12 Best Third-Party Risk Management Software Solutions (2025)
From U.S. executive orders to cyber regulations, prominent cybersecurity policies are increasing their inclusion of Third-Party Risk Management standards, and for good reason - every organization, no matter what size, is impacted by third-party risks.
If you're looking for a TPRM software solution to enhance the efficiency of your TPRM program, this post will help you evaluate the top contenders in the market.
Third-Party Risk Management vs. Vendor Risk Management
Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) addresses a broad market of third-party risks, such as those originating from the following third-party sources:
- Business affiliates
- Contractors
- Third-party suppliers
- Business partnerships
As a subset of TPRM, Vendor Risk Management (VRM) further narrows the focus of risk mitigation efforts to third-party vendors, specifically the management of cybersecurity and regulatory compliance risks.
Learn about the top VRM solutions on the market >
The Scope of Third-Party Risk Management
Because Third-Party Risk Management encompasses all forms of third-party risks, TPRM solutions vary in risk domain scope. At the extreme end of the spectrum, a TPRM platform could address all sixteen third-party risks.
Industry-specific TPRM solutions tend to narrow the focus to risk domains that are prevalent in the industry. For supply chain leaders, TPRM platforms could address up to 13 risk factors, disregarding low-relevance risks like Competition, Workplace Health and safety, and Competition
For IT Leaders, a TPRM tool could address up to 10 risk domains:
For Legal and Compliance Leaders, the risk domain scope narrows further to emphasis on ten risk categories.
What are the Features of the Best Third-Party Risk Management Tools?
A TPRM tool addressing the broadest scope of industry use cases supports the following critical Third-Party Risk Management requirements.
- Risk Identification - The accurate detection of third-party risks across risk profiles relevant to TPRM, such as regulatory compliance, cyber framework alignment, and software vulnerabilities.
- Risk Analysis - Processes for evaluating the scope of detected third-party risks and the projected impact of specific remediation tasks.
- Risk Management - A workflow addressing the complete risk management lifecycle, from detection and assessment, through to remediation.
- Risk Monitoring - Provide a means of tracking the efficacy of remediation efforts and the emergence of new third-party risks.
- Process Automation - The application of automation technology to manual processes impeding TPRM efficiency, such as third-party risk assessments and third-party vendor questionnaires.
Essential Third-Party Risk Management Software Metrics
Each solution in this list will also be measured against the following TPRM performance metrics:
- User-Friendliness - A user-friendly TPRM platform that streamlines onboarding will help you leverage investment returns faster.
- Customer Support - Great customer support will minimize TPRM program downtime when support tickets are raised.
- Risk Scoring Accuracy - Accurate risk rating calculations ensure service provider inherent risk and residual risks are promptly addressed before they’re discovered by cybercriminals.
12 Best TPRM Software Solutions in 2025
The top three Third-Party Risk Management platforms improving TPRM program efficiency are listed below.
1. UpGuard
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how UpGuard performs against the seven key features of an ideal Third-Party Risk Management product.
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
UpGuard’s third-party risk detection feature works on multiple levels. At a broad level, this covers security risks associated with third-party internet-facing assets, detected through automated third and fourth-party mapping techniques - a process involving the cybersecurity discipline, Attack Surface Management.
Watch this video for an overview of Attack Surface Management and its role in managing third-party risks.
At a deeper level, UpGuard detects third-party risks within the workflow of its risk assessment framework, beginning at the Evidence Gathering stage and continuing throughout the ongoing monitoring component of the TPRM lifecycle.
Evidence Gathering
As the initial stage of the TPRM lifecycle, evidence gathering involves combining risk information from multiple sources to form a complete picture of each third-party entity’s risk profile. UpGuard supports the evidence-gathering phase of TPRM with the following capabilities.
- Attack Surface Scanning - Even before an official partnership is finalized, users get instant access to inherent risk insights for all monitored third-party attack surfaces through automated scanning results.
- Trust and Security Pages - Monitored third parties may have publicly available trust and security pages with important information about their data privacy standards, cybersecurity programs, certifications, or any regulations and frameworks being adhered to. The UpGuard platform will assign this information to all third parties when it's available.
- Completed Security Questionnaires - Any recently completed questionnaires can be appended as part of the evidence-gathering process or at a later stage as part of a more detailed risk assessment.
- Additional Evidence - Any additional cybersecurity evidence further defining a third-party entity’s baseline security posture, such as certifications or other helpful documentation.
Collectively, these features paint the most comprehensive picture of a prospective third party’s risk profile during the evidence-gathering stage of the TPRM lifecycle.
Security Questionnaires
UpGuard offers a comprehensive library of security questionnaires for identifying third-party security risks stemming from regulatory compliance issues and misalignment with popular cyber frameworks. These questionnaires map to popular industry standards - including GDPR, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, etc. They’re completely customizable, making them adaptable to unique third-party risk management processes and standards.
Learn more about UpGuard’s security questionnaires >
Since regulatory compliance is a critical risk domain within TPRM programs, UpGuard’s ability to detect these risks through its questionnaires is worth highlighting. UpGuard automatically detects compliance gaps and assigns them a severity rating based on questionnaire responses. This category of third-party risk intelligence is an invaluable aid to third-party compliance management efforts.
Cybersecurity framework compliance is also worth tracking since alignment with standards like NIST CSF could be very beneficial to TPRM performance.
Security Ratings
The other feature forming part of UpGuard’s comprehensive third-party risk identification process is its security rating tool.
