We have sunsetted Atlas. Use the Questionnaires tool for all your questionnaire management operations.
Once a vendor submits their completed questionnaire, you can access and evaluate their responses directly within the platform. This process allows you to verify that the vendor meets your organization's security requirements. After conducting your review, you can formally accept the submission to document that the assessment has been completed and verified.
Start a review
To begin evaluating a vendor's responses:
- Go to Communications > Questionnaires > Outgoing.
- Select the In review widget to filter the list and display only the questionnaires ready for evaluation.
- Find the specific questionnaire and select Begin review.
Review questionnaire responses
Once you begin a review, you can navigate through the vendor's answers using the panel on the left. Click on any question in the list to load its details in the main view on the right.
The main view displays the vendor's response and any comments they have provided. To assign the question or the entire category of questions to another reviewer in your organization, select the appropriate option and then select the reviewer.
Beneath the response area, you will find a toolbar with several tabs that allow you to manage the review process.
The following options are available:
Evidence: View any documentation provided by the vendor to support their answer.
Messaging: Send messages about a specific response, with control over who can see them. Choose Everyone to message the vendor directly when you need clarification, or Your Team to leave an internal note visible only to your own team (the vendor won't see it).
Flag: Call the vendor's attention to a specific question if you have a concern or are not satisfied with their answer.
Findings: Create findings related to the vendor's response.
History: View a log of all changes and interactions associated with that question.
Once you have evaluated the vendor’s response, you can finalize the question using either of the following methods:
To review and proceed immediately
Select Review and Next at the bottom of the page. This marks the current question as reviewed and automatically navigates you to the next question.To review without moving forward
Select Mark as reviewed to save your progress for the current question. When you are ready to continue, you can start your review from where you left off.
Finalize the review
Once you have finished reviewing all questions, you have two options to conclude the process:
Option 1: Send back for completion
If you are not satisfied with any of the vendor’s responses or require additional information, select Send back.
Select the relevant reason(s) for the return (e.g., incomplete answers or missing attachments) and add a message in the text box to provide context and specific instructions for the vendor.
Select Send. The vendor will receive an email notification detailing your feedback.
Option 2: Finalize the questionnaire (beta)
If you are satisfied with the vendor's responses, you can close the review process by selecting Finalize questionnaire.
Here you can select your questionnaire decision (No decision, Passed, Passed with conditions, or Failed). Optionally, provide an explanation in the text box to document your internal reasoning.
Select Finalize to set the questionnaire's status to complete.
Understand and use validation scores
Validation scores help you prioritize your reviews by indicating how well a vendor's responses align with your organization’s security requirements.
How to view the score
Go to Communication> Questionnaires > Outgoing and find the questionnaire you want to view. The validation score is visible in the questionnaire summary at the top of the page. Validation scores are displayed once the vendor completes 10% of the questionnaire.
Prioritizing reviews
As a best practice, prioritize reviewing questionnaires with lower validation scores. Please note that validation scores appear only after a vendor has completed at least 10% of the questionnaire, and they are available only on custom templates created via the Excel download/upload process.
How scores are calculated
The validation score is calculated by weighing responses based on the security controls defined in your template:
- Points: Responses indicating positive security controls increase the score, while negative responses do not (or decrease it).
- Percentage: The final score is displayed as a percentage of the total possible points.
-
Default scale: If you do not assign custom point values, the system applies the following default scale:
- Yes: +200 points
- N/A: +100 points
- No: 0 points
- Unanswered: 0 points
- Attachment provided: +50 points
You can set your own custom scores both at the Question and Response levels when creating custom questionnaires. For more information, see Build a customized questionnaire template.