Usually, yes. Vanta automates evidence collection and monitors technical controls, which removes a lot of manual work, but it does not make your scoping and risk decisions, tailor your policies, handle most organisational controls, or navigate the audit. A consultant or virtual CISO covers that judgement work. Most organisations get the best result from the platform and expertise together.
The question every Vanta user asks
Once a team has invested in Vanta, the natural question is whether they still need to pay for a consultant on top. The platform automates so much that it feels like it should be enough, and for the technical, repetitive work it very nearly is. But ISO 27001 is more than technical controls, and the parts a platform cannot do are exactly the parts that decide whether you pass.
The honest answer is that most organisations still benefit from expertise, particularly for a first certification. Here is why, and when you might not.
What Vanta covers
Vanta genuinely reduces the workload. It connects to your systems, collects evidence continuously, monitors technical controls, flags drift, and provides templates and a structured place to run the programme. If your main pain is the grind of gathering and maintaining evidence across a modern cloud stack, the platform removes a large part of it.
That is real value, and it changes what a consultant needs to do. With a platform handling evidence, expertise can focus on the judgement work rather than the mechanical tasks, which often makes the engagement more efficient than it would be otherwise.
What still needs a person
The parts of ISO 27001 that require judgement do not go away because you have a platform:
- Scoping, which defines what you certify and depends on your business
- The risk assessment and treatment decisions, the core of the standard
- The Statement of Applicability, which must reflect justified decisions
- Policies that genuinely match how your organisation works
- The organisational and people controls, the majority of the standard, which a platform does not implement for you
- The internal audit and preparation for the external audit
These are also the parts an auditor probes most closely. A platform’s dashboards do not answer an auditor’s questions about why a risk was accepted or how a control is actually followed. A person does.
When you might manage without a consultant
There are cases where a team can go it alone. If you have genuine in-house ISO 27001 expertise, have done it before, have a contained scope and are comfortable making the judgement calls, a platform plus your own knowledge may be enough. Some teams successfully self-certify with a platform and internal capability.
The key word is expertise. It is not the platform that makes self-certification possible, it is having someone who understands the standard deeply. If that knowledge is not in the building, the platform does not supply it.
When a consultant pays off
For most organisations, especially first-timers, a consultant or virtual CISO pays for itself. Expertise avoids the common mistakes that stall projects and fail audits, makes the risk and scoping decisions correctly the first time, produces documentation that survives scrutiny, and navigates the audit with confidence. Paired with a platform, that expertise is used efficiently, focused on judgement rather than busywork.
The result is usually faster and more reliable than a platform alone, and it removes the risk of discovering gaps at the worst possible moment, during the audit.
The hybrid model
The model that works best for most is simple: use Vanta for what it does well, automating and monitoring the technical controls, and use a consultant or virtual CISO for the decisions, the organisational controls and the audit. This hybrid approach combines the efficiency of automation with the judgement of expertise, covering the whole standard without wasting money on either.
If you are running Vanta and want the judgement work handled, our virtual CISO services provide it efficiently alongside your platform, and a security risk assessment covers the risk work the platform leaves to you.
For the standard, see the official ISO/IEC 27001 page, and for the platform, Vanta.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a consultant if you use Vanta?
Usually yes, especially for a first certification. Vanta automates evidence and monitors technical controls, but scoping, risk assessment, the Statement of Applicability, tailored policies, organisational controls and audit preparation still require judgement a platform cannot provide.
What does Vanta handle without a consultant?
The technical, repetitive work: connecting to your systems, collecting evidence continuously, monitoring technical controls and flagging drift. That removes a large part of the manual workload, but it is not the whole standard.
When can you skip the consultant?
When you have genuine in-house ISO 27001 expertise, a contained scope, and are comfortable making the judgement calls yourself. The platform enables self-certification only if the deep knowledge of the standard is already in the building.
What is the best model?
A hybrid: use Vanta for automating and monitoring technical controls, and a consultant or virtual CISO for the decisions, organisational controls and audit. This combines the efficiency of automation with the judgement of expertise and covers the whole standard.
