexity Have Its Proper Place

Today’s needs for a startup with a staff of 10 are not necessarily the same as those of a company with 100 or 500 workers.

A light platform may make sense while compliance remains easy. As the amount of systems, employees frameworks, evidence and requirements increases, economics may ultimately favor more automation. It’s better to let complexity of technology for compliance to earn its rightful place.

Don’t pay for fifty integrations simply because they look attractive in a chart of comparison. They should be paid for only if the cost of doing the task they replace manually is higher.

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