Service Provider Assessment Framework

Service Provider

Assessment Framework

A Platform for Building Synergies between Clients and

Service Providers for Trusted Global Sourcing

A Study Report

Data Security Council of India in collaboration with Ernst & Young

December 2010

Under Cyber Security Awareness Program,

an independent Self Regulatory Organization (SRO) to promote data protection, develop security and

privacy codes & standards, and encourage the IT/BPO industry to implement the same.

For more information about DSCI or this report, please contact:

Data Security Council of India

Niryat Bhawan, 3rd Floor, Rao Tula Ram Marg, New Delhi – 110057, India

Phone: +91-11-26155070

Fax: +91-11-26155072

Email: [email protected]

© 2010 DSCI. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer

This document contains information that is Intellectual Property of DSCI.

DSCI expressly disclaims to the maximum limit permissible by law, all

warranties, express or implied, including, but not limiting to implied warranties

of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. DSCI

disclaims responsibility for any loss, injury, liability or damage of any kind resulting

from and arising out of use of this material/information or part thereof. Views

expressed herein are views of DSCI and/or its respective authors and should not

The IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 has established a strong data protection regime in the country,

by requiring body corporates to implement ‘reasonable security practices’ to protect ‘sensitive

personal information’. What is ‘reasonable security’ though? An organization is expected to have

a comprehensive information security program, with appropriate controls that are commensurate

with its information assets and risk assessment. In the event of a security breach, it should be able

to demonstrate that its practices were in conformance with its written security policy, and that its

controls were adequate. It is, however not that easy, since enterprises are outsourcing some of their

work, and they must manage information risk across a vast global network of Service Providers.

Outsourcing thus brings into focus the practices followed by Service Providers, and

their accountability.

Service Providers are subjected to ongoing assessments and on-site audits, which are

labor-intensive and costly for both the sides. Likewise, Service Providers with hundreds of Clients

distributed in various geographies must submit themselves to several audits by the Clients.

Moreover, the multiple assessments are based on different frameworks, questionnaires and audit

approaches – clearly they result in wasted effort and time; and, of course, higher costs. It is the wish

of both - Clients and Service Providers - that third-party evaluations that are standards-based, or

framework-based, may ease the assessment burden. But how do they view the implementation of

a standard, or best practices for security; and an assessment framework to validate that this has

indeed made the organization secure? Again both of them will have a different perspective on this.

Can enterprises take a methodical approach to assessing and managing the risks through

frameworks like ISO 27001; BITS Shared Assessment Program, Moody’s Vendor Information Risks

ratings, Information Security Forum, COSO, NIST or COBIT? Will attestation of a Service Provider’s

practices necessarily be in the form of a third-party certification, or a maturity rating of its practices?

With DSCI best practices and data-centric methodology, we’ve rolled out a solution for adoption by

Service Providers to make them secure. DSCI Security Framework (DSF

) is based on a number of

security principles, that help make the security program of an organization dynamic, instead of a static

checklist approach that relies on bulky documentation. We wanted to review the available assessment

frameworks, to see how DSF

could fit into them, and how rating of practices may give a sense of

security to organizations, and also show them the direction for improvements. In short, it’ll help realize

an effective security program, and transparent assessment framework, that may address the concerns

of both Clients and Service Providers. In the process, ‘reasonable security practices’ will

get implemented.

It is with this in view that DSCI partnered with Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd. (EY) in this study, which required

extensive knowledge and experience in the domain, to review the existing frameworks and think

through the advantages of certification/ratings. Survey of Clients and Service Providers, based on an

in-depth questionnaire gives key pointers to the concerns of both the groups, and points towards a

possible third-party ratings approach that may be useful and acceptable to both, namely Clients and

Service Providers.

I would like to acknowledge the great team effort of DSCI and EY in conducting this study, and creating

a useful analysis. I hope this report will generate sufficient interest among Clients, Service Providers,

and even governments and regulators that will help DSCI arrive at the right decisions in taking the next

steps in certification/rating of Service Providers.

Kamlesh Bajaj

The study team

Data Security Council of India

Mr. Vinayak Godse

Director – Data Protection

Mr. Vikram Asnani

Senior Consultant – Security Practices

Mr. Rahul Jain

Senior Consultant – Security Practices

Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd.

Ms. Nity Singh

Manager – Advisory Services

Mr. Taslimm Quraishi

Manager – Advisory Services

Mr. Lalit Kalra

Consultant – Advisory Services

DSCI Project Advisory Group

Prof. N. Balakrishnan

Chairman DSCI and Associate Director, Indian Institute

of Science (IISc), Bangalore

Mr. B.J. Srinath

Senior Director, Indian Computer Emergency Response

Team (CERT-In)

Prof. Anjali Kaushik

Management Development Institute, Gurgaon

Mr. Akhilesh Tuteja

Executive Director, KPMG

Mr. Kartik Shahani

Country Manager, India & SAARC, RSA

Mr. Satish Das

CSO, Cognizant

Mr. Baljinder Singh

Global Head of Technology, Information Security &

Business Continuity, EXL Service (I) Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Vishal Salvi

CISO, HDFC Bank Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Ashwani Tikoo

CIO, Computer Sciences Corporation India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. PVS Murthy

Global Head – Information Risk Management

Advisory, TCS

Mr. Deepak Rout

CISO, Uninor

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Executive summary

Businesses today are global, complex and fast evolving, and technology has made

business transactions independent of space and time. This has enabled businesses to

focus on its core competencies and outsource non-core business operations to Service

Providers, who are capable of providing services to the businesses from around the

world round the clock. Information Security and Privacy becomes crucial when it comes

to outsourcing as technology enables free flow of information across borders between

Clients and Service Providers. This information could be business sensitive information

and / or sensitive personal information of the Clients’ end customers including but not

limited to health related information, credit card details, social security number, etc.

