Bringing Enterprise-Grade TPRM to the Mid-Market

Third-party risk management (TPRM) used to be something only the largest, most highly regulated organizations invested in. Big banks, defense contractors, and global enterprises built entire programs to manage vendor risk, but smaller organizations didn’t give it much thought.  

That’s starting to change.

Managed service providers and consulting firms are hearing from more clients that want stronger vendor oversight or have been flagged in audits for not having a TPRM program.  

“For the Fortune 100, TPRM is nothing new,” said Rob Lanni, director and CIO at Vistrada. “What’s changing is that mid- and small-market companies now realize cybersecurity has to extend beyond their walls. With the rise in breaches coming through vendors and partners, you either accept third-party risk in writing, or you remediate it, and most organizations realize they can’t afford to ignore it.”

Vistrada is a consulting and services firm that helps organizations improve operations, manage risk, and drive growth. For this post, we spoke with members of their team about how they’re using Apptega to bring enterprise-grade TPRM to the mid-market.

TPRM Is No Longer Optional

Today, mid-market organizations and smaller enterprises are taking a more proactive approach to third-party risk and treating it as a core part of their overall security strategy, rather than an add-on.

“You can have Fort Knox security around your own systems, but if your gold leaves the facility in a broken-down Pinto, you’re still exposed,” said Matt Malone, director at Vistrada. “Sharing information with a vendor is like handing them a piece of your business. You have to know they’ll protect it.”

Major frameworks such as CMMC, NIST, and ISO include third-party risk management requirements, and organizations that lack a formal program may face audit roadblocks.  

“We had one client that was flagged in an audit by their private equity firm for not having a third-party risk management program in place. But by adopting Apptega, they were able to close that gap immediately,” Lanni said.

Some organizations try to bridge that gap with spreadsheets or questionnaires, but without continuous tracking and scoring, these methods are often inconsistent and difficult to defend during audits.

“For them, it wasn’t just about compliance. They wanted to review critical vendors in a structured way for the first time. That has a huge impact.”

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Making TPRM Achievable for Mid-Market Organizations

The challenge for mid-market organizations has always been access. Enterprise-level TPRM platforms are usually designed for organizations with deep resources and pockets, making it difficult for smaller organizations to get started.  

“Mid-market organizations struggled because the solutions were too expensive and complex,” Lanni explained. “Apptega changes that by delivering the functionality they need at a price point they can handle. It’s their first realistic entry point into TPRM.”

Apptega’s Third-Party Risk Manager, formerly Vendor Risk Manager, is designed to align with industry standards and provide the functionality mid-market organizations need, without stretching budgets.

The most recent update introduced a new scoring system and workflow improvements that make risk assessments more meaningful and actionable. Here’s how the updates benefit Apptega partners like Vistrada and their clients:

• Customizable questionnaires and scoring allow organizations to define response types, scoring logic, and follow-up questions to make sure assessments reflect real risk priorities.

• Automated scoring replaces spreadsheets, providing objective and repeatable ratings for faster decisions.

• Centralized management of questionnaires and vendor outreach saves time and ensures consistent, audit-ready records.

• Inherent and residual risk scoring provides a clear view of vendor vulnerabilities and helps prioritize remediation actions.

• Actionable remediation workflows connect scores to specific tasks, enabling organizations to focus on the highest-impact gaps.

• Defensible reporting gives stakeholders a clear and comparable view of vendor security posture for audits and executive reviews.

With these capabilities, Apptega partners can help mid-market organizations identify high-risk vendors quickly, manage remediation effectively, and meet requirements without the overhead or cost of enterprise-only solutions.

“What we’ve found is that customers who try to implement TPRM on their own struggle,” said Rahul Bakshi, Apptega’s chief product officer. “They might send out a questionnaire in Excel, but then what? How do you grade it? What do you do with the responses? With Apptega, you have an evidence trail, a centralized place to manage vendor data, and a direct connection into your risk register. That’s what makes it real, and that’s why it works.”

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Platform and Partner Approach

Technology alone won’t help you establish an effective TPRM program. Apptega’s platform is complemented by partner expertise to help organizations implement sustainable processes, rather than just adding another tool.

“Apptega gave us the platform, but we built the procedures, policies, and effort around it,” said Malone. “That combination is what drives success. Just having software isn’t enough. You need the framework and the accountability that goes with it.”

For mid-market organizations, many of which have limited internal security resources, this partnership model allows teams to implement TPRM more efficiently than they could on their own.  

The partner makes sure the platform supports ongoing risk assessments, vendor reviews, and executive reporting, creating a sustainable program that’s aligned with regulatory and audit requirements.

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Conclusion

Mid-market organizations can no longer ignore third-party risk, as regulators, auditors, and investors increasingly expect structured vendor risk management programs.  

Apptega’s Third-Party Risk Manager provides a cost-effective and accessible solution that aligns with industry standards, integrates directly with risk registers, and helps organizations act on vendor risk rather than just document it.

With the Apptega platform paired with partner services, organizations can build sustainable TPRM programs that deliver audit confidence and a strong security posture.

Vendor risk is organizational risk, and those in the mid-market now have the tools and support to address it.

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