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IANS Research Launches Vendor Assessment Community to Streamline Security Vendor Selection

May 9, 2023

Unbiased and Independent Perspective Without Vendor Input Will Help Organizations Evaluate Vendors and Support All Stages of Vendor Lifecycle 

Boston, MA – May 9, 2023 – IANS Research, a Boston-based cybersecurity research and advisory firm, today announced the launch of its Vendor Assessment Community (VAC), an unbiased and independent practitioner perspective on InfoSec domains and vendor solutions. Part of the IANS flagship End-User Decision Support offering, VAC will provide members with immediate access to a robust set of resources covering critical InfoSec domains. Community resources are informed by IANS Faculty and industry peers, and do not include input from vendors. 

Finding the right vendor is critical to an organization’s information security strategy, but evaluating, qualifying, and managing vendors is a massive challenge. To help organizations filter through the endless options and identify the right fit, IANS’ VAC streamlines the security vendor decision-making process with real-world implementation experience, unbiased reports, and guidance for specific use cases, including IT environments, size, and maturity. With research and tools developed from peer and Faculty feedback, VAC members can save time and make better-informed decisions by comparing vendors and maximizing vendor spend ROI.  

“The right vendors can significantly influence your cyber resiliency, and the wrong choice can quickly become a nightmare with poor support, hidden costs, or products that promise results but never deliver,” said Dennis van Lingen, Chief Product Officer, IANS Research. “IANS launched its Vendor Assessment Community with IANS Faculty and peer-to-peer experience, without vendor input, to help companies easily identify and evaluate the right vendors for their security needs.” 

“What's exciting about the Vendor Assessment Community is sharing peer-to-peer lessons on the pitfalls and the accelerators of vendor selection. It’s transformative,” said Wolfgang Goerlich, IANS Faculty member. “Those insights are distilled for the people who need them at the right time and at the right place.” 

As practitioners, IANS Faculty and the IANS peer community continually evaluate vendor solutions and share these insights in VAC, so organizations are not starting from scratch. Additionally, VAC members provide valuable case studies detailing their experiences in selecting, implementing, and managing cyber solutions that are helpful in the search for the right vendor fit.  

IANS VAC provides value-added guidance for the entire Vendor Management lifecycle, from identifying and assessing vendors to onboarding vendors and rationalizing the vendor stack. Tools, policies, and guides are available to help at every stage to meet immediate goals and to prepare for the future. 

Additionally, IANS VAC offers many ways to engage with the cyber community to gain helpful insights from vendor successes and/or problems that cause friction, including opportunities to request a call with peers or IANS Faculty.  

To become an IANS client and learn more about its VAC and additional resources available to help streamline the vendor process, visit IANS Research Decision Support

About IANS Research 

For the security practitioner caught between rapidly evolving threats and demanding executives, IANS Research is a clear-headed resource for decision making and articulating risk. IANS Research provides experience-based security insights for Chief Information Security Officers and their teams. Its core value comes from the IANS Faculty, a network of over 100 seasoned practitioners. IANS Research supports client decisions and executive communications with Ask-an-Expert inquiries, its peer community, implementation-focused tools and templates, professional development and consulting. Learn more at IANSresearch.com. 

Media Contact 

Angelique Faul  
angelique@silverjacket.net