UpGuard’s security ratings assess each third-party entity’s attack surface by considering risk factors commonly exploited by cybercriminals when attempting data breaches. These factors are divided across six categories of cyber risks:
- Network Security
- Phishing and Malware
- Email Security
- Brand and Reputation
- Website Security
- Questionnaire Risks
UpGuard performs a passive security configuration assessment of all public digital assets of monitored third-party entities across these risk categories. The result is a quantified value of each third-party relationship’s security posture, expressed as a numerical score ranging from 0-950.
Learn more about UpGuard’s security ratings >
UpGuard’s security ratings offer real-time tracking of third-party security postures as a part of a Third-Party Risk Management program.
UpGuard’s security ratings calculations adhere to the Principles for Fair and Accurate Security Ratings, so they can be trusted as objective indications of third-party cybersecurity performance.
By helping risk remediation personnel minimize security posture disruptions, UpGuard’s security rating technology gives its third-party risk management platform a significant competitive advantage.
All of these third-party risk identification processes feed into UpGuard’s third-party risk assessment framework.
Watch this video for an overview of UpGuard’s risk assessment process.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
UpGuard’s third-party risk analysis features aim to streamline processes between risk detection and remediation. One method this is achieved is through UpGuard’s remediation impact projections, where the impact of selected remediation tasks on an organization’s security posture is estimated before committing to a remediation plan.
Remediation projections help security teams prioritize tasks with the greatest potential benefits on TPRM performance and the organization’s overall security posture. Such foresight into the benefits of a remediation plan also keeps security teams prepared for unexpected stakeholder requests for updates on specific TPRM projects.
UpGuard also performs its third-party risk analysis through its vendor risk profiling feature, offering a single-pane-of-glass view of your organization’s entire risk exposure.
Clicking on each risk unveils a threat overview that also lists impacted domains and IP addresses for a deeper analysis of the origins of a specific risk.
With UpGuard, you can monitor the risk profile of your subsidiaries and your subsidiary’s subsidiaries.
UpGuard also offers a Vulnerability module that filters an entity’s risk profile to list all detected vulnerabilities. Selecting a vulnerability unveils a deeper level of information associated with the exposure - a very helpful aid when urgently requiring resources for addressing zero-day events.
UpGuard can also automatically detect risks based on third-party security questionnaire responses. These risks could highlight cyber framework alignment gaps or critical regulatory violation risks that must be quickly addressed to avoid costly violation fines.
UpGuard’s security questionnaire library maps to the standards of popular frameworks and regulations. Including NIST CSF, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and many more.
Learn more about UpGuard’s security questionnaires >
Watch this video to learn how UpGuard simplifies third-party risk management with features streamlining vendor collaboration.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
Conventional third-party risk monitoring methods primarily acknowledge and monitor risks detected during scheduled risk assessments. The problem with just a point-in-time approach to risk monitoring is that any third-party risks emerging between assessment schedules aren’t accounted for, which could leave an organization unknowingly exposed to potentially critical supplier risks during this period.
UpGuard solves this critical problem by combining the deep risk insights from point-in-time risk assessment with continuous attack surface monitoring to provide real-time awareness of the state of third-party attack surfaces, even between assessment schedules.
(iv). TPRM Process Automation
UpGuard’s AI Toolkit applies automation technology to streamline what’s commonly regarded as the most frustrating component of a Third-Party Risk Management program - third-party security questionnaires.
With UpGuard’s AI Enhance features, third-party entities no longer need to obsess over the wording of questionnaire responses. Now, detailed and concise responses can instantly be generated from an input as simple as a set of bullet points, helping responders focus solely on communicating value. Not only does this significantly reduce the time required to complete questionnaires, it also improves the overall quality of questionnaire responses, minimizing the need for back-and-forth clarification discussions.
To further reduce questionnaire completion times, UpGuard’s AI Autofill feature draws upon a database of previous responses to provide third parties with suggested responses for approval. This feature offers a particularly significant competitive advantage for TPRM programs as it allows questionnaires to be submitted in just hours.
With UpGuard’s AI Autofill features, security questionnaires can be submitted in hours instead of days (or weeks).
Watch this video to learn more about UpGuard’s AI Toolkit.
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how UpGuard measures against the three primary metrics of exemplary TPRM product performance.
(i). User Friendliness
The UpGuard platform is considered among the most intuitive and user-friendly TPRM solution options.
"I really value how simple it is to install and operate UpGuard. The program offers a complete cybersecurity answer and has an intuitive user interface."
- 2023 G2 Review
Download UpGuard’s G2 report >
(ii). Customer Support
UpGuard’s high standard of customer support has been verified by independent user reviews.
“UpGuard offers the best support after onboarding. UpGuards CSM representatives are very professional & prompt in responding to the issues raised. Tech support is also great.”
- 2023 G2 Review
(iii). Third-Party Risk Scoring Accuracy
UpGuard’s security rating adheres to the Principles for Fair and Accurate Security Ratings, offering peace of mind about the objective accuracy of their third-party monitoring insights.
Independent user reviews also verify the trustworthiness of UpGuard’s third-party risk-scoring methodologies.
"UpGuard offers the most up-to-date and accurate information about third parties. Its third-party monitoring capability is handy for most medium to large enterprises."
- 2023 G2 Review
2. SecurityScorecard
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how SecurityScorecard performs against the seven key features of an ideal Third-Party Risk Management tool.
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
SecurityScorecard detects security risks associated with the internal and third-party attack surface for a comprehensive representation of risk exposure. Discovered risks map to popular industry standards, such as NIST 800-171, helping security teams identify alignment gaps and their specific causes.
Compliance risk discovery on the SecurityScorecard platform.
However, most of the cyber risk checks on the SecurityScorecard platform are refreshed weekly, a significant delay that could impede security rating accuracy.
UpGuard refreshes its IPv4 web space scans every 24 hours.