Also, stringent global data protection regulations make the businesses liable for loss,

misuse, wrongful disclosure of any personal information of any citizen – irrespective

whether the failure is at outsourcers’ end or Service Provider’s end.

The Indian IT/BPO Service Providers are striving hard to ensure that security and

privacy of data is well maintained. They follow stringent security controls specified by

the Clients through contractual obligations. The Clients conduct regular Information

Security and Privacy assessments of the Service Providers to ensure compliance

with the contractual obligations and / or regulatory requirements or to simply assess

the security posture of Service Providers. In this outsourcing ecosystem, many

Clients have developed and applied their own proprietary assessment frameworks for

evaluating their Service Providers. Service Providers, on the other hand, strain their

resources to respond to diverse client information requests. This isolated approach

proves to be an inefficient and costly affair, both for the Clients and the Service

Providers. Inconsistencies arising from use of different assessment methodologies

cause delays, resulting in inefficient use of time and resources. Aggravating the

problem is the unavailability of generally accepted standard for Service Provider

assessments. To overcome these issues and challenges, DSCI as an industry initiative

seeks to establish a well defined Service Provider Assessment Framework in order to

have a common assessment approach that can be used to assess different

Service Providers.

This study especially through its survey attempts to understand the perspective of

Client and Service Provider organizations with respect to Service Provider assessments

and takes inputs to define a Service Provider Assessment Framework.

The survey results reveal that:

DSCI should play a vital role in conducting Service Provider assessments and sharing

the outcome in the ecosystem. It should:

have an Service Provider assessment program that comprises of framework, processes,

•

and methodology for assessments

provide an organization wide security and privacy maturity rating, and domain specific

•

maturity rating that may be shared in the ecosystem after taking the due permission of the

Service Providers

A new standard mapped to prevalent standards should be considered as a potential

assessment standard for third party assessments of Service Providers

DSCI as an industry initiative and a Self Regulatory Organization having

•

representation from both the Client and Service Provider organizations should

empanel auditing firms for conducting independent third party assessments of

Service Providers

The study also focused on understanding of various assessment models which included

Malcolm Baldrige Framework, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), CRISIL

Ratings, BITS framework, e-Sourcing Capability Model (eSCM), Moody’s assessment

framework. The study of assessment models reveals that:

Service Provider Assessment Framework should be easy to comprehend and

adaptable regardless of size of the organization and nature/ complexity of its

processes

The framework assessment areas should be outlined in the form of best practices

rather than a stringent set of controls. This would provide an opportunity to

organizations for implementing / performing the control activities according to the

needs of the organization specific environment

The framework should follow a process-approach and outline measurable

assessment areas

It should be reviewed and updated (if required) on a periodic basis

The maturity criteria should be transparent, and should help in assigning a formal

maturity rating to a Service Provider

Overall, DSCI may develop a Service Provider Assessment Framework that is aligned

to DSF

Best Practices & the maturity criteria defined for each of its sixteen security

disciplines and the study results elucidated in this report; and make it popular in the

ecosystem by performing pilot runs. The framework may follow a CMMI-like rating

Introduction

...

1

Survey Highlights

...

5

Detailed Survey Results

...7

Key drivers for Service Provider assessments

...7

Scale of Service Provider assessments

...

9

Current assessment program/ mechanism

...

11

Focus on Data Privacy in Service Provider assessments

...13

Types of Service Provider assessments

...

14

Level of perceived risk – IT services ...

15

Level of perceived risk – BPO services ...17

Risk profiling of Service Providers ...

18

Frequency of Service Provider assessments

...

19

Budget and cost for Service Provider assessments

...

21

Modes of Service Provider assessments ...23

Service Provider assessment challenges

...

25

Service Provider assessments – solutions and future landscape ...27

Influence of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 on Service Provider assessments ...

29

Third party assessments

...31

Third party assessors

...33

Standards for Service Provider assessments

...35

Role of DSCI in Service Provider assessments

...37

Outcome of Service Provider assessments ...39

Sharing of Service Provider assessment results

...

41

Recommendations

...43

Annexure

...

45

Glossary

...57

References

...57

Background

As buyers of Information Technology (IT) and Business Process

Outsourcing (BPO) services become increasingly sophisticated

and demanding, Service Providers are challenged to achieve

new levels of efficiency, agility and transparency in service

delivery and protection of information. Clients increasingly

expect real evidence of robust process management, continuous

improvement, effective governance, and measures adopted for

ensuring Information Security and Privacy.

Objective

DSCI engaged EY to study the current landscape of Service

Provider (IT/BPO organizations) assessments conducted by the

Client organizations, and assist in documenting the assessment

approach that may be adopted in order to minimize the challenges

of both, Client and Service Provider organizations, with an intent

of evaluating and reporting on Information Security and Privacy

posture of the Service Providers.

Approach

In order to achieve the project objectives, the joint study team

undertook the following steps:

Primary research

•

: A survey of Client and Service Provider

organizations was undertaken to gain an insight into the current

Service Provider assessment program. The survey covered the

following aspects:

The value that various Service Provider assessments conducted by

•

Client organizations bring to the Service Providers

Investments made, and challenges faced by the Service Provider

•

and Client organizations in driving such assessments

Possible solutions for overcoming the current challenges

•

Role of DSCI and third parties in Service Provider assessments

•

Secondary research

•

: A study was undertaken to document

the pros and cons of prevalent assessment frameworks like

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), BITS shared

assessment program, Carnegie Mellon University e-Sourcing

Capability Model (eSCM), etc. The list of assessment frameworks

was documented on the basis their widespread use, and

international recognition in performing assessments. The study

areas included the following:

Assessment areas / ease of use by the organization being

•

assessed

Assessment methodology / scoring pattern / process of sharing

•

assessment results

Acceptability / popularity of the framework

•

Independence of examiners

•

Frequency of framework update to cater to future requirements

•

The team also studied DSCI Security Framework (DSF

)

Best Practices and maturity rating criteria for each of its sixteen

disciplines to gather inputs (in addition to the inputs provided by

primary and secondary research) for defining Service Provider

Assessment Framework.

Profile of participants

The survey respondents were a set of Client and Service

Provider organizations. The respondents were majorly from

Information Technology (IT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO),

Telecommunications and Financial Services verticals. Correspondingly,

the survey results have been divided into two perspectives – Clients’

perspective and Service Providers’ perspective, and may be

read accordingly.

Industry wise distribution

KPO BPO IT Services 42.00% 50.00% 8.00%

Client organizations

Service Provider organizations

37.00%

18.00% 36.00%

9.00%

Industry wise distribution

Telecommunication Banking Technology Financial Services

Service Provider Assessment Framework 6 $ 1 billion to $ 9 billion 4 $ 100 million to $ 249 million 1 $ 10 billion to $ 24 billion 1 Less than $ 100 million

Number of Service Providers Number of Client organizations

3 3

1 2 More than $ 24 billion

$ 1 billion to $ 24 billion $ 100 million to $ 249 million Less than $ 100 million

Client organizations

Service Provider organizations

The sample size selected for the survey was limited and this should be

taken into consideration when interpreting the survey results.

Service Provider assessments are conducted by Client organizations

•

in order to protect business sensitive information, and mitigate security

& privacy risks while outsourcing work to Indian IT/ BPO companies.

These assessments help Service Provider organizations to align

security & privacy initiatives to their Client’s requirements and build on

the existing relationship with the Clients

Comprehensive risk based assessments covering all the domains of

security are carried out annually by majority of Client organizations.

Vulnerability assessments and penetration testing continue to display

strong acceptance (100%) by Client organizations in Service Provider

assessment programs

Most of the Service Provider organizations reported that ISO 27001

•

controls checklist is used as a mechanism by their Clients for

conducting assessments. On the other hand, Client organizations

revealed that a proprietary Service Provider assessment program has

been developed to conduct Service Provider assessments

Provisions of the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 (ITAA 2008) need to be

appropriately incorporated in the Client-Service Provider contracts

High number of assessments around the year is the most critical

challenge faced by Service Providers at the time of assessments,

followed by meeting diverse & varied assessment. Whereas for

Clients, rising legal liabilities, regulatory requirements, level of security

awareness in the Service Providers, ensuring compliance by Service

Providers, and Service Provider commitment to ensure Information

Security & Privacy are some of the critical challenges faced in

assessing Service Providers

Currently, Service Provider assessments are majorly conducted

onsite by Client’s internal staff. Majority of the Client organizations

indicated that auditing firms empanelled by a joint industry consortium

of outsourcers and the Service Providers could act as the third party

assessors for conducting independent Service Provider assessments

More than half of the Service Provider respondents suggested that

•

DSCI should have a Service Provider assessment program that

comprises of framework, processes, methodology for assessments

Clients and Service Providers reveal that third parties should conduct

Service Provider assessments, based on a standardized assessment

methodology. This would save costs and efforts by avoiding the need

for conducting assessments of multiples Service Providers

Both Client and Service Provider respondents suggested a new

standard mapped to ISO 27001, NIST –SP, COBIT, ITIL etc. that meets

all the regulatory requirements like GLBA, HIPAA, PCI DSS etc., as a

potential assessment standard for third party assessments of

Service Providers

DSCI should provide organization wide security and privacy maturity

•

Key drivers for Service Provider assessments

The survey results reflect that majority of the Clients consider

protecting business sensitive information, and mitigating security

& privacy risks as the critical business drivers for conducting

Service Provider assessments. On the other hand, Service

Providers report that Client’s corporate policy requirements, and

achieving end customer confidence are the main reasons which

drive their Clients to conduct assessments.

Detailed survey

results

Clients’ perspective

Business drivers for conducting Service Provider assessments

88.89%

88.89%

77.78%

77.78%

55.55% Protecting business sensitive information including

intellectual property Mitigating security and privacy risks that exist in outsourcing arrangements To address the security and privacy concerns of some of the key stakeholders within our organization

Strengthening of data protection regime in the geographies where we operate, stipulating stringent requirements and heavy fines for a data breach Data protection regulations demand our organization to undertake regular assessments of third parties

44.44% Our corporate policies require us to undertake a

comprehensive vendor risk assessment Achieving end customer confidence and preventing loss of reputation by mitigating risks of privacy/ information leakage that may arise at Service Provider end

‘Service Provider assessment as a mechanism to foster a culture

of compliance’ was selected by the least number (thirty three

percent) of Clients while the same response was selected by fifty

percent of the Service Provider organizations, as a reason for

conducting assessments.

Reasons that drive Clients to conduct Service Provider assessments

66.67% 66.67% 58.33% 58.33% 50.00% 50.00% 41.67% 41.67% To address the security and privacy concerns of

some of the key stakeholders in Client organization Protecting business sensitive information including intellectual property Clients use Service Provider assessments as a mechanism to foster a culture of compliance at all its Service Providers and introducing a sense of competition among them with regards to fulfillment of their data security and data privacy needs Clients’ corporate policies require them to undertake a comprehensive vendor risk assessment Achieving end customer confidence and preventing loss of reputation by mitigating risks of privacy/ information leakage that may arise at Service Provider end

Mitigating security and privacy risks that exist in outsourcing arrangements

Data protection regulations demand Client organization to undertake regular assessments of third parties. Strengthening of data protection regime in the Client geographies that stipulate stringent requirements and heavy fines for a data breach

Service Providers’ perspective

Protecting business

sensitive information

and mitigating security

and privacy risks are

the major drivers for

conducting Service

Provider assessments

Scale of Service Provider assessments

The survey results show that the number of Service Provider

assessments is directly proportional to the number of Clients or Service

Providers that an organization is engaged with. This is proven by the

fact that Clients working with 500 Service Providers conduct more

than 100 Service Provider assessments annually, and those with 200

& 300 Service Providers conduct 10-50 and 50-100 Service Provider

assessments respectively. Also, Service Providers engaged with 800

Clients undergo 100-200 assessments annually, and those with 700 &

600 Clients undergo 50-100 assessments respectively 50-100

assessments respectively.

Number of Service Providers the organization is engaged with

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Number of Sevice Providers Clients 11.11% 0-5 22.22% 5-10 44.44% 10-50

Number of Service Provider assessments conducted

11.11% 11.11% Above 100 Number of annual assessments 50-100

Clients’ perspective

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Service Providers’ perspective

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Number of Clients Service Providers

Number of Service Provider assessments faced

9.09%

Number of annual assessments

36.36% 50-100 Above 400 27.27% 200-400 9.09% 100-200 18.18% 10-50 0.00% 0-10

Current assessment program/ mechanism

Proprietary Service Provider assessments followed by SAS 70 and ISO

27001 checklist are the most commonly adopted assessment programs/

mechanisms by Client organizations.

On the other hand, more than ninety percent Service Providers reported

that their Clients use ISO 27001 checklist for conducting assessments.

This is closely followed by proprietary assessment programs and

assessment programs of Client appointed external auditors (sixty seven

percent each).

The survey further revealed that majority of the Client organizations

do not consider ISO 27001 certification as an alternative to conducting

Service Provider assessments.

Interestingly, the survey also highlighted that BITS Shared Assessment

Program is not used by any of the Client organizations for conducting

Service Provider assessments.

77.78% 44.44% 44.44% 33.33% 22.22% 22.22% 11.11% 0.00% ISO 27001 controls checklist

BITS shared assessment program Assessment program developed by our organization (proprietary)

Reliance on Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 70 report provided by the auditing firm assessing your Service Providers Asking the Service Providers to get ISO 27001 certified thereby eliminating the need for getting assessed

Use pre-defined controls list provided by an assessment tool Asking the Service Providers to provide self declaration/attestation for compliance to our security policies/requirements Assessment program of the appointed external auditor

Service Provider assessment program/mechanism used by the organization

Clients’ perspective

Service Provider Assessment Framework

78% Client

organizations use

proprietary assessment

programs for conducting

Service Provider

assessments. However,

the Service Providers

report that their

Clients use ISO 27001

checklist for conducting

security and privacy

assessments

Programs / mechanisms used by Clients for conducting assessments

91.67% 66.67% 66.67% 41.67% 25.00% 16.67% 16.67% 0.00% ISO 27001 controls checklist

BITS shared assessment program

Others Use pre-defined controls list provided by an assessment tool Providing self declaration / attestation for compliance to client security policies/ requirements Getting ISO 27001 certification eliminates the need for getting assessed Assessment program of the client appointed external auditor Assessment program developed by the client (proprietary)

Focus on Data Privacy in Service Provider assessments

The survey reveals that majority of the Client organizations cover

privacy during Service Provider assessments. Contrastingly, majority

of the Service Providers report that privacy is not covered as part of

the assessments.

Eleven percent of the Client organizations also revealed that privacy

is not covered as part of Service Provider assessments. Also, Client

organizations seem to be satisfied with the current focus on privacy as

no Clients foresee the need for a change in the privacy focus in Service

Provider assessment programs.

Privacy is not covered 11.00%

56.00% 33.00%

Coverage of privacy in Service Provider assessments

Strongly Moderately Needs improvement (0%)

Coverage of privacy in Service Provider assessments

41.67% 25.00%

33.33%

Minority of clients’ Service Providers Majority of clients’ Service Providers

Clients’ perspective

Service Providers’ perspective

Majority of the Service

Providers report that

their Clients do not

cover Privacy during

assessments while

Clients strongly

perpetuate the coverage

of Privacy in Service

Provider assessments

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Clients’ perspective

Service Providers’ perspective

Types of Service Provider assessments

Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing as a methodology of

Service Provider assessments has a strong acceptance (100%) from

Client organizations.

