4-Stage Vendor Risk Management Framework (2026 Edition) | UpGuard

This document presents a four-stage Vendor Risk Management (VRM) framework—covering vendor due diligence and onboarding, risk assessment and continuous monitoring, efficient vendor collaboration, and secure offboarding—and highlights how UpGuard's platform and features (security ratings, questionnaires, attack surface management, Trust Exchange) support each stage to reduce third-party breach risk.