Third-party risk management complexity expansion

Definition

Regulators are increasingly focused on third-party risk management, creating new compliance requirements for clients and consulting demand. The data highlights third-party risk exposure as a key challenge, with sources noting SEC cyber rule and EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) emphasizing third-party risk management. Additionally, survey found concerning finding about lack of policies governing third-party AI use. For compliance consulting firms, this creates several operational challenges: (1) Third-party risk management requires deep expertise in vendor evaluation, contract management, ongoing monitoring, audit frameworks; (2) Clients often lack mature third-party programs, requiring significant consulting to build from scratch; (3) New regulations (DORA deadline mentioned) create time-pressure for clients to implement programs, accelerating consulting demand; (4) Consulting firm must maintain expertise in evaluating third-party cybersecurity, operational resilience, financial stability, compliance posture; (5) Consulting firm may need to build proprietary vendor assessment tools/databases or partner with vendors; (6) High-touch consulting model requires significant staff resources relative to project fees, limiting scalability. The silver lining is strong demand signal, but delivery is complex and resource-intensive.

Why This Matters

Third-party risk assessment software platforms, vendor management/risk rating tools, third-party audit services, vendor contract template libraries, ongoing vendor monitoring services, white-label third-party risk frameworks

Affected Stakeholders

Owner/CEO, Operations Manager / HR Manager

Related Business Risks