7 things to consider when choosing a platform for your due diligence.

Are you not?sure?which?online?tool to use for your due diligence?(DD)?work??Where should you start?and what?exactly?should you?be?looking?for???

Believe me,?I’ve?been in your chair and?know the number of hours it takes to fill out questionnaires?and chase partners as well as?colleagues?in order to?send and receive?relevant?documents?on time.??

I seldom hear that people like complicated questionnaires?nor?sending?lots?of emails?back and forth.?In this case, using the right DD tool?can make?a huge?difference?and?noticeably?improve?the relationship?with?your?partners since it makes life easier on both sides of a DD process.?

But which tool would successfully reduce your workload?most?over time and significantly save yourself costs as well as time??Is there a tool that can let your colleagues and partners?easily?work in one place together as well as increase your attractiveness as a partner??

Why can’t everybody be in the same database??

If I was in your?shoes,?I would ask the same question?because you may find it hard to choose if some of your partners are?already?using?certain types of DD tools.?It?sounds like a?dream?with one single database.?Collaborating with all your business partners and?colleagues?in one place and exchanging data?immediately.??

At GRC WTACH,?my team and I?believe in that?dream,?and?we?also?developed?the technical solution for?that. However,?we also understand that every company on earth?will?not?simultaneously?choose the same?tool?for their DD processes and that the best supplier will?attract?most?companies?in the end.

What criteria should you look at when choosing your due diligence tool??

Here are?7?important criteria I would look at if I?were?asked to?identify?a suitable?long-term solution?for?DD and KYC.??

1. Can I use it for many types of DD/KYC?processes??

Most?likely, people?in different departments are performing and responding to?different types?of?DD/KYC.?Therefore, ask yourself?if you will?be?able to use the same tool for many types of DD/KYC,?so you can reach a higher level of efficiency within your company?and compliance team.?Nonetheless, we recommend that you start using it for one type of DD/KYC and then move on to the next?one,?because you will learn a lot of new ways to work with DD/KYC when you start working in a tool.??

2. Can I use it both when?we are?performing and responding to DD/KYC??

In many cases, parties perform DD/KYC on?each other,?and we call it “2-way due diligence”.?Therefore, it?makes sense that?both?parties are?in?the same platform?and that?it is?possible for both companies to?share?as well as request?relevant?information.??

3. Will the supplier and platform make?you?compliant?in the long run??

Does the platform help me to always?comply with?the latest regulations and does the supplier update the questions in questionnaires on a regular basis??This requires industry knowledge and compliance?expertise. Do they have it internally or can they access that externally?by?means?of?industry associations?or other means??And most importantly, do they believe in active?updates of?questionnaires??

4. How easy will it be to convince your counterparties to use the same?tool??

As?with any tool, the more you use it, the more successful you will be. Also,?the more?you?interact with other network members, the more your own network?will?grow,?and?the more active your connections?will become.?

We understand that?it is?crucial to find?most of?your partners when you start?using a DD tool.?That used to be the most important question?at first,?but we have found that the other criteria have gained a lot more interest?over?the past 2 years.?Further,?finding the right partners?as well as?new?potential?ones may be more important than just?aiming at?the largest number of companies?being registered on?a DD?platform.??

Successful members are also actively?inviting new members. Therefore, it is of key importance that?it?is easy to invite other?companies in case any of your partners are not yet on the?chosen?platform.??

5. Does the supplier of the tool?provide?active?support??

What?type of support can you get from the supplier and how self-intuitive is the platform? Can you test it before you make a definitive decision? We?strongly recommend that you do and that you test several platforms.?We also?believe that you should be able to start right away with key activities without?the type of?implementation period we?used to have when buying software in the past.?

6. Is it possible to?easily upload external?information?to the DD tool???

If you are facing the challenge of getting invitations to?different?DD platforms?and you would like to keep it to a minimum, this is an approach?we recommend to you.??

It’s of course less work for you to complete and update?one company profile instead of many and that’s why our customer success team is?working hard to support members so they can share their profile in our network in as many DD processes as possible.?

However, as a supplier of a DD tool, we find it natural and absolutely necessary to accept that some of our customers?may have to collect information for due diligence in other platforms in some cases. That’s why a DD tool has to allow uploading of?information from other sources so you can document all DD processes in one place.?

7. Is?the supplier transparent about their IT security and handling of personal data??

How easy is it to get information about this? How transparent is the supplier?and?will?you be able to get updated information each year for your internal risk?assessment?of?this type of cloud service provider??

Last but not least, the?growth of our?DD?network?is?mainly based?on recommendations and referrals by our?members. We?need to?make it easy for you to market?your solution to your partners. In order to do so, we?have to?constantly improve and listen to lots of feedback?by?our?members.??

We are sure that many suppliers?already?do?that,?and I’m convinced that this will lead to a much easier DD process in the future.?We?all play a specific role?in this movement towards more?standardization and wanting?to?simplify the?process for all parties involved as much as?possible. Only in this way we can?avoid delays of business deals and while speeding up responses to DD,?the foundation is set for a lot more successful business.??

Any other criteria you find important when selecting a tool for DD/KYC??