Written by Patrick Gully, CRVPM, Director of Contract Review and Vendor Services
For those who haven’t heard of a Business Impact Report, or BIR, it’s an interactive tool Maple Street creates for our clients to help gain an accurate inventory of incomplete vendor contracts for compliance / due diligence throughout the year to maintain an on-going healthy vendor program.
Vendor management is about managing risk, which starts with contract management. You can’t manage risk you don’t know about and blind spots can create big issues.
For example, how many of your contracts have incomplete information? Without information, you can’t take action and that can create risk. How many contracts are in danger of renewing without your knowing? These can rollover without visibility, which can lock you into vendors with breach history, poor controls, concerning financials and increased data security risks. Or, you could have duplicate services contracted by different departments, causing unexplained expenses. In summation, lack of insight means an inability to optimize vendor performance, shifting the power from you to the vendor.
The BIR addresses all these blind spots and more. When a contract is determined to be incomplete, we’ll put forth our best efforts to contact the vendor and resolve the problem for the client. Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, some vendors don’t respond and are uncooperative. Maple Street will add it to the BIR so our client can obtain or provide the missing information. While the client is resolving BIR incompletes, Maple Street is here to help with tips on how to get through to vendors. At the time it is provided, we remove it from the BIR or request additional information.
If you’re a Maple Street client, you’ll find your BIR by logging into CADi. The BIR is located on the left side of the screen under the menu. The more frequently you check your BIR and the more complete it is, the easier your due diligence will become.
The Business Impact Report is just one vendor management tool available to Maple Street clients. When you contract with us, you enter the Vendor Advantage System®, Maple Street’s comprehensive, systems approach to managing vendors, from new vendor selection to terminating vendor relationships. Leveraging the Vendor Advantage System® ensures your program reduces expenses, manages risk and improves vendor performance. Not only does it produce these results, it comes with two guarantees – you’ll save more than you spend and you’ll pass your exam.
So take advantage of the Business Impact Report and transform your vendor management program into a vendor relationship management program. If you need further assistance, give us a call at 800-513-683 or email mssales@maplestreetinc.com. Learn more on our website https://www.maplestreetinc.com.