A strong, secure, and efficient offboarding process is as important as other stages of a vendor lifecycle. However, many organizations overlook this step, exposing them to future risks.
Proper vendor offboarding is critical to managing risk, particularly since security, procurement, and vendor management teams discontinue vendor oversight when the relationship ends. An incomplete or hastily conducted offboarding process can result in financial losses, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage.
Procurement, vendor management, and security teams often view TPRM as an exercise to be conducted before onboarding a new vendor. So, it's no wonder vendor offboarding is an afterthought at many organizations. While nearly 90% of companies track risks from the sourcing and selection phases, fewer than 80% track service-level agreements (SLAs) and offboarding risks later in the relationship lifecycle. While due diligence in vendor sourcing and selection is important, measuring and managing risk extends throughout the relationship with a vendor. This includes managing the end of a relationship with thorough vendor offboarding.
A centralized process can help teams automate vendor offboarding, ensure completeness, and mitigate risk effectively. Here are seven best practices to follow during offboarding:
??1. Keep lines of communication open
?? Perform a final review of the contract
?? Settle any outstanding invoices
?? Revoke access to IT infrastructure, data, and physical buildings
??? Review data privacy and information security compliance
?? Update your vendor management database
?? Continuously monitor vendors for potential future risks
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