See how UpGuard compares with SecurityScorecard >
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
SecurityScorecard supports third-party risk analysis with features like remediation impact projections and board summary reporting.
Remediation Impact Suggestions
On the SecurityScorecard platform, security teams can see the projected impact of remediation tasks on an organization’s security posture. This foreknowledge helps risk management teams understand where to prioritize their remediation efforts to maximize the impact of limited resources.
Cyber Board Summary Reports
Board summary reports can be instantly generated with a single click. These reports automatically pull relevant TPRM data from all TPRM processes, allowing stakeholders to also participate in third-party risk analysis discussions.
A snapshot of SecurityScorecard’s board summary report.
UpGuard also offers a cyber board report generation feature, with the option of exporting reports into editable PowerPoint slides - a feature that significantly reduces board meeting preparation time (and stress).
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
SecurityScorecard manages third-party risks through Atlas, a platform for managing security questionnaires and calculating third-party risk profiles.
However, SecurityScorecard’s third-party risk management features aren’t offered within a fully integrated TPRM workflow, which could cause downstream TPRM process disruptions, limiting the scalability of your TPRM program.
UpGuard, on the other hand, streamlines the entire TPRM workflow for maximum scalability, integrating features supporting every stage of the TPRM lifecycle, including:
- New vendor onboarding
- Third-party and vendor risk assessments
- Ongoing third-party ecosystem monitoring
- Annual third-party entity review
- Third-party offboarding
UpGuard is one of the few cloud-based TPRM SaaS tools supporting the end-to-end TPRM lifecycle.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
SecurityScorecard offers continuous third-party risk monitoring through its security rating feature - a tool for quantifying third-party security posture and tracking its performance over time.
SecurityScorecard primarily represents third-party security posture as a letter grade representing the likelihood of a third party suffering a data breach, ranging from F (most likely to be breached) to A (least likely to be breached)
SecurityScorecard rating calculations consider risk factors like DNS Health, Social Engineering risks, Application Security, Endpoint Security, and Software Patching Cadences.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
SecurityScorecard leveraged automation technology to expedite security questionnaire completions. Applied to its entire library of questionnaire templates mapping to popular regulations and standards, SecurityScorecard’s automation technology could reduce questionnaire completion times by 83% by suggesting responses based on previously submitted questionnaires.
By implementing automation technology into its questionnaire processes, SecurityScorecard could help reduce questionnaire completion times by 83%.
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how SecurityScorecard measures against the three primary metrics of exemplary TPRM product performance.
(i). User Friendliness
The SecurityScorecard platform doesn’t have a reputation for being the most intuitive or user-friendly.
“The tool was not as user-friendly as its competitors. It’s for more tech-heavy users. This tool isn't ideal for collaboration with other business units such as legal/contract mgmt.”
- G2 Review
(ii). Customer Support
SecurityScorecard’s customer support team is very responsive to troubleshooting queries.
"SS has a responsive support team. which is critical to me on time-sensitive projects."
- G2 Review
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
SecurityScorecard’s risk ratings don’t always reflect the actual state of a third-party attack surface, a problem fuelled by the platform’s delay in refreshing cyber risk checks, which usually takes about one week.
“According to third-party feedback, unfortunately, it gives many false positives.”
- G2 Review
3. Bitsight
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how BitSight performs against the seven key features of an ideal Third-Party Risk Management tool.
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
On the BitSight platform, multiple third-party risk identification processes work together to produce a comprehensive profile of third-risk exposure.
- Compliance Tracking - BitSight automatically identifies risks associated with alignment gaps against regulations and cyber frameworks, including NIS 2 and SOC 2.
- Security Ratings - Like UpGuard and SecurityScorecard, BitSight tracks third-party cybersecurity performance with security ratings.
- External Attack Surface Management - BitSight monitors for emerging cyber threats across the external attack surface by referencing multiple risk sources, including cloud, geographies, subsidiaries, and the remote workforce.
BitSight's attack surface monitoring feature can discover instances of Shadow IT, one of the most challenging cyber risks to track and manage in the workplace.
See how UpGuard compares with BitSight >
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
BitSight pulls together insight from multiple threat sources to create an informative snapshot of an organization’s complete cyber risk profile. The resulting dashboard, known as The BitSight Security Rating Snapshot, provides security teams and stakeholders with a single-pane-of-glass view of the company’s overall cybersecurity performance. Some of the metrics tracked in these dashboards include:
- Ransomware incident susceptibility
- Data breach susceptibility
- Security posture performance over time (for internal and external entities)
- Security posture benchmarking against industry standards
The BitSight Security Rating Snapshot can be transformed into a customizable executive report for stakeholders.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
BitSight offers features supporting the entire Third-Party Risk Management workflow, from onboarding to risk management and executive reporting for keeping stakeholders informed of TPRM efforts.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
BitSight’s ability to track remediated third-party risks is an area of concern. According to independent user reviews, addressed cyber risks take far too long to be acknowledged by the platform, with some taking up to 60 days to be removed from reports.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
BitSight offers integrations with other GRC and Vendor Risk Management solutions to streamline processes supporting TPRM efforts.
Some of BitSight’s VRM or GRC integration partners include:
- Diligent
- ServiceNow
- Venminder
- ThirdParty Trust
- ProcessUnity
- Archer
- 3rdRisk
- OneTrust (see how UpGuard compares to OneTrust)
- Prevalent (see how UpGuard compares to Prevalent)
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how BitSight measures against the three primary metrics of exemplary TPRM product performance.
(i). User Friendliness
The BitSight platform may require an investment of time before a confident grasp of its features is achieved. An indication of a TPRM product's intuitiveness is whether users require additional learning resources to understand how to use the platform.
The more intuitive a TPRM tool is, the faster you can leverage returns from its investment.
An ideal TPRM tool is so intuitive, users can naturally settle into a TPRM workflow without having to reference comprehensive training videos.
(ii). Customer Support
BitSight has a good reputation for high standards of customer support.
"Customer service was excellent, everything was explained well, all my questions were answered soundly."
- G2 Review
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
BitSight’s third-party risk scoring accuracy is greatly impacted by the excessive amount of time required to acknowledge remediated cyber risks on the platform. Such delays present security teams with an inaccurate depiction of the state of a company’s third-party attack surface, which could significantly disrupt the efficiency of a TPRM program.
4. OneTrust
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how OneTrust performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with OneTrust >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
OneTrust identifies risks across the onboarding and offboarding phases of the vendor lifecycle. To compress due diligence times, the platform offers pre-completed questionnaires, expediting risk identification during vendor scoping and onboarding. However, OneTrust does not account for critical data breach attack vectors originating from the third-party attack surface, which could leave users vulnerable to third-party data breaches.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
OneTrust's predictive capabilities gather insights about privacy and governance risks. These risk insights map to a vendor's internally managed security controls, policies, and practices. However, by overlooking potentially critical third-party data breach attack vectors, OneTrust's third-party risk insights offer limited value to a Third-Party Risk Management program.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
OneTrust helps users maintain an updated vendor inventor, an important TPRM requirement for organizations with a growing vendor network. By automating workflows across vendor onboarding and offboarding processes, OneTrust streamlines the bookend phases of a TPRM program.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
OneTrust leverages an AI engine named Athena to expedite internal risk discovery and insight generation. However, the scope of this risk-monitoring effort is primarily focused on internal risk factors rather than external attack surface vulnerabilities.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
OneTrust offers REST API and SDK to automate workflows with external applications.
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how OneTrust performs against the primary metrics of a high-performing TPRM product.
(i). User Friendliness
The OneTrust platform is quick to master and highly intuitive, supporting fast TPRM program implementation.
(ii). Customer Support
Users have reported excellent ongoing customer support from the Prevalent team.
"The customer support is very well as prompt reply for any ongoing issues. We tried integrating it with our in house hosted tools for better management."
- 2023 G2 Review
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
While OneTrust provides comprehensive insights into internal risks, the delayed recognition of external risk factors could affect the accuracy of risk assessments.
5. Prevalent
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how Prevalent performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with Prevalent >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
Prevalent uses a combination of point-in-time risk assessments with automated monitoring to allow TPRM teams to track emerging third-party risks in real time. To streamline the due diligence components of the vendor risk assessment process, Prevalent offers an exchange for sharing completed vendor risk reports.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
Prevalent measures the impact of third-party risks on an organization's security posture with security ratings ranging from 0-100. However, the number of companies included in these scanning efforts to indicate third-party risk exposure is unknown. Without knowing how comprehensive these scans are, the quality and accuracy of the platform's third-party risk analysis warrants limited trust.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
By combining point-in-time risk assessments with the continuous monitoring capabilities of security ratings, Prevalent is capable of detecting emerging risks instantly, even between assessment schedules. With its speed of third-party risk detection, Prevalent empowers TPRM teams to remain agile in the context of a highly turbulent third-party attack surface.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
Prevalent extends its third-party risk monitoring efforts to common data leak sources, including dark web forums and threat intelligence feeds. By also considering credential leaks in its third-party risk monitoring strategy, Prevalent further reduces the chances of its users being impacted by third-party breaches.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
Prevalent integrates with ServiceNow to streamline remediation workflows for detected third-party risks.
Third-Party Risk Management Solution Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how Prevalent performs against the primary metrics of a high-performing TPRM product.
(i). User Friendliness
Prevalent is known for its simple implementation. However, once implemented, it may take time to achieve mastery of all its features.
(ii). Customer Support
Customers are very pleased with Prevalent's support efforts, which include multiple cadence calls to ensure smooth onboarding.
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
By not being transparent about the number of companies its risk scanning engine covers or its risk data update speed, the accuracy of Prevalent's risk scoring data is questionable. A possible indication of the lower dimension of its risk scoring calculations is the narrow field of the platform's security ratings, only ranging from 0-100 - a significant difference compared to other TPRM platforms measuring security postures across a much wider range, from 0-950.
"I wish the dashboard was customizable so I could see the data I want upon logging in. I also wish the reporting was more accurate to only show active vendors versus disabled ones."
- 2021 G2 Review
6. Panorays
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how Panorays performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with Panorays >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
Panorays helps TPRM teams remain informed of security risks associated with third-party vendors. Its third-party risk detection processes feed into an in-built risk assessment workflow to expedite risk assessment creation.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
Though the platform can detect common data breach attack vectors, Panorays currently does not support threat and risk intelligence for greater visibility into supply chain data leakages, which could limit the value of the platform's risk analysis as a tool in a supply chain attack mitigation strategy.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
Panorays offers a library of questionnaire templates mapping to popular standards and frameworks. Users also have the option of building custom questionnaires for more targeted risk assessments. These customization capabilities allow for a more impactful TPRM program, especially when managing critical vendors.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
Panorays combine data from security ratings and questionnaires to support TPRM teams with comprehensive visibility into their third-party attack surface.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
Panorays gives its users the option of customizing their workflows with external applications through a JSON-based REST API. The platform also offers integrations with ServiceNow and RSA Archer to streamline third-party risk remediation workflows.
Third-Party Risk Management Tool Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how Panorays performs against the primary metrics of a high-performing TPRM product.
