5 Vendor Risk Management Tasks to Do Before the End of the Year

Podcast Transcript

Hi – my name is John with Venminder.

In this 90-second podcast, we’re going to review five end of the year vendor risk management tasks you should be doing.

At Venminder, we have a team of certified industry experts who specialize in developing comprehensive risk management programs for organizations of any size and all industries.

Here are five tasks you’ll want to check off your vendor risk management to-do list to begin the new year with a fresh slate:

1. First, budget prep. Start by asking yourself, what didn’t get done this year due to the pandemic? Was your 2020 budget redistributed to cover the costs associated with COVID-19? Decide if you’ll tackle these projects in the new year and if you have the budget necessary to execute your plans.

2. Second, perform a vendor portfolio review. COVID-19 has us all scrambling. Your vendors are no exception. Revisit your entire vendor portfolio and ensure you’ve correctly identified all your critical and high-risk vendors. This may have changed.

3. Third, review your cybersecurity and business continuity management document  requests. And, make sure to test and strengthen any vulnerabilities your vendors may have developed this year.

4. Fourth, resolve any outstanding audit findings. Review your audit findings and determine what you can address this year and what will have to be completed in the next year.

5. Finally, wind down the year. Audit findings aren’t the only projects that may not have gotten resolved or accomplished this year. Determine what didn’t get done and if it still needs to be completed this year or is rendered obsolete by the pandemic.

Prep next year’s budget, perform a vendor portfolio review, review cybersecurity and business continuity management document requests, resolve outstanding audit findings and generally wind down the year and you’ll be sure to start the new year off with a bang!

Thanks for tuning in; catch you next time!