While only twenty five percent of Service Providers reveal line of service

specific assessments is considered important by

their Clients, Client organizations give more importance to

these assessments.

Service Providers reveal that

Client organizations display

a strong propensity towards

undertaking comprehensive

risk-based assessments,

and compliance based

assessments

Different types of Service Provider assessments conducted by the organization

100.00%

88.89%

77.78%

77.78% Risk based assessments

Lines of Service specific assessment (e.g. conducting application security assessment for application development services) Technical: vulnerability assessment and penetration testing

Regulatory / Compliance: Assessments to check compliance with applicable regulations (e.g. HIPAA, GLBA) or Assessments based on compliance to Standards like ISO 27001 and PCI DSS

Different types of assessments conducted by Client organizations

100.00%

83.33%

75.00%

75.00%

25.00% Comprehensive risk based assessment

covering all the domains of security Assessment based on well-known standards like ISO 27001 Comprehensive compliance based assessment

Line of Service specific assessment (e.g. conducting application security assessment for application development services) Technical assessment of the IT systems including vulnerability assessment and penetration testing

Level of perceived risk – IT services

Results indicate that Client organizations perceive that outsourcing

Custom Application Development services (seventy eight percent)

involves high risk. This is distantly followed by Infrastructure, Network

and Desktop Outsourcing and Software Deployment and Support at

sixty seven percent each.

Service Providers cited Infrastructure Outsourcing followed by Network

and Desktop Outsourcing as the critical risk areas for Service Provider

assessments.

Clients as well as Service Provider organizations do not attach

importance to IT Education and training services for assessments.

33.33% 11.11% 33.33%

Hardware deployment and support

Level of perceived risks in the services outsourced by Client organizations: IT services

High Medium Low

77.78% 11.11%

Custom application development

55.56% 33.33%

Application management

66.67% 11.11% 11.11%

Infrastructure services outsourcing

66.67% 11.11% 11.11%

Software deployment and support

44.44% 22.22% 22.22%

System integration

44.44% 44.44%

Software testing

66.67% 22.22%

Network and desktop outsourcing

44.44% 33.33%

Hosted application management

44.44% 33.33%

Hosted infrastructure services

33.33% 22.22% 22.22%

Network consulting and integration

11.11% 22.22% 44.44%

IT education and training

22.22% 22.22% 33.33%

IT consulting

Custom Application

Development,

Network and Desktop

Outsourcing together

with Infrastructure

outsourcing are current

watchwords in the

context of Service

Provider assessments

Service Provider Assessment Framework 41.67% 33.33% 25.00% 25.00% 25.00% 16.67% 8.33% 8.33% 8.33% 16.67% 8.33% 33.33% 8.33% 16.67% 8.33% Infrastructure services outsourcing

Level of perceived risks in the services outsourced by Client organizations: IT services

Network and desktop outsourcing Application management Hosted application management Hosted infrastructure services System integration Software testing Custom application development

8.33% 16.67%

Software deployment and support

8.33% 16.67%

Hardware deployment and support

16.67% 8.33% Network consulting and integration

8.33% 16.67%

IT education and training

16.67% 8.33% IT consulting

High Medium Low

Level of perceived risk – BPO services

The survey results indicate that sixty seven percent of Client

organizations and forty two percent of Service Provider organizations

consider that Finance and Accounting services involve high risk.

66.67% 11.11%

Finance and accounting

44.44% 22.22%

Customer interaction and support

44.44% 33.33% 11.11%

Human resource management

44.44% 22.22% 11.11%

Knowledge services

44.44% 22.22% 11.11%

Vertical specific BPO services

22.22% 33.33% 11.11%

Procurement services

High Medium

Level of perceived risks in the service outsourced by Client organizations: BPO services

Low 41.67% 25.00% 25.00% 25.00% 16.67% 8.33% 8.33% 8.33% 16.67% 16.67% 8.33% 8.33% 8.33% 8.33%

Finance and accounting

Level of perceived risks in the service outsourced by Client organizations: BPO services

Customer interaction and support

Human resource management

Knowledge services

Vertical specific BPO services

Procurement services

High Medium Low

Clients’ perspective

Service Providers’ perspective

Finance and Accounting

services are considered

important by majority

of the organizations in

the context of Service

Provider assessments

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Clients’ perspective

Risk profiling of Service Providers

The growing awareness of the risk management in the Indian IT/

BPO industry was clearly evident from the survey, which displayed

that almost ninety percent of the Client organizations undertake a risk

profiling for their Service Providers.

The survey results also emphasize the importance of Information

Security and Privacy with nature and criticality of the business

outsourced along with sensitivity of the data exported to Service

Providers being given the most important criterion for risk profiling.

Undertake risk profiling Do not undertake risk profiling

11.00% 89.00% 88.89% 88.89% 88.89% 66.67% 55.56% 44.44% 44.44% Sensitivity of data exported to the Service Providers

Type of connectivity with the Service Providers

Dependency on the Service Providers Size and maturity of the Service Providers ISMS certification achieved by the Service Providers Nature & criticality of the business/ services outsourced

Security incidents/breaches in the past

Criteria used for risk profiling of Service Providers

89% of the Client

organizations rely

on risk profiling to

determine the frequency

of Service Provider

assessments

Frequency of Service Provider assessments

The fact established in the previous question gets reestablished

by the frequency of Service Provider assessments undertaken by

Client organizations that perform risk profiling; the survey results

show that the Service Providers identified under critical risk

category undergo quarterly assessments.