(i). User Friendliness
The Panorays platform is very intuitive to new users, allowing them to quickly leverage the solution to support their TPRM objectives.
(ii). Customer Support
Panorays users have reported a pleasant support experience during onboarding and for ongoing queries. However, with no public-facing pricing available on its website, prospects are forced into an inconvenient workflow of engaging with sales staff before acknowledging whether the product offerings are within their budget.
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
Panorays provides a security rating scale of 0-100, producing a final score of either Bad, Poor, Fair, Good, or Excellent. However, limited coverage of data leakages in its detection engine may also limit the accuracy of its scoring methodology.
7. RiskRecon
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how RiskRecon performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with RiskRecon >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
RiskRecon helps organizations understand their scope of third-party security risk exposure with deep reporting capabilities and security ratings. The platform provides a dashboard highlighting critical third-party risks that should be prioritized in a TPRM program.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
RiskRecon's third-party risk analysis methodology considered 11 security domains and 41 security criteria to produce contextualized insights into third-party security performance. This comprehensive coverage of the attack surface supports enterprise risk management beyond TPRM.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
RiskRecon offers a very simple security rating scoring system, with numbers ranging from 0-10 and corresponding letter scores ranging from A-F. The platform is capable of managing third-party risks across attack surfaces commonly exploited in third-party data breach events, including email security, application security, and network filtering.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
RiskRecon gives users the option of setting up a bespoke risk monitoring setup by implementing a baseline configuration matching third-party risk structures used in a TPRM program. Monitored risks cover critical cyberattack pathways, such as application security, network filtering, and other security domains.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
RiskRecon provides a standard API to create extensibility for its cybersecurity ratings. The platform further streamlines TPRM process workflows by integrating with RSA Archer and Sigma Ratings.
Third-Party Risk Management Platform Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how RiskRecon performs against the primary metrics of a high-performing TPRM product.
(i). User Friendliness
RiskRecon requires minimal onboarding time. However, users have reported issues with integration performance and the company's rate of innovation, which limits the TPRM capabilities of the product.
(ii). Customer Support
Public pricing information is not available for RiskRecon, forcing prospects through an inconvenient process of engaging with a sales rep to learn of baseline pricing.
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
Users have reported instances of inaccurate third-party risk reporting. Some TPRM analysis is based on legacy data not reflecting the true nature of an organization's third-party risk exposure:
8. ProcessUnity (formerly CyberGRX)
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how ProcessUnity performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with CyberGRX >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
ProcessUniyty provides an exchange for completed security questionnaires to expedite third-party risk discovery during vendor due diligence. This framework is accommodating to more frequent risk assessments, as many as 2-3 per year. Coupling this third-party risk data stream with continuous monitoring of inherent risk and risk scoring results in comprehensive coverage of the third-party attack surface.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
ProcessUnity pulls third-party risk information from completed risk assessments, feeding this data through its exchange platform to help users manage their risk assessments more efficiently.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
ProcessUnity streamlines TPRM workflows by continuously updating its library of point-in-time assessments (the heart of a TPRM program), ensuring they map to current risks in the third-party threat landscape.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
ProcessUnity monitors emerging third-party risks across multiple attack vector categories, including phishing, ransomware susceptibility, man-in-the-middle attacks, DNSSEC, vulnerabilities, email spoofing, domain hijacking, and DNS issues. Users are kept updated on the latest data breach events through the exchange platform to further support active monitoring and threat response.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
ProcessUnity offers a fully functional bidirectional API, enabling integration with multiple GRC platforms, visualization tools, ticketing systems, and SOC tools. This suite of integrations helps users streamline the vast scope of TPRM processes and workflows.
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how ProcessUnity performs against the primary metrics of a high-performing TPRM product.
(i). User Friendliness
Users of the ProcessUnity platform find the product very easy to implement and navigate thanks to its helpful selection of dashboard graphs to aid third-party risk analysis.
(ii). Customer Support
Despite the intuitiveness of basic TPRM functionality on the platform, users have reported clunky risk assessment workflows and sluggish support from staff when attempting to resolve such issues.
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
The level of detail covered in risk assessments pulls a detailed field of third-party risk data, supporting a higher accuracy of third-party risk scoring.
9. Vanta
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how Vanta performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with Vanta >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
The Vanta platform primarily focuses on detecting risks associated with misalignment with frameworks and regulatory standards. As such, the product isn't designed to identify third-party risks outside of these categories.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
Vanta offers an intuitive dashboard for monitoring third-party compliance risks and progress. Several audit standards are called upon to track compliance progress. However, the platform does not prioritize third-party cybersecurity risks in its analysis efforts, which significantly limits the tool's use as a third-party data breach mitigation solution.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
Vanta excels in tracking alignment with security standards and regulations like SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and HIPAA, which form a critical component of third-party risk assessments. However, as it lacks critical third-party data breach mitigation functions, such as continuous monitoring and external attack surface scanning, the tool has limited benefits for the success of a TPRM program.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
Vanta does not provide continuous monitoring of the third-party attack surface. As such, users would need to couple this tool with additional continuous monioring solutions to for comprehensive TPRM coverage - which isn't an efficient method of investing in a TPRM program. Most of Vanta's competitors offer external attack surface monitoring capabilities as part of a baseline feature set.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
Vanta offers API integrations with third-party services to streamline compliance management and deficit remeidiation workflows.
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how Vanta performs against the primary metrics of a high-performing TPRM product.
(i). User Friendliness
Vanta's platform offers an intuitive layout of an organization's complete scope of compliance risk.
(ii). Customer Support
Overall, users have reported a strong customer support effort by Vanta. However, because of a lack of live chat, addressing support queries could become needlessly lengthy.
