When making a large purchase decision, like shopping for a car, you would generally read expert and consumer reviews to ensure the purchase is a good fit for the requirements important to you.
When you’re considering a tool to help your organization better manage third party and vendor risks, expert analyst reports, together with peer reviews, are an important part of the process. In addition, gathering other expert resources, attending demos, reviewing RFPs, and other steps help to ensure the platform best meets your organization’s needs. Gathering together a toolkit for reviewing your vendor options is critical to making these important decisions.
When managing your third-party universe, taking a holistic view is important. There are lots of cracks that risks can hide in, and the complex nature of supply chains adds to the wide range of risks a company needs to be able to manage effectively. This is further complicated by the need to manage not only the risks of your third-party vendors, but also your fourth parties, and beyond.
Due to this, it is important to also think holistically when it comes time to choose vendor risk management (VRM) software. Expert analyst reports are designed to provide thorough, unbiased perspectives into your vendor options, and there are a number of recommended analyst reports to help you in choosing IT VRM software.
2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Vendor Risk Management Tools
Explore this report to learn how to sort through vendors in a crowded IT VRM market, key areas to consider, and strengths and cautions keep in mind prior to purchasing a software solution.
2021 Chartis Research RiskTech Quadrant® for Third-Party Risk Management (3PRM) Solutions
This report provides expert analyst assessments of the third-party risk management space, including tools for assessing TPRM technology requirements, leading practices, and benefits of pre-built, enhanced due-diligence applications.
The Forrester Wave™: Supplier Risk and Performance Management Platforms, Q3 2020
This report analyzes how SRPM platforms replace ineffective custom applications, which solutions productize domain-specific content and functionality, and which solutions use natural language processing and machine learning to perform SPRM tasks.
These reports provide insights into the market trends analysts are observing, how to sort through vendors in a crowded market, and key capabilities to consider. Aravo is unique as we are positioned as a LEADER in all of these reports.
There are a range of other tools and content designed to help you in your evaluation, but establishing a baseline is a critical step before making a purchase. A maturity calculator, such as one that Aravo hosts is a great way to determine where your TPRM program currently stands. With this information (and the custom report that’s included) you can then find out what first steps to take first, where to prioritize resources and time, and how to move forward towards VRM resiliency.
In addition to maturity calculators, RFPs are another resource that help companies make determinations on what solution is best for them. An RFP template provides a library of best-practice questions to draw from across a broad range of categories including:
Another important point of reference in any evaluation is how a provider’s current clients would rate them, what they particularly like about the solution, and how they can improve.
We recommend Gartner Peer Insights for this, as they provide trusted, comprehensive reviews by practitioners utilizing these types of software. When looking at a review, pay attention to the star rating, but also details like the percentage of reviewers that would recommend this vendor.
One example of Aravo’s Gartner Peer Insights is from one of our clients in the financial services industry:
From the Flintstones to the Jetsons:
Before we moved to Aravo we had an internally developed tool along with emails, spreadsheets, documents and folders to manage our Third-Party Risk. Moving to Aravo moved us from the Flintstones to the Jetsons in light-speed.
Finally, when you’re shopping for a car there’s nothing quite like a ‘test drive’ to support your decision. It’s the same for vendor risk management technology. You will want to see the technology in action to understand how it can support and mature your program. Scheduling a demo with an expert team allows you to discuss business objectives and program requirements. Demos also allow you to spend time with experts who will listen to your requirements and walk you through capabilities such as:
Benefits to scheduling a demo with Aravo include:
Share with Your Friends:
