What You Don’t Know About Your Supply Chain Can Hurt You

Why transparency, real-time risk scoring, and operational oversight are now critical for regulated industries

In the past, the supply chain was viewed primarily as a cost centre or a logistical function. Today, it's front and centre in boardroom conversations—a source of strategic value and a critical vector of risk.

From insurers and financial services firms to healthcare providers and government agencies, the reliance on external suppliers, service providers, and digital vendors has grown exponentially. But so too has the complexity and opacity of these networks.

And when something goes wrong—whether it’s a cyber incident, regulatory breach, or operational failure—it often starts with a single point of failure buried deep in the supply chain.

The message is clear:

👉 What you don’t know can—and will—hurt you.

Supply Chains in 2025: Complex, Fast-Moving, and High-Risk

Organisations today manage hundreds—sometimes thousands—of vendors and third parties. These aren’t just traditional suppliers either. They're cloud providers, data processors, logistics partners, outsourced service desks, and more.

Every one of them is a potential weak link.

And in the insurance sector, where third-party dependencies are deeply embedded in underwriting, claims, and distribution workflows, these risks become even more critical. A single disruption can cascade across the business, harming policyholders, breaching SLAs, and drawing the attention of regulators.

Common vulnerabilities include:

• Incomplete or outdated due diligence on vendors

• Lack of ongoing monitoring for compliance or cybersecurity health

• No real-time alerts for changes in risk status

• Manual onboarding and fragmented risk assessments

• Hidden fourth- and fifth-party dependencies

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The Regulatory Squeeze: DORA and Beyond

Governments and regulators are responding. The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) in the EU is a landmark example. It mandates that financial institutions, including insurers:

• Continuously assess and monitor third-party risk

• Maintain a register of outsourced services

• Conduct resilience testing

• Ensure incident reporting and response plans are in place

  
  

And the message is consistent globally—from the UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to the US SEC’s cybersecurity disclosure rules.

Resilience is now a regulatory obligation—not just a best practice.

The Problem? Most Organisations Lack Visibility

Despite the growing regulatory pressure and operational risk, many firms still rely on disconnected tools: spreadsheets, email chains, siloed procurement software. This creates a fragmented view of vendor health—and a false sense of security.

You can’t manage what you can’t see.

Which is why Albany Group built Conect™.

Conect™: One Platform. Full Visibility.

Conect™ is a configurable, intelligent risk management platform built specifically for regulated industries. It gives organizations a single source of truth for third-party data and risk intelligence.

With Conect, you can:

✅ Centralise all third-party and supply chain data - No more chasing details across spreadsheets and inboxes. Everything is unified, searchable, and secure.

✅ Automate onboarding and due diligence - Streamline workflows and ensure consistent assessments—at scale.

✅ Monitor vendor risk in real time - Track compliance, cybersecurity posture, financial health, and other risk signals—continuously.

✅ Receive instant alerts for red flags - If a vendor’s risk profile changes or they fall out of compliance, Conect tells you—immediately.

✅ Generate audit-ready reports for regulators - DORA and other frameworks require documentation. Conect makes it effortless.

✅ Understand fourth- and fifth-party dependencies - Go beyond the surface and map out your full risk landscape—so you're never blindsided.

A Real-World Example: Insurer X

One global insurer was managing 300+ third parties across five regions—with no centralised platform. Risk scoring was manual, time-consuming, and often missed key changes (like expired cyber certifications or legal disputes).

By implementing Conect, they:

• Reduced vendor onboarding time by 60%

• Identified 25 previously unknown high-risk suppliers

• Created a DORA-compliant third-party risk register in under two weeks

• Increased resilience reporting speed by 80%

  
  

Supply Chain Risk Is No Longer Optional

Whether you're preparing for DORA, responding to an incident, or planning your next phase of growth, one thing is certain:You need a clear, dynamic view of your supply chain risk—now more than ever.

With Conect, Albany Group gives you that power.

Don’t wait for a breach or compliance failure to realise what’s missing.

🔗 Learn how we help insurers and regulated businesses turn complex supply chains into manageable, resilient ecosystems:👉 www.albanygrp.com