A SaaS vendor security questionnaire should help you decide whether a specific service can support your intended use. Ask questions that affect that decision, request relevant evidence and assign a person to resolve gaps. A long form with unexplained yes/no answers is hard to act on.
Describe the purchase before writing questions
Record what the service will do, the data it will hold, the systems it will connect to and what would happen if it became unavailable. A design tool using public assets has a different risk profile from a system storing customer records.
NIST’s supply chain risk management quick-start guide recommends tailoring supplier requirements to criticality. Use that principle to choose the depth of your review rather than sending the same questionnaire to every supplier.
Ask questions with useful evidence
The following are sample questions to adapt with your security and data owners. Ask the vendor to name the relevant service, plan, limitation and supporting document, rather than answering only “yes.”
- Access: which sign-in controls and administrator roles are available on the proposed plan? How can you remove a user and review privileged access?
- Data handling: where is your data processed, who can access it and how are retention, export and deletion handled?
- Service protection: what controls protect stored and transmitted data, and what are your responsibilities as the customer?
- Recovery: what backup and recovery capabilities apply to your service? What evidence supports the stated recovery expectations?
- Incidents: how does the vendor notify customers, provide updates and support investigation?
- Other providers: which subcontractors or subprocessors are involved, and how are material changes communicated?
- Exit: which data can you export, in what format, and what happens to remaining copies when the relationship ends?
Read evidence in context
Check whether an assurance report or certificate covers the product and service you intend to use, its period and any relevant exclusions. Ask who reviewed it and which gaps remain. A logo on a sales page does not answer every question about your configuration.
Request reports through the vendor’s approved confidential channel. Do not circulate sensitive security documents in a broadly shared spreadsheet. Keep the questionnaire’s evidence links accessible only to people who need them.
Turn gaps into decisions
Write each unresolved issue in plain language: what is missing, why it matters for this use and who will decide what happens next. Possible outcomes include requesting evidence, limiting the data or access involved, changing the proposed setup, or choosing another service.
Record the person accepting any remaining risk and the conditions of that decision. Have the responsible specialists review contractual promises and obligations; the questionnaire itself does not establish compliance.
Verify the setup after purchase
Check that the controls you relied on are enabled in your account. Confirm administrator ownership, user removal, export and the incident contact route. Distinguish vendor capabilities from settings your team still needs to configure.
Review important suppliers when their service, access, data use or assurance evidence changes. Keep this record alongside your SaaS subscription inventory so renewal decisions include unresolved security work as well as cost.