"It's worth noting that most issues with Vanta can require multiple updates on support tickets. While the support team is very responsive and professional, addressing certain issues can sometimes be time-consuming with a lack of live chat or phone support options. To date, most of my correspondence has been through email, which can cause long delays between different timezones."
- 2024 G2 Review
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
Without external attack surface scanning capabilities. Vanta's risk-scoring methodology is primarily focused on compliance risks. Such a myopic risk category focus significantly limits the platform's value as a tool supporting the complete scope of Third-Party Risk Management - which has evolved to have an increased emphasis on mitigating third-party cybersecurity risks.
10. Drata
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how Drata performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with Drata >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
Drata helps organizations achieve full audit readiness by monitoring security controls and streamlining compliance workflows. However, the platform does not currently offer asset discovery capabilities. Without such an essential TPRM capability, users could be unknowingly vulnerable to third-party data breaches through overlooked asset attack vectors.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
Drata offers a policy builder mapping to specific compliance requirements to support third-party risk analysis. This third-party risk data feed integrates with the platform's risk assessment workflows to expedite risk analysis.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
Drata helps TPRM programs maintain compliance across 14 cyber frameworks, with the option of creating custom frameworks mapping to bespoke TPRM strategies. TPRM efforts are, unfortunately limited without an ability to detect third-party assets potentially hosting data breach attack vectors.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
Drata excels in continuous monitoring of compliance controls, ensuring that companies remain aligned with frameworks like GDPR and HIPAA. However, the platform does not consider non-compliance-related risks in its risk mitigation strategy, a shortfall limiting the tool's usefulness in TPRM efforts.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
Drata offers limited third-party app integration options, which restricts the platform's ability to streamline TPRM processes across platforms.
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how Drata performs against the primary metrics of a high-performing TPRM product.
(i). User Friendliness
Drata offers a simple and intuitive interface that can be quickly implemented into existing TPRM workflows to track compliance-related risks.
(ii). Customer Support
Drata offers very responsive support via a chat portal, helping users quickly resolve any operational queries.
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
Drata's lack of asset discovery features gives the platform a limited use case for TPRM efforts beyond mitigating compliance-related risks. The oversight of potentially critical data breach attack vectors from overlooked IT assets in a user's attack surface, likely impacts the overall accuracy of its risk scoring methodology.
11. Black Kite
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how Black Kite performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with Black Kite >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
Black Kite determines third-party risk severity through the evaluation of 10 risk categories and 250 control items. In addition to its dynamic risk rating feature, the platform also considers a feed of open-source threat intelligence and non-intrusive cyber reconnaissance to identify third-party risks across a wide range of cyber threat data.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
Black Kite's approach to risk analysis includes non-intrusive methods of analyzing third-party attack vectors. The platform's scope of analysis also considers asset reputation, credential compromises, social media monitoring, and dark web searches, offering a comprehensive view of the third-party risk landscape.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
To streamline Third-Party Risk Management, the platform utilizes a cyber risk scorecard that aids with the prioritization of critical risks. The solution also leverages machine learning technology to support a higher frequency of risk assessments.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
Black Kite's extensive threat detection scans encompass cloud delivery network security, fraudulent app detection, and DDoS attack detection. However, the solution isn't transparent about the efficacy of these checks, which could impede the impact of risk monitoring and subsequent risk management efforts.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
Black Kite offers standard APIs to streamline data sharing across TPRM workflows.
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
Below is an overview of how Black Kite performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
(i). User Friendliness
While overall, Black Kite's platform is intuitively designed, some of its advanced Third-Party Risk Management Features are implemented in a manner that supports streamlined workflows.
(ii). Customer Support
Black Kite's customer support appears to be lacking, with some support issues revealing deeper concerns about the accuracy of third-party risk data produced by the platform.
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
The accuracy of Black Kite's third-party risk scoring data is questionable, with users reportedly being forced to continuously double-check the platform's risk findings. A TPRM product with questionable risk-scoring accuracy will perpetually limit the impact of any Third-Party Risk Management program depending on its processes.
12. Whistic
Performance Against Key Third-Party Risk Management Features
Below is an overview of how Whistic performs against the key features of an ideal TPRM tool.
Learn how UpGuard compares with Whistic >
(i). Third-Party Risk Identification
Whistic's third-party risk identification model is dependent on point-in-time assessments. Its risk assessments evaluate alignment with popular frameworks such as CAIQ, SIG, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, CIS Security Controls, and Privacy Shield Framework. However, by only focusing on point-in-time assessments to communicate third-party risk exposure, Whistic fails to account for emerging third-party risks between risk assessment schedules, which could leave users unknowingly exposed to critical data breach threats.
(ii). Third-Party Risk Analysis
Whistic provides detailed risk assessment designs for vendors coupled with remediation workflows for surfaced risks. However, the platform does not offer real-time third-party risk detection, which could significantly impact the accuracy of its third-party risk analysis efforts.
(iii). Third-Party Risk Management
While Whisitc supports efficient security information sharing to expedite due diligence and onboarding, the absence of continuous attack surface monitoring means risk detection; therefore, management efficacy degrades as vendors progress through the TPRM lifecycle.
(iv). Third-Party Risk Monitoring
Whistic primarily relies on risk assessments that can quickly become outdated as new security threats emerge between assessment schedules. Without real-time monitoring - a standard feature amongst Whistic's TPRM competitors - the platform prevents users from efficiently responding to emerging third-party threats.
(v). TPRM Process Automation
Whistic offers integrations with RiskRecon, Active Directory, Okta, and OneLogin to support remediation workflows for detected risks.