A similar trend is observed for the Service Providers identified

under ‘Medium’ and ‘Low’ risk categories, undergoing half

yearly and yearly assessments by fifty six and forty five percent

respondents respectively.

Organizations that do not undertake risk profiling, yearly

assessments are preferred by almost twenty three percent of the

organizations. Also eleven percent of Client organizations believe

that the frequency depends on the trust and relationship between

Client and Service Providers.

Frequency of assessing the Service Providers

33.33% 22.22% 11.11% 22.22% 55.56% 22.22% 11.11% 22.22% 22.22% 11.11% 44.44% 33.33% Critical risk High risk Medium risk Low risk Negligible

Quarterly Half yearly Yearly

Clients’ perspective

The Service Providers

with critical risk undergo

quarterly assessments

as per thirty three

percent of Client

Clients’ perspective

The cost of periodic

Service Provider

assessments is built into

the service delivery cost

of Service Providers,

and is a part of the

contractual terms

Budget and cost for Service Provider assessments

This question was aimed at identifying the cost impact of Service

Provider assessments on Clients and Service Providers.

Results highlight that majority of the Client organizations allocate only

a small portion of IT security budget for Service Provider assessments.

Only one of the respondents indicated that the organization

allocates significant portion of IT security budget for Service Provider

assessments. On the other hand, majority of the Service Providers

allocate a considerable portion of the IT security budget towards

assessments. This is because the cost for periodic Service Provider

assessments is built into the service delivery cost of Service Providers

and is part of the contract with the Service Providers.

Service Provider respondents in the ‘Others’ category indicated that cost

of the assessment could be borne by either party, and it depends on the

relationship and understanding between the Client and the

Service Provider.

Portion of the IT security budget allocated for conducting Service Provider assessments 44.44% 22.22% 22.22% 11.11% Small Considerable Negligible Significant

Cost of Service Provider assessments

55.56% 44.44% 22.22%

22.22% 11.11% Significant cost of the Service Provider assessments

comprises of overhead expenses like travel, etc for our assessors The cost is borne at the time of the Service Provider assessments and is shared between Client and Service Provider as per the contract The cost is borne at the time of the Service Provider assessments by the Client We allocate a portion of our IT security budget for conducting Service Provider assessments The cost for periodic Service Provider assessments is a part of the contract

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Portion of IT security budget allocated for facing assessments

66.67% 25.00% 8.33% 0.00% Considerable Small Significant Negligible

Cost of Service Provider assessments

66.67% 33.33% 33.33% 25.00% 16.67% 8.33% 8.33% 16.67% Others

The cost for periodic Service Provider assessments is a part of the contract The cost is borne at the time of the Service Provider assessments by the Client

Efforts spent on Service Provider assessments is billed to the clients The cost is borne at the time of the Service Provider assessments and is shared between Client and Service Provider as per the contract The cost is borne at the time of the Service Provider assessments by the Service Provider Significant cost of the assessments comprises of overhead expenses like travel,and stay arrangements for clients and/ or their sourced assessors We allocate a portion of our IT security budget for Service Provider assessments

Modes of Service Provider assessments

Client organizations prefer conducting onsite assessments post a

self assessment by the Service Provider organizations either by

their internal staff or by sourced assessors.

The survey results highlight that higher the risk perceived during

risk profiling, more is the focus on assessments. Majority of the

respondents conduct onsite assessments for critical, high and

medium risk Service Providers. For low risk category of Service

Providers, majority of the Client organizations adopt offshore self

assessments.

Client organizations that do not perform the risk profiling of their

Service Providers prefer to undertake onsite assessment by

sourced assessors from auditing firms.

Type Self Assessment

(offshore)

Telephonic

(offshore) Onsite by Org Internal staff Onsite by org internal staff and sourced assessors from auditing firms Onsite by sourced assessors Third Party Assessments Category Critical risk 2 2 6 4 3 3 High risk 2 2 6 3 4 3 Medium risk 4 2 6 3 1 2 Low risk 5 3 4 1 0 0 Negligible 3 2 4 1 0 0

Clients’ perspective

*For Client organizations that undertake risk profiling of

Service Providers

Service Provider Assessment Framework

*This data table is for eight Clients. Eight out of nine Clients interviewed undertake risk profiling.

Modes adopted by Clients for conducting Service Provider assessments

100.00% 75.00% 66.67% 66.67% 25.00% 25.00% 8.33% 8.33% Onsite assessments are conducted by

client’s internal staff

Onsite assessments are conducted by sourced assessors Onsite assessments are conducted by an independent Third party Telephonic assessments are conducted by sourced assessors hired by client organization

Telephonic assessments are conducted by client’s internal staff Self assessment questionnaire are provided in an assessment tool available online; we directly upload our responses and evidences in the tool without any intervention of the client Onsite assessments jointly conducted by sourced assessors and client’s internal staff Self assessment questionnaire are sent through email and we revert with the filled questionnaire and evidences without any intervention of the client

Service Providers’ perspective

Onsite assessments by

Client’s internal staff or

sourced assessors is

the preferred mode of

assessment by Clients

Service Provider assessment challenges

The survey results provide insight into the factors that influence

Information Security and Privacy assessments in IT/BPO organizations.

Subcontracting by Service Providers and comfort provided by

certifications like ISO 27001 are the critical challenges faced by Client

organizations in assessing Service Providers on Information Security &

Privacy according to forty four percent of Client organizations. This is

one of the reasons why Client organizations do not consider ISO 27001

certification as an alternative to Service Provider assessments.

