By Bryan Sartin, Vice President of Security & Resiliency at Kyndryl

Many organizations are looking outside their own IT departments to expand their digital footprint and power business processes. But a complex IT partner ecosystem could also create several potential risks. 

If a third-party vendor experiences an exposure, breach or downtime, your business could suffer as well. For instance, bad actors may try a third-party entry point to get into your organization’s systems and either infect them, steal data or disrupt business operations.

Consider this: According to a new Kyndryl survey, 52% of organizations said a third-party exposure, breach or downtime would have a very or extremely negative impact on their business if it were to occur.

Understanding an organization’s IT vendor ecosystem can be challenging, as many vendors frequently engage with multiple layers of third, fourth or even fifth outsourced parties. 

At many organizations, third-party risk management resources are limited, with sporadic assessments of third-party risk or reviews by under-resourced teams — that could put the organization at risk. Additionally, compliance and data regulations are also a challenge, especially depending on the industry and geography your organization operates in. 

Strong third-party risk management programs are foundational for organizations to better anticipate IT threats that might impact their operations.

These five strategies can help leaders better mitigate and manage third-party IT risks.