Businesses engage with third-party vendors to procure goods and services, which is not a new trend. Dealing with the vendors means you need to focus on vendor/supplier risk management.
It is crucial because managing vendor risk is vital for cybersecurity, ensuring trade continuity, and maintaining regulatory compliance. Seeking excellent supplier risk management services will be beneficial for the business in the long run.
A good vendor risk management program will help reduce third-party risks rather than relying on reaction strategies. Eliminating the chances of an issue beforehand is better than any other strategy.
What is vendor risk management?
This technique deals with observing and managing risk resulting from third-party vendors and service providers.
The management technique is concerned with risk alleviation, such as:
Cybersecurity risk
Every organization faces the risk of exposure and data theft. These risks can be minimized by performing necessary observations and checking before onboarding new vendors.
Operational risk
There is always the risk of a third party disrupting the firms’ operations. Contractually bond service level agreements can manage it.
Legal, regulatory, and compliance risk
When you onboard a new vendor, there is a chance of them impacting your organization’s compliance with local legislation, agreements, and regulations. This risk is common in financial services, government organizations, and healthcare institutions.
Reputational risk
Dissatisfied customers can create a negative reputation for the firm in the real and online worlds. A negative comment in the Google reviews or consumer forum will damage the firm’s reputation.
Financial risk
The financial success of the firm depends on vendor risk management. There will be a huge financial loss if the firm fails to sell new or old products due to poor supply chain management.
Strategic risk
There is always a risk of your firm failing to meet its future goals because of a third-party vendor.
Why did the focus on supplier risk management suddenly increase?
Several factors are driving the firms to place more importance on third-party risk, which can be listed as below:
Regulation
More focus on third-party risk management and seller risk assessment by global regulators, for example, CPS 234, FISMA, SOX, PCI DSS, and HIPAA.
Reputational impact
Enhances the understanding of reputational damages that can grow from poor vendor performance or failure, causing senior professionals to care about stopping incidents before their occurrences.
Market conditions
Certain market conditions cause the firms to cut costs.
Technology
The tech world is dynamic, and the changes in this world have leas to data being stored, processed, and transmitted via cloud services.
Overseas providers
More use of offshore vendors has skyrocketed the level of regulatory risk firms take on.
Specialist suppliers
Firms are reliant on services and products from special suppliers that cannot be brought in-house.
The risk management program reduces the frequency and severity of data breaches, data leaks, and cyber-attacks which will have third and fourth parties. Protecting sensitive data, PII, PHI, intellectual property, and ensuring business continuity is a great plan.
Why are third-party vendors important for business?
Several businesses require third-party vendors for the following reasons:
Specialization: Specialized products are high in demand
Cost-saving: Any vendor benefits from economies of scale.
Globalization: With the increasing pool of international clients, you need to engage with vendors on the ground to compete overseas.