44.44% 44.44% 33.33% 22.22% 22.22% 22.22% 22.22% 22.22% 11.11% 11.11% 11.11% 11.11% 11.11% 11.11% 11.11% 33.33% 11.11% 33.33% 44.44% 33.33% 55.56% 22.22% 55.56% 44.44% 22.22% 22.22% 22.22% 22.22% 33.33% 55.56% 44.44% 44.44% 11.11% 44.44% 22.22% 11.11% 33.33% 55.56% 11.11% 22.22% 55.56% 55.56% 44.44% 55.56% 44.44% 11.11% 44.44% 44.44%

Comfort/ assurance provided by certifications like ISO 27001

Challenges faced by Client organizations

Subcontracting by the Service Providers

Inadequate budget

Auditor accreditation and Auditors’ management Service Provider commitment Meeting multiple customer requirements Quantum of assessments Rising legal liabilities/ regulatory requirements Level of security awareness in the Service Providers

Ensuring compliance by your Service Provider Sensitizing key resources of Service Providers High direct and indirect costs Nature of outsourced work Tracking and closure of assessment findings Adoption of Non standardized Information Security and Privacy framework

Availability of skilled resources for conducting the assessments

Multiple Service Providers for different lines of services in multiple geographies

Clients’ perspective

Subcontracting by

the Service Providers

and comfort provided

by certifications like

ISO 27001 are most

significant assessment

challenges faced by

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Service Providers’ perspective

Factors such as cost, quantum of assessments were the least important

challenges as perceived by Client organizations. Whereas, majority of

Service Providers perceive high number of assessments around the

year as one of the most significant challenges.

This difference in opinion regarding the challenges faced by Client

and Service Provider organizations clearly indicates development of a

robust assessment solution that meets the requirements of both parties.

50.00% 33.33% 33.33% 25.00% 16.67% 8.33% 33.33% 41.67% 25.00% 50.00% 33.33% 8.33% 8.33% 33.33% 33.33% 16.67% 25.00%

High number of assessments around the year

High Medium Low Meeting diverse and varied assessment

requirements of different clients Closing the findings by providing evidences and satisfying the client / auditors High direct and indirect costs associated with getting assessed multiple times Ensuring availability of time and resources for coordinating/facing the assessments Aligning to different areas of assessment/ assessment methodologies adopted by

different clients

High number of

assessments around

the year, and meeting

diverse Client

requirements are critical

challenges faced by

most of the Service

Providers

Service Provider assessments – solutions and

future landscape

An attempt was made to identify the possible solutions for the

challenges faced by organizations. The survey results reveal that

approximately thirty three percent of Clients and forty two percent of

Service Provider organizations prefer the development and adoption of

an international standard for Service Provider assessment. Also, usage

of BITS shared assessment program was selected by forty four Client

Organizations as a first preference among solutions.

Results indicate that more than forty percent of Service Providers regard

development and adoption of an internal standard as a first preference.

Independent third party assessments conducted by Self Regulatory

Organizations (SRO) promoted by the Service Providers tops the chart

for Service Providers as a second preference.

Clients’ perspective

Possible solution to overcome identified challenges

44.00% 33.00% 22.00% 22.00% 11.00% 11.00% 11.00% 11.00% 33.00% 22.00% 11.00% 11.00% 11.00% 11.00%

First reference Second preference Third preference Industry & Service Provider promoted and

standardized third party assessment programs like BITS Development and adoption of international standards for Service Provider Assessment

There is no need for Service Provider assessments as data security and privacy risks are already addressed through contracts Self declaration by Service Providers for complying / fulfilling clients’ security requirements, thereby making them liable for any security incident/data breach / violation should suffice ISO 27001 certification should be accepted globally as a seal of trust and assurance; eliminating the need for Service Provider assessments Independent third party assessments conducted by Self Regulatory Organizations (SRO) promoted by the Service Providers

As per Client

organizations,

industry and Service

Provider promoted and

standardized third party

assessment program can

be used for assessments.

This is closely followed

by development

and adoption of an

international standard

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Development and

adoption of an

international standard

is the first preference

chosen by Service

Providers

Possible solution to overcome identified challenges 41.67% 33.33% 25.00% 8.33% 8.33% 0.00% 8.33% 25.00% 8.33% 41.67% 25.00% 8.33% 8.33% 33.33% 8.33% 16.67%

First preference Second preference Third preference Development and adoption of international

standards for Service Provider assessment ISO 27001 certification should be accepted by all the clients globally as a seal of trust and assurance; eliminating the need for Service Provider assessments Industry & Service Provider promoted and standardized third party assessment programs like BITS Independent Third Party assessments conducted by Self Regulatory Organizations (SRO) promoted by the Service Providers

There is no need for Service Provider assessments as data security and privacy risks are already addressed through contracts Self declaration by Service Providers for complying/ fulfilling clients’ security requirements, thereby making them liable for any security incident/ data breach/violation should suffice

Influence of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 on Service

Provider assessments

There is widespread awareness about IT (Amendment) Act, 2008

in the industry.

More than fifty percent of Service Provider and thirty three percent

of Client organizations report that IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 will

assist in strengthening the data protection initiatives of Indian

Service Providers, and would provide greater assurance to the

Clients. Approximately thirty three percent of Client organizations

believe that IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 will have no impact on

their Information Security and Privacy needs as they need to

comply with their country’s regulations outside of India.

