Third-party assurance

Many organizations are increasingly looking to third parties for the management of many of their core business and IT processes, giving them unprecedented access to sensitive data and connectivity to critical systems. These Outsource Service Providers (OSPs), which are highly integrated with day-to-day operations, have become a virtual extension of their clients’ enterprises and can be a significant source of value. The rise in outsourcing has expanded the universe of risks to which organizations are exposed—from financial and operational risk to cyber and business continuity risk. As a result, companies are holding their OSPs to the same level of risk monitoring and regulatory compliance that they hold themselves, and demand for third-party assurance reports has skyrocketed.

Cloud assurance: What are the currencies of trust

 

Organizations in today’s environment are heavily dependent on cloud providers. Comfort on security of data is one of the major concerns that is in the mind of the various stakeholders including management, auditors, and customers. In this article we have articulated the assurance levels that can be obtained on a cloud platform to mitigate some of the cloud-related security risks.

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Managing risk from every direction: Take control of third-party risk with a strong third-party assurance program

 

As an OSP, it’s critical to know what risks may affect your clients—and the best ways to manage those risks—to ensure you are meeting your clients’ control needs and requirements. As a user of outsourced services, it’s critical to manage any potential risk to your organization and to have proper assurances that your vendors are managing and processing your data in a safe, well-controlled environment. When you feel like risk is coming at you from every direction, a well-planned third-party assurance program can help provide the control you need.

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Third-party assurance optimization: Value creation strategies for service providers

 

Fulfilling customer requests for a wide range of TPA reports and responding to myriad compliance questionnaires can quickly devolve into a set of resource-draining exercises for OSPs that detract from more value-added activities. OSPs need a more streamlined approach to deal with both customer and regulatory requirements. In fact, by efficiently using resources and improving customer satisfaction, TPA optimization can move an OSP from merely protecting value to actually creating it.

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