What is DataComm Vendor Management?
DataComm Vendor Management Services help you build, formalize, or enhance a risk-based vendor management program that covers both IT and non-IT vendors in a way that’s proportionate to the risk each vendor presents.
Our consulting services are designed to help financial institutions and other regulated organizations:
- Perform vendor risk assessments
- Conduct initial and ongoing due diligence
- Establish ongoing monitoring expectations and practices
- Maintain proper documentation and reporting for management and the board
- Strengthen contracts and service agreements
- Implement appropriate nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements
Instead of ad hoc spreadsheets and file folders, you get a cohesive vendor risk framework that fits your size, complexity, and regulatory expectations.
Why do organizations invest in vendor management?
Third parties play a critical role—but also introduce risk:
- Vendors host or access sensitive customer and corporate data
- Cloud providers and managed service partners support key operations
- Regulators increasingly expect formal vendor and third-party risk management programs
- One weak vendor can create significant operational, legal, or reputational damage
DataComm Vendor Management Services help you:
- Identify which vendors matter most from a risk perspective
- Standardize how you assess, approve, and monitor third parties
- Demonstrate due diligence to examiners, auditors, customers, and your board
- Reduce the chance that vendor issues become your issues
How DataComm Vendor Management Services work
We follow a clear, phased approach that can support a new program build or enhancement of your existing framework.
Program review & gap assessment
We start by understanding your current state:
- Review existing policies, procedures, and templates related to vendor management
- Inventory current vendors and classify them by type (IT, non-IT, critical, high-risk, etc.)
- Identify which regulatory and industry standards apply to your organization
- Compare current practices to regulatory expectations and industry good practice
You receive a gap assessment that clarifies what’s working, what’s missing, and where to focus first.
Risk-based vendor classification & risk assessment
Next, we help you put a risk lens on your vendor portfolio:
- Define risk tiers (e.g., critical, high, moderate, low) based on data sensitivity, service criticality, and access
- Create or refine vendor risk assessment templates and scoring methods
- Walk through assessments for key vendors to calibrate the process
- Align risk classification with requirements for due diligence, monitoring, and contract expectations
This ensures your program is proportionate to the level of risk of the vendors, rather than one-size-fits-all.
Due diligence & contracting support
We then strengthen how you approve and contract with vendors:
- Define required due diligence artifacts by risk tier (e.g., SOC reports, cyber insurance, policies, penetration tests)
- Create checklists and review procedures for evaluating vendor controls, including information security, privacy, and business continuity
- Review and enhance contract language for key areas such as:
- Service levels and performance
- Security and incident notification
- Data ownership and return/destruction
- Right to audit, regulatory access, and subcontracting
- Ensure use of appropriate nondisclosure / confidentiality agreements where needed
You get repeatable due diligence and contracting practices that reduce reliance on tribal knowledge.
Ongoing monitoring, documentation & reporting
Vendor risk doesn’t stop after contract signing:
- Define ongoing monitoring expectations by vendor risk tier (e.g., annual SOC reviews, financial health checks, incident reporting)
- Establish documentation standards so vendor files are exam-ready (risk assessments, due diligence, contracts, ongoing monitoring evidence)
- Develop reporting templates for management and the board, highlighting:
- Critical/high-risk vendors
- Material issues or exceptions
- Upcoming renewals and ue diligence cycles
We help you ensure the program is visible, defensible, and easy to demonstrate to examiners and auditors.
Key capabilities of DataComm Vendor Management Services
We’ve designed our service around five core pillars.
Risk-based vendor classification
- Clear criteria to separate critical / high-risk vendors from lower-risk relationships
- Practical tools to keep classifications updated as vendors or services change
Structured due diligence
- Standardized lists of documents and evidence to collect by vendor risk tier
- Guidance on how to interpret SOC reports and security documentation
- Support in documenting conclusions and residual risk
Ongoing monitoring framework
- Defined monitoring frequency and activities for each vendor tier
- Support for creating calendars, reminders, and workflows for renewals and reviews
- Integration with your existing governance and reporting cycles
Policy, procedure & documentation enhancement
- Vendor management policy and procedure updates that reflect your actual practice
- Templates for risk assessments, review memos, and board reporting
- Clear expectations for proper documentation and reporting of vendor relationships
Exam and audit readiness
- Program and documentation structured to align with regulatory expectations
- Support in answering examiner and auditor questions about specific vendors or program elements
What you get with a DataComm IT Risk Assessment
A typical engagement includes:
Who DataComm Vendor Management is for
This service is a strong fit if:
- You are a bank, credit union, or other regulated financial institution with vendor oversight expectations
- Your vendor management activities are mostly spread across spreadsheets, email, and shared drives
- You want to formalize and document what you’re already doing informally
- You’re preparing for regulatory exams or internal audit reviews focused on third-party risk
- You need help ensuring vendor practices keep up with cloud adoption, outsourcing, and managed services
USE CASES
Explore the Possible Applications of Vendor Management
Building a vendor program from a basic spreadsheet
You have a simple list of vendors but no formal program:
- DataComm helps define vendor risk tiers, risk assessments, and due diligence requirements
- Policy and procedure documents are created or updated
- You end up with an exam-ready vendor management program built on top of your existing list
Strengthening vendor documentation before an exam
You know vendor management will be a focus of an upcoming regulatory exam:
- DataComm reviews vendor files, risk assessments, and contracts against expectations
- Gaps are identified and prioritized for quick remediation
- You walk into the exam with organized files and clear stories for key vendors
Aligning vendor management with new cloud and IT providers
You’re moving more services to cloud and managed IT partners:
- DataComm helps update risk criteria and due diligence requirements for these vendors
- Contracts and confidentiality agreements are reviewed and strengthened
- The board and management gain confidence that new technology vendors are being vetted and monitored properly
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common questions
No. While many high-risk vendors are IT or cloud providers, the program is designed to cover all vendors (IT and non-IT) in a way that’s proportionate to their risk.
The focus is on framework, process, and documentation. We can work with your existing tools (GRC platforms, spreadsheets, shared drives) and recommend approaches that fit your size and budget.
Yes. We can provide targeted support for specific critical or high-risk vendors—reviewing due diligence, contracts, and monitoring practices and recommending improvements.
Our approach is to align with regulatory expectations and complement internal audit. We can incorporate internal audit findings and regulator feedback into your program design.
Next steps
To tailor DataComm Vendor Management Services to your organization, we recommend documenting:
- Your current vendor list and any existing risk tiers
- Which vendors you consider critical or high-risk today
- Upcoming exams, audits, or major contract renewals that involve key vendors
Ready to harden your network against active threats?
Schedule a Vendor Management strategy session with DataComm to design or refine a risk-based vendor oversight program that meets regulatory expectations and protects your organization.