CISA Governance and Management of IT Practice Question
A company outsources its data center operations to a third-party provider. Which of the following is the MOST important control to include in the outsourcing contract?
⚠ Common exam trap
CISA often tests the difference between assurance and operational controls. Candidates might choose SLAs or encryption because they sound important, but the right to audit is the governance mechanism that provides ongoing assurance.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Right to audit the provider's facilities and processes
The right to audit the provider's facilities and processes is the most important control because it ensures the outsourcing company can verify that the provider is complying with security, regulatory, and contractual requirements. Without audit rights, the company has no independent means to confirm that controls are effective, leaving it exposed to undetected risks.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Detailed escalation procedures for incidents
Why it's wrong here
Escalation procedures govern incident communication, not the ongoing governance and audit rights needed when a third party runs your data centre. They are tempting because clear escalation paths matter in any service contract, and would be correct where the primary risk is delayed incident response rather than loss of operational oversight.
- ✗
Service level agreements with financial penalties
Why it's wrong here
SLAs with financial penalties address performance and availability remedies, not the control objective of safeguarding data and systems transferred to the provider. They would be correct when the primary concern is measurable service performance, such as uptime or response times, rather than security governance.
- ✗
Requirements for encryption of data at rest
Why it's wrong here
Encryption at rest protects stored data, but outsourcing transfers operational control, so the contract must first guarantee the provider's staff and processes are auditable and accountable. It is tempting because encryption is a standard data-protection control, and it would be correct where the provider merely hosts encrypted datasets without touching live operations.
- ✓
Right to audit the provider's facilities and processes
Why this is correct
The right to audit gives the company contractual authority to inspect the provider's facilities and processes, verifying that outsourced controls operate effectively. Without it, the organisation cannot independently confirm compliance or security, so this clause is the most critical control to embed in the outsourcing contract.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISACA exam blueprint
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISA exam.