With the increasing reliance upon outsourcing in the financial services industry comes the expanded scrutiny of the regulators. Due to unfortunate scenarios of vendors' failure to produce, lack of vendor support in problem times such as natural disasters, and the growing concerns about customer privacy, there has been a Congressional and legal push to increase regulatory supervision over such activities in the financial services industry.

Outsourcing to a vendor requires ongoing oversight and diligence for the life of the relationship. How the institution selects its vendors, negotiates vendor service contracts, communicates with vendor contacts, and manages their relationship, has become of paramount concern to the regulators. Strategic Vendor Management is your go-to source for managing and implementing a third-party risk and due diligence program in your institution.

This manual advises the user to consider existing personal insights and experience, incorporate the organization's prior history, and focus on significant objectives when entering into an outsourcing event. In this manual are examples of outsourcing components such as:

•  Due diligence tools

•  Risk considerations assessment charts

•  Decision processes flowcharts and outlines

•  A request for proposal (RFP)

•  A vendor';s proposal evaluation grid

•  Contracts for different types of outsourcing relationships

•  Checklists for monitoring specific services

•  Sample policy and procedures