Drata Starter Quick Start Guide

Get Audit Ready in 5 Steps with Sensiba

Connecting your Key Systems

Start with the Quick Start button in the top left corner of Drata — this walks you through your first connections.

Systems to connect:

Cloud Providers
Identity Providers (IDP)
Version Control (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, etc.)
HRIS (Human Resource Information Systems)
Datastores
Mobile Device Management (MDM)

👉 In-scope = production systems, sensitive information, or user data
👉 Out-of-scope = test, sandbox, or non-production systems

Connections use the principle of least privilege — Drata only pulls configuration data needed for evidence.

💡 Tip: You’ll need admin credentials for each system. Loop in IT, app owners, or stakeholders as needed.
📖 For step-by-step instructions, view more about the Quick Start in Drata here.

Get Your Drata Instance Audit-Ready

Beyond your initial connections and system description, there are a few key areas in Drata that help ensure you’re truly audit ready. Taking the time to configure these properly now will save time later.

Focus areas to review in Drata:

Personnel in scope: Confirm all employees who should be part of the audit are added — and that only relevant people are included. (For example, contractors are generally excluded unless they have access to critical systems.)
Policy management: Upload your required policies, assign them to the right staff, and track acknowledgements.
- We also offer a Policy Generator (PolicyTree) that creates robust, tailor-fit policies aligned with your controls. This is optional — you can use Drata’s policies instead — but if you choose PolicyTree, you’ll need to upload those policies into Drata. You can create them here.
Risk management: Document your risks, define mitigation plans, and assign ownership — especially for critical or high risks.
Vendor management: Add your critical vendors, assign risk ratings, and complete reviews for those rated high or critical.
Monitoring tests: Configure key monitoring checks so controls are continuously validated within Drata.

📖 For a detailed step-by-step walkthrough, check out Drata’s SOC 2 Checklist.

💡 Tip: Think of these areas as the “readiness foundation” — the stronger they are, the smoother your audit will go.

Scoping your Controls

Drata comes with a broad set of default controls, but you don’t need all of them for your audit.

Your audit with us only requires a subset of controls.
The Drata Starter Framework includes 63 controls, each with guidance, tips, and examples.
You can safely descope/exclude any controls that aren’t relevant to your audit, as per our control listing provided below.

📖 Download and View the full list here

💡 Tip: Focus on quality over quantity — only keep controls that truly apply to your environment.

Create Audit Package

Set up your audit so we can join you in Drata.

Go to the Audit Hub tab → select Create Audit
Enter your audit details:
- Audit type (e.g. SOC 2)
- Audit period → use past dates up to the current date.
  - If you're unsure, don't worry! we can always adjust the dates for you at a later stage.
Add your auditors from the dropdown or by inviting new ones