Security questionnaires: 6 processes before and after automation


security questionnaire software

Security questionnaires have become a household name for modern organizations. When the opportunity for new business presents itself, data concerns accompany that opportunity. From vendor security assessments to due diligence questionnaires, complex spreadsheets are a part of daily life for responders with technical expertise.

56% of RFPIO customers use our software to respond to security questionnaires. Security questionnaire automation helps these teams collaborate in a meaningful way and eliminate manual workarounds.

See what life was like before and after security questionnaire automation for six responders. They transformed their process…and so can you.

Collaboration ease with vendor security assessments

Before security questionnaire automation

A senior account executive was frustrated with their internal process of receiving, managing and completing vendor security assessments—and she knew there had to be a better way. The ability to build out an Content Library was her primary objective, as a centralized content hub would align resources and responses. She began evaluating security questionnaire automation platforms to find the best feature stack.

After security questionnaire automation

RFPIO presented neatly categorized information so security questionnaire contributors could complete any project successfully. Security questionnaire automation streamlined the entire process of receiving, managing, and completing vendor security assessments. RFPIO remained responsive to questions and feedback to further support her team’s success.

Security questionnaires tackled by 100+ contributors

Before security questionnaire automation

A director of presales support spent her days wrangling responses (and resources) for security questionnaires, RFPs, and RFIs. Many business units participated in responding to lengthy, repetitive security questionnaires. With so many voices—and a decentralized Content Library—they lacked consistency with their responses, which affected the content quality and win potential for all of their submissions.

After security questionnaire automation

Today over 100 contributors actively use RFPIO and they add new users every week. This director of presales support has integrated users from IT, HR, Legal, Finance, Professional Services, and Education Services. Across departments, team members feel more productive since they process multiple projects simultaneously. Now documents are more consistent and higher on the quality scale.

Centralized database for faster response completion

Before security questionnaire automation

A proposal manager and his response management team completed many security questionnaires from healthcare organizations annually. Since responses were not centralized, SMEs could not find relevant content easily. This team spent roughly 16 hours to complete a single security questionnaire.

After security questionnaire automation

On their first live security questionnaire project in RFPIO, this response management team saw immediate time-saving benefits. Multiple people now collaborated on the same response, eliminating back and forth communication via email and phone calls. The proposal manager viewed progress within the project overview dashboard—offering visibility he never had before so he could stay ahead of deadlines.

100 security questionnaire responses in two hours

Before security questionnaire automation

An information security advisor led the response process for security questionnaires, due diligence questionnaires (DDQs), and RFPs. His presales, sales, and information security teams were all involved, answering 100-700 technical questions on a regular basis. Without security questionnaire automation, they relied on a FAQs document that contained 300 responses to their most common repetitive questions.

After security questionnaire automation

RFPIO’s answer recommendation engine gave the team newly discovered superpowers with security questionnaire responses. They set up their Content Library with past security questionnaires and RFPs. When they started a new project, they leveraged the recommendation engine to fill in most of the responses. This team now responds to 100 questions in two hours.

Enterprise collaboration with the end-user in mind

Before security questionnaire automation

A global RFP manager handled a large number of IT security questionnaires, DDQs, vendor applications, and RFPs for enterprise organizations. He wanted to build a scalable and repeatable response process centered around a cloud-based software system. He evaluated several security questionnaire software providers to find the best platform and pricing structure.

After security questionnaire automation

A collaborative environment was key for such a complex organization. This global RFP manager recognized RFPIO’s authentic focus on teamwork, which allowed quick collaboration among SMEs without license limitations. Throughout their entire group of companies, RFPIO easily allowed him to invite multiple contributors, authors, and reviewers to tackle lengthy security questionnaires efficiently.

DDQ automation makes a team lean and powerful

Before security questionnaire automation

A proposal manager embarked on a self-improvement journey with due diligence questionnaires. Improvements in efficiency and accuracy were at the top of her list. To keep up with DDQ responses, she often hired consultants and writers for additional support. She wanted to keep her team “lean and mean” and scale capabilities, so she turned to security questionnaire software.

After security questionnaire automation

RFPIO allowed this team to drastically improve its DDQ response process. Flagging questions for review made content updates easy to assign to SMEs. Subject matter experts responded to DDQs with greater speed and accuracy, eliminating the need for outsourcing support. Contributors found clarity with their role in DDQ responses—together, this team became more powerful in their pursuit to win new business.

Schedule a demo of RFPIO to automate security questionnaires and transform your response process.


Madeleine Work

As Content Marketing Manager at RFPIO, Madeleine Work is passionate about telling stories of digital transformation. Before diving headfirst into the world of response management, Madeleine lived and worked in Taiwan, using her Mandarin fluency to drive international communication strategy at Taiwanese companies. She graduated magna cum laude from Boston University in 2015. Connect with Madeleine on LinkedIn.

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