Govern & Assure
Clarity Third-Party Risk Management
Manage supplier cyber risk throughout the relationship, not just at onboarding, with supplier records, tiering, assessments, findings, actions, and review cycles in the Clarity Managed Platform.
- A central view of your suppliers
- Risk-based supplier tiering
- Structured due diligence
- Findings and actions kept visible
- Ongoing reassessment
Most organisations rely heavily on suppliers, SaaS providers, MSPs, and other third parties. The challenge is not recognising that supplier risk matters. it is having the time, structure, and visibility to manage it properly as suppliers, services, and dependencies change.
Too often, supplier assurance is concentrated at onboarding. A questionnaire is completed, the supplier is approved, and meaningful review becomes difficult to maintain afterwards. Over time, the information becomes stale, and it gets harder to know which suppliers need attention, which assessments are overdue, and where unresolved issues remain.
Clarity gives you a structured way to manage that lifecycle. Suppliers can be recorded and risk-tiered, questionnaires and evidence collected, findings and actions tracked, and reassessments scheduled according to risk rather than treating every supplier the same way.
You can use Clarity with your own team or add Blackfoot expertise where it helps, from supplier assessments and response reviews through to a more actively managed TPRM programme. Supplier acceptance and risk ownership remain with you.
Get a quote for Clarity Third-Party Risk Management
Tell us your scope and objectives, and we’ll come back with a clear, fixed proposal, usually the same working day.
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- UK-based specialists
- Crown Commercial Service supplier
How it works
- 01
Understand your supplier landscape
We start with the suppliers you rely on, how supplier risk is managed today, who owns the relationships, and where the current process is creating gaps or unnecessary effort.
- 02
Configure the TPRM environment
We establish the supplier structure, risk tiers, questionnaires, workflows, ownership, and review approach within Clarity.
- 03
Bring your suppliers into Clarity
Existing supplier information can be loaded into Clarity, giving you a structured starting point rather than building the supplier register again from scratch.
- 04
Assess and prioritise
Suppliers are profiled and tiered, appropriate questionnaires issued, and responses captured, with deeper review for higher-risk suppliers.
- 05
Manage findings and follow-up
Responses, identified weaknesses, and recommendations are tracked through Clarity, with ownership and next actions kept visible.
- 06
Reassess and maintain oversight
Supplier risk is revisited as circumstances change, with dashboards and reporting providing a portfolio-level view of where attention is needed.
Focus effort where supplier risk is greatest
Not every supplier needs the same level of scrutiny.
A provider with privileged access to critical systems should not necessarily follow the same assurance process as a low-risk supplier with no access to sensitive data. Clarity lets you tier suppliers by factors such as business importance, access, and potential impact, so the depth and frequency of assurance can match the risk.
That gives you a more scalable way to manage a growing supplier estate without either ignoring lower-profile suppliers or applying heavyweight assessment to everyone.
Keep supplier risk current after onboarding
Third-party risk does not stop once a contract is signed. Services change, integrations grow, suppliers gain new access, and the organisation's dependency on them can increase.
Clarity keeps the supplier record, previous assessments, findings, and ongoing actions together so reassessment can be driven by risk, significant change, or the normal review cycle rather than starting again each time.
The result is a more useful view of risk across your supplier base, rather than a collection of questionnaires completed at different points in the past.
What you get
A central view of your suppliers
Maintain supplier records, ownership, tiering, assessments, and status in one structured environment.
Risk-based supplier tiering
Prioritise assurance according to the importance and risk of the supplier, rather than applying the same process to everyone.
Structured due diligence
Issue questionnaires, collect responses, and retain supporting information against the supplier record.
Findings and actions kept visible
Track weaknesses, recommendations, and follow-up activity so supplier issues do not disappear once the initial assessment is complete.
Ongoing reassessment
Schedule repeat assessments and review supplier risk as services, access, dependencies, or other circumstances change.
Help with supplier assessments
Run the process internally or bring in Blackfoot for supplier assessments, response review, higher-assurance work, or ongoing programme support.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to what prospective clients ask us most.
Do we need to assess every supplier the same way?
No. Effort should match the supplier's risk and importance. Clarity lets you tier suppliers by factors such as the services they provide, access to systems or data, business dependency, and potential impact, so lower-risk suppliers follow a lighter process and more important ones receive greater scrutiny.
Is TPRM just about sending questionnaires?
No. Questionnaires are useful for collecting information, but they are only one part of supplier risk management. The wider process includes understanding which suppliers matter, assessing risk, reviewing findings, making risk decisions, following up on weaknesses, and reassessing suppliers as the relationship changes. Clarity keeps those activities connected rather than treating the questionnaire as the end of the process.
What happens if a supplier has security weaknesses?
A weakness does not automatically mean rejecting the supplier. It needs to be considered in context, including the supplier's role, the potential impact, and any mitigating controls. Depending on significance, the next step could be remediation, additional assurance, risk acceptance, contractual measures, or escalation within your organisation.
Clarity keeps those findings, decisions, and follow-up actions visible. The final decision on accepting supplier risk remains with you.
How often should suppliers be reassessed?
There should not be one arbitrary frequency for every supplier. Reassessment should reflect supplier criticality, current risk, significant changes, contract or renewal points, and any events that alter your confidence in the supplier. Clarity lets you schedule reassessment around that risk rather than relying only on a blanket annual cycle.
We already have a supplier list. Do we have to start again?
No. You can bring existing supplier information into Clarity as part of setup, then assign ownership, tier suppliers, and move them through the appropriate assurance process. Outputs from earlier Blackfoot supplier assessments or TPRM work also give the platform a stronger starting point.
Can Blackfoot run the supplier assessments for us?
Yes. You can use Clarity with your own team, or Blackfoot can take a more active role in activities such as supplier onboarding, questionnaire review, follow-up, and risk-based recommendations. Where a supplier needs a higher level of assurance, more detailed evidence review, remediation support, or a second-party assessment can be scoped separately.
Do we actually need a risk management platform?
For most organisations, the difficulty is not identifying risks once. It is keeping the register current, making sure treatments progress, getting owners to review their risks, and maintaining a useful view as the business changes.
Clarity Risk Management gives that process structure. Risks, treatments, actions, owners, and review cycles stay connected, reducing reliance on spreadsheets, manual chasing, and individual knowledge.
If you are comfortable managing risk through periodic reviews, manual tracking, and a lower level of ongoing visibility, you may not need a dedicated risk management platform yet.
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