Press Releases

Gives Entry-Level Risk, Data Security, Privacy, Procurement and Compliance Professionals the Core Concepts and Practices Essential for Proficiency; Course Meets Escalating Market Demand.

SANTA FE, NM, June 22, 2021 – The Shared Assessments Program, the member-driven leader in third party risk assurance, today announced the launch of its Third Party Risk Fundamentals Certificate. Participants achieve foundational knowledge in Third Party Risk Management (TPRM).

This certificate-based training gives individuals with limited or no third party risk experience a working understanding of key principles and practices to immediately add value to their team and organization. The training will provide an overview of key third party risk concepts, program components, and processes involved in minimizing risk in third party relationships.

“I have long felt that the Third Party Risk Management industry is in need of a shared curriculum for getting new professionals up to speed quickly. As a rapidly growing provider of solutions in the Third Party Risk Management space, our desire to continue innovating and providing exceptional service to our customers depends a lot on our ability to speak the same TPRM language across our team. We were thrilled to learn of this new course from Shared Assessments and we plan to leverage it as a key resource for helping individuals we hire out of various industries hit the ground running as they join Whistic,” said Nick Sorensen, CEO, Whistic.

The need for the fundamentals training surfaced among the more than 15,000 organizations that now leverage Shared Assessments Third Party Risk Management practices, tools and research. It was built from needs identified by the organization’s members. Shared Assessments’ members include senior risk management and compliance professionals from major corporations and mid-tier companies across a wide range of industries including highly regulated sectors, and risk management consultancies.

Third Party Risk Fundamentals training provides a working baseline understanding of the foundation of vendor risk management. It is designed for entry-level professionals in risk, information security, privacy, procurement and/or compliance functions. Participants may include:

• Onboarding employees who are new to third party risk
• Employees who partner with third party risk groups
• Other stakeholders whose organization’s security, privacy, compliance and risk profile will benefit through their enhanced knowledge of third party risk management.

Among course components are:

• Terminology and drivers for third party risk
• Core structures of a third party risk management program
• Basics of risk control objectives, risk statements, and types of controls
• Components in managing assessments

Shared Assessments founder and interim CEO Catherine A. Allen, said: “The enormous growth in demand for risk, data privacy, and compliance professionals has further escalated over the last 18 months, in tandem with the expanding risk and threat landscape and emergence of new classes of threats whose impacts have proven devastating. This newest program element equips new and recent entrants to risk, management, information security, procurement and compliance with the baseline understanding of core concepts, practices and terminology they need to hit the ground running, interact with senior professionals, and add immediate value.”

Details and Registration

The self-paced, on-demand training consists of 4 sections on which participants are quizzed. The approximate duration of training is 4 hours, and a Certification of Completion is granted to successful participants. CPE approval is currently pending with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).

Course materials include “TPRM Program Workbook: Identifying Your Program’s Components,” a comprehensive primer on third party risk management lexicon, practices, general regulatory context, and the structures, components and operations of a successful TPRM program.

Pricing is $399 for Shared Assessments member companies, and $499 for independent applicants and those from non-member companies. For more information or to register, please visit: https://sharedassessments.org/tprm-fundamentals/

About the Shared Assessments Program

As the only organization that has uniquely positioned and developed standardized resources to bring efficiencies to the market for more than a decade, the Shared Assessments Program has become the trusted source in third party risk assurance. Shared Assessments offers opportunities for members to address global risk management challenges through committees, awareness groups, interest groups and special projects. Join the dialog with peer companies and learn how you can optimize your compliance programs while building a better understanding of what it takes to create a more risk sensitive environment in your organization. For more information, visit https://sharedassessments.org/