Software

Gain a 360-degree view of third-party risk by using our SaaS software to centralize, track, automate, assess and report on your vendors. 

Managed Services

Let us handle the manual labor of third-party risk management by collaborating with our experts to reduce the workload and mature your program. 

Overview
Document Collection
Policy/Program Template/Consulting
Virtual Vendor Management Office
Vendor Site Audit

Ongoing Monitoring

Let us handle the manual labor of third-party risk management by collaborating with our experts.

VX LP Sequence USE FOR CORPORATE SITE-thumb
Venminder Exchange

As Venminder completes assessments for clients on new vendors, they are then made available inside the Venminder Exchange for you to preview scores and purchase as you need.

CREATE FREE ACCOUNT

Use Cases

Learn more on how customers are using Venminder to transform their third-party risk management programs. 

Industries

Venminder is used by organizations of all sizes in all industries to mitigate vendor risk and streamline processes

Why Venminder

We focus on the needs of our customers by working closely and creating a collaborative partnership

1.7.2020-what-is-a-third-party-risk-assessment-FEATURED
Sample Vendor Risk Assessments

Venminder experts complete 30,000 vendor risk assessments annually. Download samples to see how outsourcing to Venminder can reduce your workload.

DOWNLOAD SAMPLES

Resources

Trends, best practices and insights to keep you current in your knowledge of third-party risk.

Webinars

Earn CPE credit and stay current on the latest best practices and trends in third-party risk management.  

See Upcoming Webinars

On-Demand Webinars

 

Community

Join a free community dedicated to third-party risk professionals where you can network with your peers. 

Weekly Newsletter

Receive the popular Third Party Thursday newsletter into your inbox every Thursday with the latest and greatest updates.

Subscribe

 

Venminder Samples

Download samples of Venminder's vendor risk assessments and see how we can help reduce the workload. 

resources-whitepaper-state-of-third-party-risk-management-2023
State of Third-Party Risk Management 2023!

Venminder's seventh annual whitepaper provides insight from a variety of surveyed individuals into how organizations manage third-party risk today.

DOWNLOAD NOW

Vendor Offboarding: How to Prevent Common Challenges

3 min read
Featured Image

Most organizations invest a lot of time and resources when selecting and onboarding a new vendor. There's often a lot of excitement when implementing new products or services, but the truth is, vendor relationships don't last forever. Sometimes it's because of the vendor's declining performance. Other times, it's simply the result of the product or service no longer being needed.
When it comes time to go your separate ways, it’s essential to have an offboarding strategy. Unfortunately, this process can often come with challenges. This blog will highlight four common offboarding difficulties and some tips on preventing them.

4 Potential Vendor Offboarding Challenges

Breaking up with a vendor can sometimes be an uncomfortable experience, even more so when facing challenges that prevent a smooth transition.

Here are four common vendor offboarding difficulties that you may encounter unless you take the time to plan:

  1. High termination costs – Most people can probably relate to the frustration of trying to end a contract for a service they no longer want or need, only to be met with a high contract termination fee or other unforeseen expenses. When offboarding a vendor, it's important to carefully consider termination fees and any conversion or deconversion costs that may apply.
  2. Ownership disputes – If a vendor has been tasked with performing various operational processes and procedures, they may claim ownership of those processes, documented procedures or even intellectual property upon contract termination.
  3. Premature work stoppage – When notifying a vendor that you'll be terminating the relationship, it's wise to be prepared for the work to stop before the agreed-upon date. Products or services you may have relied upon for an extended time may be cut off prematurely.
  4. Unsuitable replacement options – Even though you may have decided to offboard the vendor because of performance issues, consider the possibility that replacing the vendor won't be easy. You might discover that available replacement vendors are unsuitable for your needs.

How to Prevent Vendor Offboarding Challenges

As the old saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The best strategy to address vendor offboarding challenges is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. This can be achieved by making sure you have the following elements in place:

  • Solid contract language Even before you officially welcome the vendor into your organization, ensure your contract includes clear and appropriate language so both parties understand and accept what will happen if there's a need to terminate the relationship.
  • A specific and actionable exit strategy – Creating and testing an exit strategy is essential, especially for critical and high-risk vendors. An exit strategy will define the tasks, responsibilities, timing and budget related to offboarding a vendor and ensure that your organization continues operating.
  • Constant communication – Keep the lines of communication open with your vendor to help keep the process smooth and professional. Ending a vendor contract can range from being a little awkward to feeling downright hostile. Nonetheless, a lack of clear communication between both parties will make the situation more challenging.

Although offboarding vendors can be challenging, you can avoid unnecessary friction and expense by planning beforehand. Anticipating and managing offboarding issues in advance allows you to make sure that, when it comes time to offboard a vendor, you've got a plan to make the process as smooth as possible.

Subscribe to Venminder

Get expert insights straight to your inbox.

Ready to Get Started?

Schedule a personalized solution demonstration to see if Venminder is a fit for you.

Request a Demo