OneTrust Acquires Shared Assessments

SOURCE: OneTrust

Shared Assessments, a global membership organization focused on third party risk management tools, best practices, professional certifications and findings, is now part of OneTrust, a fast-growing data privacy, compliance and governance enterprise platform backed by several top VCs. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The Shared Assessment and OneTrust partnership will transform third-party risk governance and will be a game-changer in the global marketplace and the industry,” said Alpa Inamdar, Global Head of Third Party Governance Advisory, BNY Mellon.

Recent global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Solar Winds exposure have exacerbated the challenges of managing third-party risk, and the invalidation of the EU-US Privacy Shield (Schrems II) is forcing organizations to reevaluate thousands of third-party data transfers.

Forrester research notes that “The number of third parties requiring vetting, monitoring, and mitigation far exceed the capacity of most TPRM teams, so they only focus on those considered ‘critical.’”

“We believe standardization is the future of the third-party risk management market,” said Kabir Barday, CEO, OneTrust. “The Shared Assessments SIG is already one of the most widely used standards in the world, and together we can further invest in the SIG’s technology, global reach, and adoption so we can make it the ubiquitous global standard. We also recognize it is critical Shared Assessments continues to operate with a wide variety of industry players and is guided by their standards board and advisory committees.”

OneTrust intends to sustain Shared Assessments’ status and role as a respected, member-driven industry organization, noting that the organization’s integrity is vital to its emerging role as a global standard for third-party risk.

The acquisition enables Shared Assessments to continue to scale the availability and adoption of its tools and risk management resources, including its Standardized Information Gathering Questionnaire (SIG), which is used by more than 15,000 companies globally. Expansions of the SIG under consideration include:

– Global reach: Making the SIG globally available in languages around the globe

– International alignment: Aligning the SIG more deeply with international frameworks

– Real-time updates: Adapting in real-time based on industry news and events (e.g. COVID, Schrems II)

– Adjacent risk domains: Advance its adoption across multiple risk areas, including ESG

– Technology enhancements: Build an advanced next gen technology platform to make it easier for organizations to adopt and apply the SIG in their programs

The annual Shared Assessments Summit, thought leadership, professional certifications programs and other initiatives will also see investment. Shared Assessments will continue to build its programs, partnerships, and standards supported by its steering committees, advisory boards, licensee partnerships, and member agreements. It plans to continue operating as an open and vendor-neutral industry organization.

“Catherine A. Allen, Shared Assessments founder and interim CEO, said: “Our joint vision of collaborative efforts within the industry will benefit third party risk management as a whole, and enable Shared Assessments to stay at the forefront of the industry and global adoption of standardization.”