Vendor-Provided Resources

Even for seasoned professionals, reviewing a vendor’s SOC report can be a daunting task. It’s great if there are no red flags, but what do you do if the SOC report is filled with issues that the auditor found? Your organization must determine how to proceed with the vendor, whether that’s addressing the issues or passing on the vendor relationship. This infographic covers the key next steps after an unfavorable SOC report. 

Download the infographic to learn:

• Next steps after an unfavorable vendor SOC report

• Examples of responses to your vendor

• Reminders to ensure your review of a vendor’s SOC report is effective

Regardless of your industry, the third-party risk management lifecycle is a practical, risk-based framework to identify and mitigate issues that come from third-party relationships while also explaining ongoing and offboarding activities. Use this lifecycle to optimize your third-party risk management program resources, achieve regulatory compliance, and protect your organization and its customers from vendor risk. 

Download the full lifecycle toolkit that includes:

• eBook: A comprehensive guide covering the third-party risk management lifecycle stages

• Infographic: A more concise version of the stages of the third-party risk management lifecycle

• PowerPoint Template: A customizable template to help train your team about key aspects of third-party risk

• Printable 1-Page PDF: An easy-to-print overview of the third-party risk management lifecycle

Third-party risk management reports should be consistent, accurate, and easily accessible. Stakeholders, such as risk committees, senior leadership, and the board of directors, need high-quality reports that will support their decision-making. Use this infographic as a guideline for important data to collect and continuously update. 

Download the infographic to learn:

• 6 types of third-party risk management reports to develop and maintain

• Data to include in the reports

• The purpose of each report and how to get started

• Pro tips to be aware of

What are the vendor due diligence items you need to consider when reviewing your third parties? There are many due diligence related documents and information to gather. Use this handy checklist when thinking through the vendor due diligence you should be collecting and assessing. 

Download this checklist for: 

• What items you should consider gathering

• Keep track and check off each item as you complete your process

• Have confidence thorough vendor due diligence is being performed

Understanding the risk, whether for a new or existing third-party product or service, often starts with a questionnaire. Creating a questionnaire in and of itself can be quite a large task. A questionnaire shouldn’t be confused with a risk assessment as they’re two distinct items. Download the guide to learn our recommended steps for how to create a vendor risk questionnaire. 

Download the eBook to learn:

• Steps to creating your vendor questionnaire

• Tailoring questionnaires to the type of vendor

• Risk categories to consider

• How vendor questionnaires lead to proper oversight

Financial, operational, and reputational risk are all fundamental negative exposure pain points you must be aware of and protect against. The number of data breaches reported lately is a reminder that the importance of third-party oversight has never been greater. In this infographic, learn the 9 steps to developing an effective vendor management program by placing emphasis on highlighting and mitigating risk. 

Download this infographic to learn:

• 9 steps to developing an effective vendor risk management program

• The importance of analyzing vendor due diligence documents

• How your contract management program can impact your ability to truly manage a third party

It’s not uncommon for vendor risk assessment terms to get mixed up or seem like the same thing. However, while all are important, there are differences to be aware of between questionnaires, risk assessments, due diligence, and continuous monitoring. These four activities will tell you the type and amount of risk associated with the vendor, the effectiveness of the vendor’s control environment, and whether the risk is changing. 

Download the infographic to learn:

• The differences between inherent risk assessments, vendor risk questionnaires, due diligence, and vendor risk assessments

• The what, why, and when of each

• Ongoing activities such as continuous monitoring, risk re-assessments, and due diligence reviews

• Tips to remember

When managing vendor risk, there's often confusion surrounding critical and high risk. Many mistakenly consider these terms synonymous, but they're not.

There's an important difference between these terms and how they should be applied. This infographic outlines how to separate criticality from various risk ratings.

Download the infographic to learn:

• Criticality vs risk ratings

• What a risk rating is

• How to manage critical and high-risk vendors

Check out Venminder's slide deck on "Engaging, Educating, and Enabling Your Vendor Owners for Optimal Third- Party Risk Management Success".

Successful vendor risk management requires more than a policy, software and a framework. It requires the teamwork of stakeholders across the organization, and vendor managers play a crucial role. Still, vendor risk management teams report that getting the vendor managers’ full engagement and participation is a constant struggle. Why is this predicament so common? How can resistance from the line of business be addressed? 

To help vendor risk management teams build and maintain effective and mutually beneficial relationships with their line of business vendor managers, it’s important to understand the “3 E’s” - Engagement, Education and Enablement. Establishing or improving these relationships is often a necessary first step in effectively executing vendor risk management across the organization.

Create a TPRM program that addresses your organization’s highest security risks and aligns with strategic objectives

The number of businesses in the world has increased drastically in recent years, and the need for third-party suppliers has grown with it. With additional external dependencies in the form of third parties and vendors comes a widened risk landscape. Left unmonitored, threats and security incidents can become pervasive and cripple your business. 

In this infographic, you’ll learn: 

• How many surveyed companies have expanded their third-party network

• The percent of businesses that have experienced significant disruptions caused by third parties

• The amount of organizations that have given more access to external partners