How to Ensure Success at Every Stage of the Vendor Lifecycle

Measuring TPRM Program Maturity

Before you know where you’re going, you have to know where you are. Our study shows that organizations can be anywhere in their TPRM program and process maturity, but we have grouped companies into three (3) broad, non-linear categories:

• Automation-centric: Organizations at this maturity level are driven by the need to better automate their processes in reaction to inefficient spreadsheet-based approaches. These teams suffer under intense personal daily pains of managing vendors and reacting to third-party incidents without the tools and process to simplify it all. However, risk typically isn’t part of the organization’s ethos.
• Compliance-centric: Companies here have an organizational mandate to address a regulatory requirement that compels them to report on their third parties’ security and privacy postures. They have to do it. It’s in this category that companies come to realize they need a program, not a project. They likely are suffering from manual processes or under the weight of a GRC tool that isn’t completely fit for purpose.
• Risk management centric: Rare outside of large, highly regulated entities, organizations in this category have enterprise-level risk management functions, and risk is part of the ethos of the company. They enjoy executive-level support, board visibility, and the resources to at least keep up with daily demands.

How does your organization rank in its TPRM process maturity? Download the paper for additional criteria to score your placement.

Stages of the Third-Party Lifecycle

Results from our study showed that there are seven (7) distinct stages of a vendor’s lifecycle, each presenting its own unique risks and ideal solutions. What are the stages and what are companies looking to accomplish at each stage?

1. Sourcing and Selection of Vendors. Comprehensive risk profiles that enable faster and easier comparison of vendors, and quick checks against common reputational, financial, security, and privacy controls and practices.
2. Intake and Vendor Onboarding. Straightforward onboarding workflows and vendor import options to create a comprehensive supplier profile, combined with a customizable intake process that is sharable with anyone inside (or outside) of the organization to participate in the onboarding process.
3. Scoring Inherent Risks. Automatically tier, profile and categorize vendors on virtually any criteria to right-size further due diligence efforts.
4. Assessing Vendors and Remediating Risks. Multiple pre-built questionnaires (standard and customized); the option to leverage the library of completed assessments, or have someone perform the collection, analysis, and remediation for you; and built-in remediation guidance and compliance reporting to simplify it all.
5. Continuous Monitoring for Security, Reputational, and Financial Risks. A comprehensive view of risks that extends beyond an annual assessment and includes regular vendor cyber, reputation, and financial alerts. Armed with this information, organizations add a more real-time view of vendor risks instead of the standard static approach endemic to spreadsheets.
6. Managing Ongoing Vendor Performance and SLA. A vendor’s ability to deliver on its promises is as important as its cybersecurity controls. Organizations want solutions that continuously monitor service level agreements (SLAs) and alert to potential performance problems right alongside their cyber, privacy, or other risk assessments.
7. Offboarding and Termination of Vendors. Easy-to-understand workflows, document management, and checklists to ensure physical and virtual security controls are in place as a business relationship winds down.
   

Next Step: Build Your TPRM Program Like the Leaders Do

If your organization is looking to build or improve its TPRM program, Prevalent can help. Download the white paper, Navigating the Vendor Risk Lifecycle: Keys to Success at Every Stage, and gain helpful insights into:

• How to determine where your organization is in its TPRM maturity (and how to get to the next level)
• Tips, best practices, and traps to avoid
• What real customers are doing to solve their TPRM problems
• Critical capabilities to look for when evaluating vendor risk management solutions

Whether you’re new to third-party risk management or a seasoned pro, you’ll walk away with actionable insights for making your program a success.