What is Vendor Risk Management (VRM)? 2023 Edition | UpGuard

This report is a practical guide to Vendor Risk Management (VRM), outlining the seven-stage vendor lifecycle, steps to build a VRM framework, maturity levels, due diligence checklists, best practices (continuous monitoring, vendor tiering, contract enforcement), and emerging trends such as automation, fourth-party visibility, and AI-enabled assessments. It emphasizes that vendors extend the attack surface and includes case studies demonstrating the operational, financial, and reputational impacts of third-party breaches and the value of mature VRM programs.