Third-Party Risk Management Software Performance Metrics
(i). User Friendliness
The Whistic platform is intuitive and easy to understand, even for beginner users.
"The tool is very user-friendly and great for collaborating with business units."
- 2022 G2 Review
(ii). Customer Support
Users report high levels of customer support for Whistic, even for nuance support cases.
"The Whistic team has supported our needs as we navigate through our custom use case for the platform."
- 2021 G2 Review
(iii). Risk Scoring Accuracy
With its reliance on a rigid point-in-time assessment model without the support of agile continuous monitoring features, Whistic's risk scoring could become more outdated and less accurate over time.
Building a Business Case for Investment in TPRM Software
Building a business case for third-party risk management software requires a comprehensive overview of how it will benefit your organization—currently and in the future. Stakeholders and leadership will want to see how this software will solve pain points and provide valuable benefits, along with how intensive cost and implementation will be.
The following five steps provide the foundation for a compelling argument to invest in TPRM software:
- Analyze the Benefits of TPRM Software
- Identify Organizational Pain Points TPRM Software Solves
- Conduct a Cost-Benefit Analysis to Determine ROI
- Review Implementation Details and Ongoing Support
- Compare TPRM Solutions on the Market
1. Analyze the Benefits of TPRM Software
The first step in building a business case for investing in TPRM software is to analyze the benefits of this software tool. By listing the overall benefits of TPRM software, you create a compelling argument of how this type of software will add value to your company.
Depending on the type of third-party vendors used and the existing relationship with those vendors, you may want to focus on different benefits above others. For example, if you are most concerned with reducing third-party risk, focus on the enhanced risk visibility and real-time monitoring and alerts TPRM programs provide. If your organization wants to track vendor onboarding and due diligence, focus on enhanced decision-making and vendor performance metrics.
Different third-party risk management programs will offer different features, but the majority provide the following benefits:
- Enhanced Risk Visibility: A comprehensive view of all third-party risks, allowing businesses to identify, assess, and monitor risks effectively
- Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts: Real-time monitoring of third-party performance and risk, including alerts for changes or information security issues that need immediate attention
- Better Compliance Management: Reduces the risk of fines and reputational damage by ensuring compliance with various regulatory requirements and industry certifications, including GRC, GDPR, and ESG standards
- Centralized Data Management: Centralizes all third-party information, eliminating data silos and facilitates easier access and management of vendor data
- Improved Efficiency: Streamlines processes through automation of manual tasks in third-party relationships
- Scalability: Scales alongside your business, handling increases in third-party relationships and vendor data
- Enhanced Decision Making: Comprehensive data and analytics support better-informed decision-making regarding third-party relationships
- Improved Vendor Performance: Enables more effective management and tracking of vendor performance, ensuring third parties meet SLAs and performance standards
- Increased Flexibility and Adaptability: Allows businesses to quickly adapt to changes in the risk landscape or regulatory environment, ensuring ongoing resilience in their third-party relationships
How UpGuard Helps
Vendor Risk is our all-in-one TPRM platform that allows you to streamline your organization’s Vendor Risk Management processes. Vendor Risk allows you to automate your third-party risk assessment workflows and get real-time notifications about your vendors’ security in one centralized dashboard. Additional Vendor Risk features include:
- Security Questionnaires: Automate security questionnaires with workflows to get deeper insights into your vendors’ security and utilize templates and custom questionnaires for your specific needs
- Security Ratings: Instantly understand your vendors' security posture with our data-driven, objective, and dynamic security ratings
- Risk Assessments: Let us guide you each step of the way, from gathering evidence, risk-based assessments, and remediation
- Monitoring Vendor Risk: Monitor your vendors daily and view the details to understand what risks are impacting a vendor’s security posture
- Reporting and Insights: UpGuard’s Reports Library makes it easier and faster for you to access tailor-made reports for different stakeholders
- Managed Third-Party Risks: Let our expert analysts manage your third-party risk management program and allocate your security resources
2. Identify Organizational Pain Points the TPRM Software Can Solve
It is vital to go beyond the general benefits of TPRM software and showcase what specific organizational pain points the software will solve. Understanding specific pain points allows you to tailor your argument and demonstrate how enterprise risk management software offers solutions directly aligned with those issues, providing a strong justification for the investment.
Selecting a management platform that addresses as many pain points as possible is important to create a compelling argument for a third-party risk management solution. While every organization differs, below are some common pain points that an effective third-party risk management solution will solve:
- Manual and Time-Consuming Processes: Organizations can automate the management of third-party relationships using TPRM software, reducing time and effort for tasks such as data collection, risk assessments, and compliance checks.
- Lack of Centralized Information: Centralized TPRM software provides a single source of truth, consolidating data and improving visibility and management of third-party risks.
- Difficulty in Risk Assessment and Monitoring: TPRM software helps assess and monitor risks from third-party vendors, even with many of them. It provides tools for systematic risk assessment and continuous monitoring, ensuring prompt risk identification and management.
- Compliance Requirements and Regulatory Challenges: Organizations should prioritize regulatory compliance with industry standards—TPRM streamlines this process by tracking regulations and ensuring third-party practices align.
- Inadequate Reporting and Analytics: Organizations often struggle to gain insights due to inadequate reporting capabilities. TPRM software provides robust reporting and analytics tools, offering detailed insights into third-party relationships and risk exposures.
- Lack of Real-Time Insights: In a fast-paced business environment, having real-time insights into third-party activities is crucial. TPRM software offers real-time monitoring and alerts, helping organizations respond quickly to emerging risks or issues like supply chain attacks or data breaches.
