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CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation
An organization is planning to purchase a cloud-based HR system. Which THREE of the following should be included in the vendor contract to ensure adequate control and oversight? (Select three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The ISACA CISA exam often emphasizes the importance of contractual clauses that provide direct oversight and enforceability, such as right to audit and SLAs, rather than items that only offer transparency or commercial terms.
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 vendor's controls
A right to audit the vendor's controls (Option B) is essential for ensuring that the cloud-based HR system's security and operational controls are functioning as agreed. This contractual clause allows the organization to verify compliance with policies, regulations, and the vendor's own security assertions, such as SOC 2 Type II reports or ISO 27001 certifications, through direct examination or independent third-party assessments.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A list of all subprocessors
Why it's wrong here
While transparency is good, it is not as critical as SLA, audit rights, and data ownership.
- ✓
Right to audit the vendor's controls
Why this is correct
Audit rights allow the organization to verify controls.
- ✓
Service-level agreement (SLA) specifying uptime and response times
Why this is correct
SLAs define expected service levels.
- ✗
A fixed-price payment schedule
Why it's wrong here
Payment terms are important but not a control issue.
- ✓
Data ownership and data protection clauses
Why this is correct
Clearly defines who owns the data and how it is protected.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.