Security questionnaires assume you already know the language. "Is customer data used for AI model training?" sounds simple, but assessors expect you to cover data flows, opt-out mechanisms, and sub-processor commitments. "What is your data retention policy?" means specific timeframes and deletion procedures, not a general statement.
Experienced GRC analysts know what each question really wants. Explain gives that knowledge to everyone on your team.
How it works
Click Explain on any question. You get three things:
What this question is asking: For "What are your RTO and RPO targets?", Explain breaks it down: RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is how quickly you restore service after an outage. RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is how much data loss is acceptable.
What to include:
- Your RTO target (e.g., 4 hours)
- Your RPO target (e.g., 1 hour)
- Evidence you can meet them (e.g., DR test results)
Typical answer:
Our RTO is 4 hours and our RPO is 1 hour for production systems. We run hourly backups to a separate region. Our most recent DR test achieved full recovery in 2.5 hours with zero data loss.
The knowledge gap in questionnaire work
When one person handles all questionnaires, they learn what assessors actually want. They know that RTO and RPO are different metrics, not interchangeable terms. They know that assessors want specific numbers and evidence, not vague statements about "robust backup systems."
This knowledge takes years to build. It stays in one person's head. When they're on vacation or when you try to distribute work across the team, the quality drops.
Explain captures this expertise. Anyone on your team can click a button and see exactly what an assessor expects.
How teams use Explain
Onboarding and training: New team members can contribute from day one. Walk through questions together to build shared understanding of what assessors look for.
Delegating to subject matter experts: Your engineering lead knows the technical details. Explain shows them what the assessor needs to hear.
Quality checking: Before submitting, click Explain to verify you covered everything.
The Explain button appears on questions where it adds value. Simple questions like "Date of assessment completion" don't need explanation.