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Try Assessments!
We are gradually building all vendor assessment operations into the Assessments tool, which is part of our Ratings platform. This will enable you to integrate platform capabilities more directly with your assessment management so that you can get more done faster.
Right now in Assessments, you can send questionnaires to vendors and answer questionnaires sent to your organization. Your response activity will update in Assessments and in Atlas, our legacy assessment tool.
You can stop using Assessments by clicking opt-out link at the top that page, and switch back to Atlas anytime. If you opt out, you can also return to Assessments anytime.
Go to Assessments
To start answering questionnaires, go to the Assessments tool in one of the following ways:
Go to Assessments directly in Ratings
In the Ratings platform, select Assessments from the Core Tools drop-down menu.
Go to Assessments from Atlas
If you initially go to Atlas through a link in an emailed request to respond to a questionnaire, you can click Try it now in the banner that mentions the new Atlas design.
Start responding to a questionnaire
Tip: Save time by automatically using answers from questionnaires that your organization previously completed. If you select this option, we find past questions that match current ones and apply those answers. You can change any autocompleted answers. For less certain matches, we suggest answers.
- Select a questionnaire that you want to respond to from the table.
- Choose whether to apply matching answers from completed questionnaires or to skip directly to the questionnaire and start answering all questions manually.
If you choose to use matching answers from past questions, we display a progress bar as we apply the matches to your questionnaire.
After we finish applying the matches, we display the beginning of the questionnaire. - If you chose to respond to questions manually without using past answers, start entering or selecting answers.
If you chose to apply answers from completed questionnaires, click More on the right to see suggested answers that you can apply, and note where we automatically applied answers.
Tip: The tool automatically saves your answers, so you can pause and resume work on the questionnaire as needed without losing any answers.
Tip: To provide more context or evidence to clarify or support your answer, add a comment or upload attachments.
Proceed through an in-progress questionnaire
To resume working on a questionnaire after a pause, first selecting it from the Assessments table...
...then select Continue questionnaire on the overview page.
You can proceed through a questionnaire two different ways:
- After completing a question, click Next to go to the next one in the sequence. This helps you address categorically related questions or conditional questions, which appear depending your answers to preceding questions.
- Expand questionnaire categories and select nested questions in the left navigation panel. This is helpful if, for example, you want to focus on specific areas with dedicated team members.
Tip: The tool automatically saves your answers, so you can pause and resume work on the questionnaire as needed without losing any answers.
See issue findings related to a question
To help you answer a given question, check for any relevant issue findings on your Scorecard. For that question, click More on the right and then click the Related issues tab. Note any issues.
Work on the questionnaire with your team
To ensure the best responses to the questionnaire the first time around, bring in team members who are subject matter experts in specific areas or owners of certain processes or tools.
Get team members to collaborate
To have team members answer or review the entire questionnaire or multiple sections, add them as collaborators:
- Click the Collaboration tab in your questionnaire.
- Scroll through and select email address of relevant team members, who have SecurityScorecard accounts.
Or
Enter email addresses to invite team members in your organization who are not in the list. When an invitee clicks the questionnaire link, they will first be redirected to create a free SecurityScorecard account. - To give team members useful context or specific instructions, enter a message.
- Click Share.
Tip: You also can copy the questionnaire link and send it to a team member in your organization. When the click the link, they will be redirected to create a free SecurityScorecard account.
Assign team members to individual questions or categories
If you need team members to address specific areas, but you do not want to involve them in the entire questionnaire, assign questions or categories to them.
In any question, click Add next to Category Assignee or Question Assignee, depending on the level at which you want them involved. Then select the assignee's name from the drop-down list. Then click Save.
The assignee's name appears next to the category or question.
Communicate with your team
To discuss a question with your team, click More to the right of the question, and post a message.
Track your progress
As you and your team work through pauses and interruptions to finish your questionnaire use these tools to keep track:
- Click the History tab of the questionnaire to see a record of each time the team engaged with the questionnaire.
- Click Filter questions in your questionnaire to find all answered or unanswered questions, as well as autocompleted questions and those with suggested answers.
Note: Answered questions include autocompleted questions. Questions with suggested answers may be answered or unanswered, depending on whether the suggestion was applied.
You also can filter questions based on those with Yes, No, and N/A answers. This could be helpful, for example, to help your team isolate areas where No answers indicate lack of compliance with certain criteria.
Submit your completed questionnaire
Remember to click Submit at the bottom right of your questionnaire when you complete it.
When you submit your questionnaire, the sender receives a notification email with a link to view it.