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- Third-Party Risk
- 9th Sep 2026
- 1 min read
Save Time on Third-Party Risk Assessment: Top Tips (2026)
- Written by
In Short..
TLDR: 4 Key Takeaways for Writing Effective Third-Party Questions in 2026
- Manual assessment doesn't scale with a growing vendor list: Adding headcount to keep pace isn't realistic for most GRC teams.
- A documented methodology and consistent tiering focus effort where it counts: Full scrutiny goes to the vendors that carry real risk, and lighter checks go to the rest.
- Automation removes the administrative load that eats the most time for the least value: Sending, chasing, and tracking assessments manually is where most recoverable hours sit.
- Accepted certifications like SOC 2 and ISO 27001 replace re-auditing work already done: A current, in-scope certificate is proof a vendor's already passed independent testing.
- Teams that save the most time build these habits in from day one: Retrofitting them once a backlog exists costs far more than starting early.
So what: these six changes redirect existing hours toward the vendors that carry real risk, without lowering the bar anywhere else.
Manual third-party risk assessment doesn't scale as a vendor list grows, and most GRC teams don't have the headcount to keep pace by adding more manual effort. In the Ponemon Institute's 2026 State of Third-Party Risk Assessments survey of 1,465 respondents, only 37% said their team completes an assessment in 40 hours or less. Six practical changes get the rest of that time back, without cutting the scrutiny that matters.
Expert View
Matt Davies Chief Product Officer, SureCloud |
What our experts say about embedding TPRM before contracts are signed
“The costliest hours in TPRM get spent after a vendor's already under contract, chasing information that should've surfaced during onboarding. I’ve seen the same access request stall for weeks because nobody flagged it early. Pull risk checks into onboarding and most of that back-and-forth disappears.” |
1. Define and Document a Clear Methodology
Decide your approach once, at the start, and write it down. A documented methodology, in line with NCSC's supply chain security guidance, means every assessment follows the same criteria, so results stay comparable and repeatable instead of getting reinvented vendor by vendor.
This matters more as your supplier list grows or shrinks. A methodology built for 50 vendors that has to flex to 500 without becoming unworkable is the actual test of whether it's fit for purpose.
2. Tier Your Vendors
Not every vendor needs the same depth of scrutiny, and treating them as if they do is one of the biggest time drains in TPRM. A consistent, risk-based tiering approach lets you rule out your lowest-risk suppliers quickly and put full effort where it's warranted. See Vendor Tiering 101 for the full four-tier framework and scoring criteria.
3. Automate the Administrative Work
Sending assessments, chasing responses, tracking what's outstanding, none of this needs a person doing it manually. Automation is where most of the recoverable time in TPRM sits. See Automate Vendor Risk Assessments at Scale for what that looks like end to end.
4. Consider Outsourcing, With Eyes Open
Outsourcing TPRM entirely can be the right call for some organisations. Specialist expertise, no hiring or training overhead, and a team focused only on third-party risk are the appeal. It also means handing part of the risk process to an external party, which can slow down how quickly a business responds to emerging or unusual risks. Weigh it against your own team's capacity and the criticality of the vendors involved before treating it as the default choice.
5. Lean on Existing Assurance
If a vendor already holds a current, in-scope, accredited certification, most commonly SOC 2 or ISO 27001, that certification has already been through rigorous independent testing. Re-running a full assessment on top of it duplicates work that's already been done properly.
Validate that the certificate is current, covers the right systems and services, and comes from an accredited body. Once that's confirmed, you can proportionately scale back what you ask for directly.
6. Bring Internal Teams In Early
The costliest time loss in TPRM comes from discovering risk after a vendor is already onboarded and under contract, when there's little room left to act on what you find. Embedding third-party risk checks into procurement and onboarding from the start protects the time saved by the five tips above.
Time saved in TPRM comes from putting the right amount of effort in the right place, without spending any of it twice.
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