Issue Management

Table of Contents

• Summary
• Steps
• FAQ
• Additional Resources

Summary

Did you recently complete a vendor assessment in which you found a few items that need follow up? You've come to the right place.

What is Issue Management?

We aim to close the gap between finishing an assessment and monitoring any remaining risks that need further action.

Access Requirements

Company Feature

If you don't have access to this feature, please contact your Customer Success Manager at [e-mail] or [e-mail]

User Permissions

• Users with Admin or Review Assessment permissions can interact with all parts of Issue Management = Create, Edit, View, Comment.
• Users with the View Assessment permission can view issues, but not Edit, Comment or Create.
• If a user is assigned an Issue, they will have access to make a comment only.

API Access

Manage Issues using Whistic's Public API: Create, get, and update Issues using the API. Access our API documentation HERE.

Dashboard Items

In Whistic, we have the following Dashboard buckets to ensure you can keep track of issue related items such as:

• Issues Assigned to Me - When you have been assigned a remediation task from an issue
• Issues I Own - When you are the Owner of an issue

📋 Steps

Using Issue Management

1. Start by selecting Issues from the Assess dropdown

2. The Issues page will house all of your Issues. It has similar features to the Vendor Catalog. On Issue Management, you'll be able to:
   1. Use Add/Select Columns to decide what data fields to display in the table.
   2. Use Display Filters to reduce or expand your data set based on a number of variables - such as Status, Due Date, Owner, Criticality, etc.
3. Open any of the issues in the table by clicking on the associated row. Alternatively, click on the Issue ID value link to open the issue in a new tab.
4. The Create New Issue button will take you to a new page where you'll begin, well, creating a new issue.

3. Once you've selected an Issue or Create New Issue, you'll land on the Issue view page. Here, you'll be able to:
   1. View all of the new data fields.
   2. Link the Issue to a vendor. Under the Vendor field, simply begin typing the vendor name or Product/Service into the search bar and we will show you a list of matching vendors with their Product/Service appended. Select from among the options to populate the field.

NOTE: The vendor must already be in your Vendor Catalog. A new vendor cannot be created through this field.

3.  
   3. Assign an Owner. If you created the Issue, you will be the default owner. To change, select the dropdown and select a new owner. If the original owner no longer has access due to permission changes, please have a Whistic Admin enable the Review Vendor Assessments role for the existing owner. You can then change owners.
   4. There are a number of other fields within the Issue Details section. Here are some of the valuable use cases for each:
      1. Status - A pre-determined list of Status options. To change a status, select Edit → select the Status dropdown and select from the available options.
      2. Created Date - Will automatically generate.
      3. Due Date - An optional field to help you manage issue resolution expectations.
      4. Closed Date - Will automatically populate once the Status is changed to a terminal state.
      5. Risk Severity - A pre-determined selection of severity options.
      6. Issue Description - A field with rich text editing for enhanced description.
      7. Remediation Plan - A field with rich text editing for detailing what needs to occur for the issue to be resolved.
      8. Source Type - A required field with pre-determined options to capture where the issue originated.
      9. Source Name & Description - Optional fields to enhance the Source Type. For example, if the Source Type is a Questionnaire, the Source Name would be the Questionnaire Name and the Source Description could be the Control or Question information.

📄 Vendor Details Page

You can view and create issues from the Vendor Details page in your Vendor Catalog. You can locate this section by scrolling down and expanding the Issues section, as seen below.

In this section, you will be able to see all issues that were created for this Vendor. By default, you will only see issues in the "OPEN" status, but you can toggle the Filter on the right to include ALL issues.

From this page, you can also click on the Issue ID to open a new page that directs you to that issue in Issue Management.

To create a new issue for this particular vendor, simply select the Create New Issue button in this section (as described in a new Issue Management page that will automatically populate the vendor information.

Once the new issue has been created, you can navigate back to the Vendor Details page to see all issues again.

NOTE: Issues are for your organization's internal use. If you need to get clarity or additional information from a vendor regarding an assessment they've completed for you, you would initiate a Needs Clarification request instead. Please see additional info on requesting a Needs Clarification by following the link HERE.

❓

FAQ

How long are issues stored in Whistic?

Once an issue has been created, it will be stored in the system indefinitely, as we do not archive issues or remove them after a certain time period.

How do I delete an issue?

Issues cannot be deleted. We recommend marking the status of the issue as 'Closed'.

How do I close an issue or assign a different owner if the original owner no longer has access?

Occasionally, an owner's role changes, and their permissions are updated, resulting in them not having access. In this case, please have a Whistic Admin enable the Review Vendor Assessments role to the original owner. The issue can then be updated, or a new owner can be assigned.

📚 Additional Resources

1. Automatic issue creation during questionnaire review - Use review flags to create Issues and automatically populate Source and User data - Go HERE.
2. Assign Issues to other people, including vendor or internal contacts - Go HERE.
3. Comment and collaborate - Go HERE.
4. Attach files to Issues & comments - Go HERE.

Related to:
Issue | Vendor | Issue Management