Organizations are increasingly relying on external vendors, service providers, and supply-chain partners to help them deliver critical operations. With this increasing reliance on third parties, we must understand that TPRM is not just a process or checkmark on a list. It must be a strategic capability that aligns with regulatory compliance. This means embedding TPRM into enterprise risk management, which ensures that vendor risk data informs executive decisions regarding resources, procurement strategies, and regulatory reporting. In doing so, you build resilience and trust within your organization, your stakeholders, and your vendors. 

When it comes to TPRM compliance in the context of third-party risk, there are a number of vendor risk monitoring best practices your organization needs to keep in mind. 

1. Vendor Onboarding 

1. In a 2025 study by Mitratech, results showed that 45% of organizations onboard vendors before completing a full risk assessment. Oftentimes, organizations onboard first and assess later because of a lack of communication between the security teams and the business teams who make the decisions on vendor usage. Essentially, the business units tell the security teams about vendors too late. At Start, we encourage the business units to be more engaged in the assessment process. The business units are part of the process and should be engaged all throughout the process, because the more engaged the business units are involved with the assessment process, the faster assessments will tend to go and vendors can get cleared ahead of time.  

2. This should include assessing the security posture of that group, as well as analyzing their data handling procedures, continuity plans, contractual obligations, and more. This should include verifying security certifications, incident and incident response history, and compliance efforts. 

2. Ongoing Monitoring 

1. One study found that only 29% of organizations are assessing risk across the vendor lifecycle. Vendor risk assessment should not be limited to the onboarding process. Instead, your team should monitor vendor performance, track changes in a vendor risk profile, and maintain visibility across the vendor lifecycle. Due diligence is critical not just at the beginning of the lifecycle stage, but throughout. is critical not just at the beginning of the lifecycle stage, but throughout. 

2.  Because third-parties are handling your data, your organization must ensure that appropriate audits of compliance are taking place. At Start, we find our clients assess on a one-to-two-year basis because the duration of their projects often last that long. We recommend that active vendors are reviewed annually if they are still performing work for a company. If volume does not allow for that cadence, we suggest bi-annually, with quarterly check-ins. 

3. Companies should determine what standards they wish to use for compliance and ensure assessments are tailored to those standards. Start can handle any control set a company wishes to assess against, whether that be an industry standard, or an internally created one. 

4. Create a plan for check-ins on high-risk vendors that fits with your needs. Reviews should happen quarterly at a minimum. 

3. Incident Response 

1. According to research in 2025 by the Ponemon Institute, 54% of security incidents now involved third-party data exposure. If a vendor experiences a breach, organizations need to have a plan in place so that they can respond quickly and effectively. The plan should define how vendors notify your team, how communication with regulators and stakeholders will be handled, and how evidence will be collected for compliance reporting.  Vendors need to be able to provide regulators with documented evidence of what happened, why, and what steps they took to remediate it. They also need to communicate any fault. 

4. Roles and Responsibilities 

1. Policies and documentation about roles and responsibilities should exist so that ownership of day-to-day operations is well understood.   

2. For organizations that do not have a dedicated TPRM department, they could create cross-departmental councils that include staff from departments such as IT, compliance, procurement, and legal. This ensures accountability at each stage of the vendor lifecycle. 

Challenges in 2026 

As we navigate 2026, there are several factors that will raise the bar for TPRM and compliance alignment. First, vendor ecosystems are expanding, with many vendor organizations now subcontracting out work to fourth-parties. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 75% of companies will experience a third-party related disruption. This is up from 55% in 2023. This increases the complexity of monitoring potential risks and data compliance.  

Additionally, resource constraints exist and will continue to exist. Research shows that an estimated 70% of TPRM departments believe that they are under resourced. Limited staff and budgets can result in the entirety of the vendor base not being appropriately managed. To combat limited resources, many organizations are increasingly adopting tools to help meet regulatory expectations. While many companies are running their database out of an Excel spreadsheet, Start implements the concept of a vendor database and helps to categorize the risk based on the services a vendor provides.  

Finally, the days of checking boxes are fading away. Today, regulators want you to be able to demonstrate your processes. At Start, we have always encouraged a ‘trust but verify’ model. Checkboxes only cover the trust part. There is no verification that what the vendors say they do is actually what is in place. For example, you wouldn’t just give someone plans to a house and tell them to build it without checking in and seeing how it is being built. Seeing how things are implemented and making sure things are up to code is part of the building process and prevents issues once the house is finished. It’s the same with security; seeing how processes are implemented gives a sense of trust when the vendor actually begin to work on a project.  

Emerging technologies also present new considerations. As AI-powered vendors become more common, new regulations and policies will need to be created. Additionally, tools will need to be modified to be able to accurately monitor AI-powered organizations. Start will be featuring additional AI insights later in 2026, so stay tuned! 

Addressing Challenges in 2026 

We’ve outlined a few challenges your TPRM program may face in 2026. Now, we will go over how to remediate these challenges, for a safe and secure 2026. 

1. Don’t bolt security on, build it in to your lifecycle. Integrate vendor risk checks as part of onboarding, renewal, and contract amendment workflows. 

2. Leverage TPRM automation tools where feasible. When you move away from spreadsheets and email, you give your team time back in their day. For example, Start automates the scoping of assessment processes. It cuts the assessment down to only include things that apply to the vendor, which saves assessors a large amount of time because they won’t have to figure out what is in scope; the system does it for them. Process points are also automated, along with the automated sending of questionnaires, and automated remediation items based on questionnaire responses.  

1. Leaning on AI to reduce overhead and workloads as teams are decreasing and workloads are increasing. At Start, we will be closely monitoring AI trends throughout 2026 but encourage teams to still utilize human validation, especially when there could be risks at stake that could cost a company financial loss. AI should not handle and monitor all of the risk, but it can assist in the effort to identify things that an assessor can then validate. Trust…but verify! 

3. Segment vendors based on risk. By classifying vendors by associated risk, you can focus your due diligence and team resources where they are needed the most. 

4. Invest in trainings and workshops. By investing in internal awareness, you equip your teams to be well versed and prepared when it comes to identifying vendor risks that need immediate attention and for staying up to date on regulatory requirements for third-party risk. 

5. Adapt. Regulations can change rapidly based on evolving threats. Ensure your team stays up to date and is researching current trends and laws. 

TPRM is not just about checking boxes. It’s about aligning your vendor management with regulatory requirements, maintaining visibility throughout vendor lifecycles, developing risk-based processes, and demonstrating well documented and repeatable practices. By viewing TPRM as a strategic investment rather than a compliance burden, your organization can be positioned for greater competitive advantage, stakeholder confidence and successfully building vendor trust and resilience. 

If your organization hasn’t evaluated the performance of their TPRM program within the last year, consider contacting the team at Start for assistance on a gap assessment to determine if your program is effectively prepared for vendor risk.