How quickly is a questionnaire processed after uploading

Processing time is in parsing, not in assessment

The processing time of an uploaded questionnaire is mainly in recognizing and matching questions, not in any form of assessment — which never takes place here. The system reads the structure of the list, recognizes what subject each question is about, and searches for the matching answer from the supply chain file. For a list with fixed fields — registration number, registered address, number of employees — this happens almost immediately. For open questions or questions that are close together (think of the difference between a question on Annex A measures from ISO/IEC 27001 and a question on the ten measures of Article 21(2) of the NIS2 Directive) matching takes a bit more time, because the system needs to search more precisely which file section really matches.

After matching, the user sees a suggestion for each question, with the source where the answer comes from. That suggestion only becomes a submitted answer after confirmation with yes or no — so that part of the process depends on how quickly the user does that review, not on the system. For questions for which the file has no substantiation — for example a CSRD question under Directive (EU) 2022/2464 for which no VSME basic module has yet been completed — the field remains open instead of a guess being suggested. For identity questions that often arrive separately from the main file, such as the legal name of the company or the registration number under which the enterprise is registered, the match is usually the fastest, because that data comes one-to-one from the Business Register.

Where the speed comes from: the supply chain file, not the list

The processing time is linked to the completeness of the supply chain file at the time of upload, not to the length of the questionnaire itself. A file in which, for example, it has already been established whether the undertaking is ISO 9001-certified or which countries have locations, provides direct matches for those questions in every new list. Missing file sections do not slow down the technology, but the confirmation step: those questions remain unanswered until the user completes the underlying data.