Table of Contents
Summary
The Vendor Catalog and individual vendor records display various assessment statuses that help you track where vendors are in the assessment lifecycle. These same statuses are available in the reporting suite for monitoring vendors and gathering information across your vendor portfolio.
Whistic also provides several metrics to help you understand how long vendor assessments take and where time is being spent. This article covers both: how to read and use the assessment status fields, and how to interpret the timing metrics that measure the pace of an assessment.
📊 Assessment Status
Assessment Status captures all vendor request statuses throughout the entire assessment lifecycle, from initial outreach through final completion.
Definitions:
- Initial Assessment - No assessment request has been sent to the vendor yet
- Awaiting Vendor - Questionnaire request has been sent and is awaiting vendor acknowledgment
- Completing Request - The recipient is actively working on completing the request
- In Progress - Same as Completing Request (this status is being phased out)
- Review Pending - Questionnaire has been returned by the recipient and is awaiting your review
- Review in Progress - Your team has started reviewing the vendor's responses
- Needs Clarification - Clarification request has been sent to the vendor for additional information
- Completed - Assessment review has been completed
- Reassessment in Progress - A previously assessed vendor has been sent new questionnaire(s) for reassessment
📋 Assessment Request Progress
Assessment Request Progress captures only the vendor's completion statuses—a focused subset of Assessment Status that shows where the vendor is in filling out their assessment.
Definitions:
- Not Started - The vendor has received the request but has not yet begun working on it
- In Progress - The vendor is actively working on the request and has made progress
- Completed - The vendor has completed the request on their end but has not yet shared it back (they may be reviewing answers or obtaining internal approvals)
- Returned - The vendor has completed the request and shared it back to you (ready for your review)
For more information on how to request an assessment from a vendor, click HERE to learn more!
🔍 How to Locate Assessment Status
Vendor Record
On the vendor record, the Assessment Status will be reflected at the top of the page. See screenshot below:
Vendor Catalog Page
On the Vendors tab, the Assessment Status field from an individual vendor record can be found and/or added as a column by selecting the "Add/Select Column" option and selecting "Assessment Status."
⏱️ Assessment Timing Metrics
In addition to status, Whistic tracks how long assessments take and where time is being spent within the lifecycle. You may notice that your Cycle Time (the total elapsed time for an assessment) doesn't match the sum of the individual phase metrics, like Initial Response Time or Approval Time. This is expected behavior, not an error.
Why Don't My Timing Sub-Metrics Add Up to Cycle Time?
Cycle Time measures the total wall-clock time from the start of an assessment to its finish. The individual phase metrics measure specific active windows within that overall timeframe, but they were never designed to add up to a complete breakdown of the total. Think of them as slices, not the whole pie.
Here are the main reasons the numbers won't reconcile:
- Different units. Cycle Time and Review Cycle Time are measured in whole calendar days, while the individual phase metrics are measured in fractional 24-hour days. The columns aren't in the same unit, so adding them together doesn't produce an accurate total.
- Review Cycle Time overlaps almost the entire assessment. It runs from the first review all the way to the end of the assessment, which usually covers most of the whole cycle. Because it already contains the review window and the finalization period, adding it to other metrics essentially counts that time twice.
- Phases overlap each other. A review can run while requests are still open, and a response window can overlap with a review window. When overlapping time periods are summed, the same calendar time gets counted more than once.
- Some metrics are averages, not totals. Avg Review Time and Avg Follow-Up Response Time reflect the mean time per item, not a cumulative duration. For example, four reviews averaging 8 days each will report 8 days, regardless of whether those reviews happened over 8 calendar days or 40.
- Blank phases count as zero, but the clock kept running. A phase shows as blank when that activity didn't happen (no answer submitted, no completed review, no follow-up sent). Blank phases are treated as 0 in the sum, but that time is still part of the overall Cycle Time. Idle, queue, or on-hold time counts toward Cycle Time even though it isn't captured by any individual phase.
