At a glance
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The Zip team has been really helpful in challenging the muscle memory that exists to show us there's a different way to achieve a better solution.
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- Limited visibility across the risk assessment process and subsequent bottlenecks
- Manual email workflows to coordinate due diligence across teams
- Risk team often brought in too late in the risk process, resulting in rushed assessments
- Complete process visibility with an end-to-end view around requests and timelines
- Automated workflow routing that engages the right stakeholders at the right time
- Ability to track cycle times and identify process improvements with hard facts
Zip recently hosted a webinar on risk orchestration featuring James Drury, Head of Supplier Risk and Assurance at Metro Bank. The session explored the complexities of third-party risk management and how organizations can streamline vendor risk processes through better orchestration. During the webinar, James described Metro Bank’s experience with Zip.
Challenge
James and his team of three support over 200 service owners across the organization, coordinating with subject matter experts in InfoSec, operational resilience, and data protection. Before Zip, the process was fragmented and inefficient.
"We were finding it more challenging to adapt our legacy systems in response to regulatory changes," James explained during the webinar. "We were developing manual workarounds when we hit a brick wall with systems not being able to flex to meet our needs."
The team relied heavily on email workflows to coordinate due diligence, with no visibility into bottlenecks. "We didn't have a collective view of how many requests sat with different colleagues," James noted. Manual processes also meant the risk team was often brought in late, creating intense time pressure for assessments.
Solution
When Metro Bank evaluated solutions, they initially focused on various technical criteria. But conversations with internal stakeholders revealed the core issue. "It became really clear that the most important criteria for us was workflow management and just giving a good level of visibility across what we were doing," James shared. They didn't just need another risk tool, they needed full orchestration.
What stood out about Zip was its flexibility and user-friendly approach. "The workflow builder helps you see the process where there are potential bottlenecks, and it allows you to change things relatively safely," James shared. The platform brings visibility to the entire end-to-end process, allowing the team to see exactly where requests are and identify inefficiencies.
James also praised Zip's implementation support: "The Zip team has been really helpful in challenging some of that muscle memory, to show us there's a different way to achieve a better solution." When issues arose during testing, "the support team has been very responsive, and where we've needed to jump on a call and resolve a problem that's happened very quickly."
Looking Ahead
Metro Bank is now poised to gain insights that were previously impossible. "The big mystery is that I actually don't know at the moment [about cycle times], and that's where I'm looking forward to Zip helping me," James explained. Using Zip’s data on process bottlenecks and cycle times, the team plans to optimize workflows and establish appropriate SLAs with stakeholders.
For other organizations considering similar transformations, James offers clear advice: identify your specific problem by talking to internal stakeholders. "Some of that insight was really super helpful when we were starting to make a decision about which way we wanted to go."
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