Evaluating Third-Party Risk Management Software? Speed Up the Process with Our RFP Starter Kit

3 minute read

May 2019

Good vendor risk management practices are good for business. Unfortunately, most organizations today continue to struggle to implement effective, let alone efficient, programs to ensure all vendors are compliant. 

Picture this: A vendor risk management leader at a major company may be juggling 500+ vendors at any given time. While these vendors may be necessary for the company, there is also an inherent risk that comes with allowing third-parties to access key organizational systems and data. Now more than ever, business leaders need to ensure that they are only allowing compliant vendors access to the keys to the kingdom.

Choosing a Vendor Risk Management software platform to streamline and automate the Third-Party Risk Management process is a step in the right direction, but there is a tedious evaluation process before your team makes a final selection. You know the drill: Any new tool being added to the organizational toolbox requires a lengthy Request for Proposal (RFP) process that can take days or weeks to compile, distribute, collect and score. Research conducted by Fairmarkit found that the most common difficulties organizations experience with RFPs include inconsistent submissions, unorganized knowledge, an overload of RFPs and the large investment of time and effort spent on them.

Get Started with Your Vendor Risk Management Software Evaluation

As a leading provider of Vendor Risk Management solutions, ProcessUnity has participated in hundreds of software evaluations, many featuring some sort of RFP (or RFQ or RFI). We talk to many prospects that don’t have the time or resources to research and write up the RFP document. Others don’t have a handle on all of their requirements or are looking for a sanity check against what they have already put together.

Based on our experiences with prospect requirements and customer programs, our team built a Third-Party Risk Management RFP Starter Kit to help organizations get a jump start on the process, eliminating the need for teams to conduct research to determine requirements or even construct the RFP itself. Our Vendor Risk Management Software Evaluation Toolkit is a guide to help teams improve the quality of their VRM software evaluation while shortening the buying process.

The Third-Party Risk Management Software RFP Starter Kit includes a standard questionnaire, broken down into business requirements and technical requirements, that encapsulates all the necessary questions to ask a Vendor Risk software provider. Responses will provide complete visibility into each platform, and help ensure that your shortlist choices are the best for your program.

Questions within the RFP Starter Kit include, but aren’t limited to, the following:

Business Requirements

  • General business requirements: Ease of use, configurations, personalization, questionnaire assessments
  • Vendor portal information: Credentials, organizational access, records, attachments, auto-save
  • Workflow: Workflow tracking, approvals
  • Administration: Permissions, access limitations, question modifications, manual override, branding, mass data transfers, integrations
  • Reporting: Out-of-the-box reporting, dashboard configurations, storage
  • Security: Security levels, security access

Technical Requirements

  • General technical requirements: Single sign on, identity access management, browser functionality, system requirements

Download the ProcessUnity Third-Party Risk Management Software Evaluation Toolkit to get a jump start on your Vendor Risk Management review process today.

 

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About Us

ProcessUnity is a leading provider of cloud-based applications for risk and compliance management. The company’s software as a service (SaaS) platform gives organizations the control to assess, measure, and mitigate risk and to ensure the optimal performance of key business processes. ProcessUnity’s flagship solution, ProcessUnity Vendor Risk Management, protects companies and their brands by reducing risks from third-party vendors and suppliers. ProcessUnity helps customers effectively and efficiently assess and monitor both new and existing vendors – from initial due diligence and onboarding through termination. Headquartered outside of Boston, Massachusetts, ProcessUnity is used by the world’s leading financial service firms and commercial enterprises. For more information, visit www.processunity.com.