As witnessed by the increased market presence (and revenue) of service providers across the globe, outsourcing is here to stay. Competitive prices, better customer service, streamlined processes, etc.; these elements continue to push firms to shift operations to service providers. However, with rising customer expectations and intensifying regulatory pressures, organizations need to stay on top of certain essential aspects, such as third-party risk management and controls operations. In 2019, 91% of respondents to KPMG’s CIO survey felt that they could do more to build customer trust. That says a lot about the current state of the market.
Yet there is still a long way to go to reach that level of trust. Numerous organizations are still heavily focused on cost-saving strategies at the expense of sound risk management. During the COVID-19 crisis, a large IT service provider located in India was the victim of a cybersecurity breach following a ransomware attack, which led to several of their clients being compromised as well. While everyone can and will be subject to such attacks, it should remain a priority for any organization to want to stay in control, no matter whether operations are executed internally or externally.