Example: Imagine an assessment with a 48-day Cycle Time, where the available phase metrics only add up to 34 days. The remaining 14 days is time that fell between the cracks of those active phases — it could be time a vendor's response sat in a queue before a reviewer picked it up, hold time, or a transition gap between review and approval. The original metrics on their own can't tell you which.
Understanding the New Timing Metrics
To give you better visibility into exactly where time is being spent during an assessment — and help you pinpoint whether a delay is coming from the vendor, an internal queue, or the approval process — Whistic offers the following granular timing metrics:
| Metric | The Question It Answers | Measured From → To | Blank When… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to First Activity | How long did the assessment sit before anything happened? | Assessment start → first action (first request sent or first material received) | Almost never blank |
| Initial Response Time | How long did the vendor take to answer the initial requests? | Earliest initial request → the moment the last of those requests was answered | Any initial request is still unanswered, or there were no requests at all |
| Avg Follow-Up Response Time | On average, how fast did the vendor answer follow-up (clarification) requests? | Each clarification request → its answer, then averaged | There were no follow-up rounds |
| Avg Review Time | On average, how long did each review take? | Each review's start → end, then averaged | No review has finished |
| Finalization Time | After the last material arrived, how long until the assessment closed? | Last material received → assessment completion | The assessment isn't closed yet |
❓ FAQ
What's the difference between Assessment Status and Assessment Request Progress?
Assessment Status shows the complete lifecycle of the assessment including your team's review activities, while Assessment Request Progress focuses solely on the vendor's side of completing the questionnaire. Assessment Request Progress is a subset of Assessment Status.
Why am I seeing both "In Progress" and "Completing Request" statuses?
"Completing Request" is the updated status terminology. "In Progress" is being phased out but may still appear in some areas of the platform during the transition period. Both statuses indicate the same thing—the vendor is actively working on the assessment.
What does "Completed" mean in Assessment Request Progress versus Assessment Status?
In Assessment Request Progress, "Completed" means the vendor has finished filling out the questionnaire but hasn't shared it back yet (they may be reviewing internally). In Assessment Status, "Completed" means your entire assessment review process is finished.
Can I filter or sort by these statuses in the Vendor Catalog?
Yes, both Assessment Status and Assessment Request Progress can be added as columns in the Vendor Catalog, and you can filter and sort by these fields to organize your vendor portfolio effectively.
What happens when a vendor status changes from "Completed" to "Returned"?
When a vendor moves from "Completed" to "Returned" in Assessment Request Progress, it means they've finished their internal review and officially submitted their responses back to you. This triggers the status to change to "Review Pending" in Assessment Status on your side.
Why doesn't my Cycle Time equal the sum of my sub-metrics?
Cycle Time measures total wall-clock time, while the individual phase metrics measure specific active windows that can overlap, use different units, or reflect averages rather than totals. They aren't designed to add up to the full total. See the "Why Don't My Timing Sub-Metrics Add Up to Cycle Time?" section above for a full breakdown.
What's the difference between Cycle Time and Review Cycle Time?
Cycle Time is the full elapsed time for the assessment, from start to finish. Review Cycle Time runs from the first review through the end of the assessment, so it typically overlaps most of the overall Cycle Time.
Why is one of my timing metrics showing as blank?
A metric is blank when that specific activity hasn't happened yet or didn't occur during the assessment — for example, if no follow-up requests were sent, or a review hasn't finished. A blank value doesn't mean that time wasn't spent; it just means that particular phase didn't apply.
How can I use these metrics to identify bottlenecks?
Compare the granular timing metrics against your overall Cycle Time to see where time is actually going. A long Time to First Activity may point to an internal queue delay, a long Initial Response Time may point to the vendor, and a long Finalization Time may point to your own approval process.
Are these new timing metrics replacing the older sub-metrics?
No. The new metrics are designed to work alongside your existing metrics and give you more precise visibility into where time is spent during an assessment.