Let’s say a compliance platform is worth $12,000 per year. Is that expensive?
The answer depends on what it is replacing.
If technology can eliminate hundreds of hours tedious evidence collection in a tangled technology environment, $12,000 could be money well spent. If a small business with seven employees could collect the same information in two hours per month, the amount will be different.
That’s a useful way to approach the search for a Vanta alternative. Identifying the platform with the greatest features is not the first step. Consider what these features can bring your company savings in time and money.
Automated Manufacturing has a Break-Even Point
The automation of compliance isn’t always either good or negative. Scale affects its value. Imagine a technology firm which is growing, numerous cloud environments, many applications and frequent changes in access. It is possible to manually collect evidence, which could be a significant operational burden. Integrations that automatically monitor systems and collect evidence could easily justify the cost.
Imagine a small-scale business of 10 employees preparing for the first SOC 2 audit. The infrastructure could be compact, and the evidence collection may be manageable without massive automation.
This difference is important in evaluating the pricing offered by Vanta. A modern platform may provide substantial capabilities, but those capabilities will only be of value when the organization actually needs the capabilities.
Compare Architecture And Not Just Brands
Vanta vs Drata is a debate that can easily become a feature-by feature exercise. Both platforms are based upon automation and are integrated with each other, which means that companies looking for this approach can benefit from having a look at the frameworks available along with their integrations and services, as well as individual quotes and contracts.
You’ll need to make a decision on another thing first. Does your business have an interest in an integrated platform that can help you achieve compliance? Certain companies require continuous monitoring and automated collection of evidence. Others prefer to present evidence themselves, especially when the work load is not too heavy.
Vanta Competitors Do not All Use the same model
Many Vanta competitors are also in the same category, which is focused on automation. On the market, there are platforms with a simpler design which are focused more on organization rather than connectivity.
CertAssist is a part of the latter category. CertAssist was designed by internal auditors as well as compliance consultants. It organizes controls for frameworks into a single workspace that allows for editing of guidelines for policy and evidence. Auditors can review the documents submitted using a read-only interface.
It deliberately does not connect to operational systems, or install infrastructure agents. Customers decide to upload the documents they would like to present.
It is important to consider the system access.
It is clear that cutting off integrations will have a disadvantage. Someone must collect evidence by hand.
This also means that integration setup is eliminated and means the compliance application does not require constant connections to the company’s operational environment.
The architectures of either are not superior to the other. The question is which tradeoff makes sense for your company.
CertAssist is aimed at teams comprising between five and 200 members and announces its prices, rather than requiring for a sales meeting to get the starting figure. Its official launch price is $225 per month, compared with a regular price of $375 per month.
Let Complexity Get Its Due
The requirements of a 10 person startup today won’t necessarily be its requirements at 100 or 500 employees.
A lighter platform can make sense while compliance remains simple. As the number of systems, employees frameworks, evidence and requirements grow, the economics will eventually favor greater automation. It is better to let the complex technology of compliance earn its place.
The cost of purchasing fifty integrations simply because they look great in a comparison table isn’t worth it. They are worth paying for to perform the tasks they automate is more expensive as compared to manually performing them.