June 12, 2026

Vendor risk questionnaires for MFT: the questions that stall deals

Enterprise buyers send 200-question security assessments before they let you touch production data. MFT vendors get stuck on the same dozen items every quarter. Knowing which questions are real blockers — and which are checkbox theater — saves weeks on procurement.

Data residency and tenant isolation

"Is customer data co-mingled with other tenants?" Buyers want dedicated compute, metadata storage, and object storage — not logical separation on a shared cluster. If your answer is "we use row-level security," expect a follow-up call with their CISO. Document region, encryption keys, and subprocessors before the questionnaire lands.

Audit evidence, not audit promises

Questionnaires ask for per-transfer logs: who moved what file, from which IP, at what time, with what outcome. Screenshots of a dashboard are weak evidence. Buyers want exportable audit packets — CSV or JSON — that their GRC tool can ingest. Tie log retention to your stated policy (90 days, 7 years) and prove immutability or WORM storage if you claim it.

Identity controls

SSO via Entra ID or Okta, MFA on every account, no shared credentials for human access, quarterly access reviews. If you still support local-only admin passwords, mark that section "partial" and plan remediation — buyers will. Service accounts for automated SFTP jobs need an owner, rotation schedule, and scope limit.

Protocol sprawl

"How many protocols do you support natively?" Shadow FTP and AS2 servers behind the official MFT platform are a finding. Buyers want one control plane with adapters for SFTP, FTPS, AS2, S3, Azure Blob, and whatever their legacy partners still run. Use our protocol endpoint inventory to count endpoints before you answer question 47.

How to respond faster

Pre-fill a standard evidence pack: SOC 2 bridge letter, pen-test summary, data-flow diagram, subprocessors list, and a completed copy of your own MFT audit checklist scored at 90%+. Attach the export, link to security page, and offer a 30-minute technical deep-dive only when they ask about architecture — not on every RFP.