How UpGuard Helps
UpGuard Vendor Risk’s robust list of benefits also includes features that directly address common organizational pain points, including:
- Spend less time monitoring and assessing your vendor’s security posture: Remove the inefficiencies and manual work when monitoring your vendors—save time and take control by automating your vendor risk assessment process.
- Get real-time updates on your vendor security posture: Instantly assess your vendors' security, get real-time notifications of their risks, and be the first to know when you’re exposed to vendor risk to assess and remediate risk exposures proactively.
- Streamline vendor lifecycle management: Manage your vendors securely and easily in one central location from procurement to offboarding. Remove process bottlnecks by leveraging AI technology to achieve an efficient and scalable VRM program with UpGuard's Vendor Risk Management tool.
3. Conduct a Cost-Benefit Analysis to Determine ROI
One of the most persuasive steps in building the business case for TPRM software is conducting a cost-benefit analysis to showcase why investing will financially benefit your organization over time. Specifically, suppose you can prove the investment in TPRM software will yield a high return on investment (ROI). In that case, stakeholders may be more keen to sign off on a new purchase for your cybersecurity ecosystem.
A cost-benefit analysis occurs in three stages:
- First, identify and quantify the costs, including purchase price or licensing fees for TPRM software or operational costs like license renewal and maintenance fees.
- Next, identify and quantify the benefits of the TPRM software. This includes benefits like risk mitigation, efficiency gains, improved data privacy, enhanced decision-making, and scalability.
- Finally, calculate net present value (NPV) and return on investment (ROI). Calculate NPV by discounting future benefits and costs to present value terms. Calculate ROI by dividing your net benefits (total benefits minus total costs) by the total costs. A positive NPV and positive ROI indicate a profitable investment.
While emphasizing software's benefits seems more persuasive, sometimes, these conversations come down to the dollar-for-dollar benefit. TPRM software may require significant company resources, so identifying how it will financially benefit your company solidifies your argument for a TPRM initiative.
How UpGuard Helps
At UpGuard, we proudly offer a transparent pricing model that allows potential clients to calculate their ROI easily. We understand the importance of selecting the best software for your organization and have compared other market options on our website. Our Vendor Risk and Breach Risk pricing model is openly available, giving you the confidence to make informed decisions.
4. Review Implementation Details and Ongoing Support
Any TPRM software solution needs to be iimplmeneted by following a Vendor Risk Management implementation plan, and many also offer ongoing support while you utilize the software. These features are important when building a business case to invest in TPRM software.
The implementation process of TPRM software can vary depending on the type of software used. It is important to understand this process to determine whether integrating the software into your organization's existing systems and workflows is feasible. Knowing the implementation process can help plan timeframes, resource allocation, and potential disruptions that may arise during the transition. This planning is crucial to ensure a smooth and successful implementation.
Continuous support and maintenance are essential for ensuring that the TPRM software remains effective, up-to-date, and aligned with evolving business needs and risk landscapes. Without proper support and maintenance, the software may become obsolete, vulnerable to new risks, and unable to keep up with the changing regulatory requirements.
Therefore, it is crucial to understand the level and quality of ongoing support the vendor provides to ensure that the TPRM software is always functioning at its best. This includes regular updates, bug fixes, security patches, and technical assistance. Additionally, the vendor's ability to provide timely and effective support can impact the users' overall satisfaction and the software implementation's success.
How UpGuard Helps
UpGuard Vendor Risk has extensive implementation and ongoing support for our product and users. Our extensive Help Library includes hundreds of articles to assist with implementation, like “Getting Started in Vendor Risk,” which covers our platform's main capabilities and features. Additionally, UpGuard integrates with various tools your organization may already use, making it seamlessly fit into your business ecosystem.
UpGuard has adopted DevOps principles internally to continuously develop, test, and release software, ensuring fast, consistent, and safe releases. UpGuard also focuses on community support with UpGuard Summit, available live or on-demand via webinar, which brings together a community of security leaders from leading companies, explores the future of security, and helps businesses stay secure.
5. Compare TPRM Solutions on the Market
Your last step in building a business case for TPRM software is to compare available options. There are various types of TPRM software to choose from, which focus on different benefits and capabilities. Depending on your organization's focus, one option may be a better fit than another.
Your comparison should focus on several key factors, including:
- Features and Capabilities
- Compatibility with Existing Systems
- Scalability
- User-Friendliness
- Risk Intelligence
Along with these key factors, research the reputation and reliability of TPRM service providers, their customer service record, and feedback from existing users. By conducting a comprehensive comparison, businesses can ensure they choose a TPRM solution that best fits their specific requirements and budget, ultimately leading to a more successful implementation and better risk management outcomes.
How UpGuard Helps
UpGuard understands there are a lot of vendor risk management solutions out there, and choosing the right one for your organization can be overwhelming. We want you to choose the best platform for you, even if it’s not us.
With that in mind, we provide detailed comparisons of UpGuard against other service providers on our website across various features like usability and learning curve, pricing and support, G2 ratings, predictive capabilities, and security ratings. You can also view examples of current customers and read stories to hear firsthand how UpGuard has benefited their organization.
UpGuard: Voted the #1 Third Party & Supplier Risk Management Software
UpGuard is proud to be named the #1 Third-Party & Supplier Risk Management Software in Winter 2024, according to G2, the world’s most trusted peer review site for business software. UpGuard was also named a Market Leader in the category across the Americas, APAC, and EMEA regions for the sixth consecutive quarter, reflecting the customers' trust and confidence in the platform.
G2 evaluates products in the Third Party & Supplier Risk Management category based on customer satisfaction (as per user reviews) and market presence (considering market share, seller size, and social impact). UpGuard has been identified as a Leader owing to its high scores in customer satisfaction ratings and significant market presence.