A similar number of Service Provider organizations revealed that

they were not sure about the impact/ influence of IT (Amendment)

Act, 2008 on Clients’ assessment strategy.

Influence of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 on Service Provider assessment strategy 66.67% 33.33% 33.33% 11.11% 0.00% Provisions of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 need to be appropriately incorporated in the client-Service Provider contracts

IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 will have no impact as we need to comply with regulations we are subjected to IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 will strengthen

the data protection initiatives of Indian Service Providers and therefore will help provide greater assurance to us for outsourcing our work to India I’m not aware of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008

Self declaration by Service Providers for complying/fulfilling clients’ security requirements, thereby making them liable for any security incident/data breach/violation should suffice

IT (Amendment) Act,

2008 needs to be

incorporated in

Client-Service Provider

contracts this would

assist in strengthening

the data protection

initiatives of Service

Providers

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Service Providers’ perspective

Influence of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 on Service Provider assessment strategy 58.33% 33.33% 0.00% 8.33% Others

Not sure what will be the impact of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 will strengthen the data protection initiatives of Indian Service Providers and therefore will help provide greater assurance to the clients outsourcing their work to India

IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 will have no impact as clients need to comply with regulations they are subjected to

Third party assessments

Third party assessments have gained importance in the Indian IT/BPO

industry. Both Clients and Service Providers revealed that third parties

should conduct Service Provider assessments based on a standardized

assessment methodology.

Majority of respondents emphasized that use of third parties would

not only help in ensuring transparency and independence of the

assessments but also save cost and efforts.

A few Clients also reported that their organization’s Executive

Management may not approve/ recognize third party assessments.

Options for third party assessments

66.67% 66.67% 55.56% 55.56% 55.56% 55.56% 22.22% 11.11% 11.11% Third parties can conduct assessments of the

Service Providers, based on a standardized assessment methodology, at a defined frequency Third Party assessments would save costs and efforts by avoiding the need for conducting assessments of multiple Service Providers Our regulators / customers may not approve or recognize Third Party assessments Third party assessments can be successful only if it is accepted by the outsourcing community and regulators Third Party assessments will bring transparency and independence

Adopting Third Party assessments may raise trust and accountability issues My organizations’ Executive Management may not approve or recognize Third Party assessments The Third Party assessments will ensure that our resources are able to focus on improving security & privacy posture Third Party assessments may not be able to address the specific assessment requirements arising out of a particular Client-Service Provider relationship

Majority of Clients

and Service Providers

report that third parties

should conduct Service

Provider assessments,

based on a standardized

assessment

methodology at a

defined frequency

Clients’ perspective

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Third party assessments

would save cost and

efforts by avoiding

multiple assessments

from different Clients

Service Providers’ perspective

66.67% 41.67% 41.67% 41.67% 33.33% 16.67% 16.67% Third party assessments may not be able to address

the specific assessment requirements arising out a particular client– Service Provider relationship Adopting Third Party assessments may raise trust and accountability issues Third parties can conduct assessments of the Service Providers, based on a standardized assessment methodology, at a defined frequency Third Party assessments would save costs and efforts by avoiding multiple assessments from different clients Third Party assessments will bring transparency and independence

Third party assessments can be successful only if all our clients accept it, irrespective of industry, geography, Line of Service, etc. The Third Party assessments will ensure that our resources are able to focus on improving security & privacy posture instead of supporting multiple assessments

Thirty three percent of Service Providers expressed their concerns

regarding the use of third party assessments stating that they third party

Third party assessors

The survey highlighted that the auditing firms empanelled by a

joint industry consortium of outsourcers and the Service Providers

are the most potential third party assessors for conducting

independent Service Provider assessments, seemingly

acceptable to both the Client and Service Provider organizations.

This option was selected by sixty six and fifty percent of the Client

and Service Provider organizations respectively. Such an industry

consortium will represent the interests and challenges of both the

sides – the Clients and Service Providers.

Potential entity acting as third party for conducting independent Service Provider assessments

66.67%

55.56%

33.33%

0.00% Auditing firms empanelled by a joint industry consortium of outsourcers and the Service Providers Auditing firms empanelled by the outsourcers’ industry consortium

Self Regulatory Organizations (SRO) promoted by the Service Providers Auditing firms empanelled by the Service Providers

Clients’ perspective

Auditing firms

empanelled by a joint

industry consortium

of Client and Service

Providers can serve as

third party assessors

for conducting Service

Provider assessments

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Service Providers’ perspective

Potential entity acting as third party for conducting independent Service Provider assessments

58.33

50.00%

25.00%

8.33% Self Regulatory Organizations (SRO)

promoted by the Service Providers Auditing firms empanelled by a joint industry consortium of outsourcers and the Service Providers Auditing firms empanelled by the outsourcers’ industry consortium Auditing firms empanelled by the Service Providers

Standards for Service Provider assessments

New domains of Information Security and Privacy have evolved. The

domains which were not perceived to be critical are now among the

most important security domains. Organizations have to comply with

various models/standards/frameworks to adhere to the changing

domains/rules and regulations. The organizations do no prefer to

comply with so many standards and frameworks and this perception of

the organizations was clearly evident from the survey results.

The survey results highlighted that Client organizations are keen

on adopting a new standard mapped to ISO 27001, NIST – Special

Publications, COBIT, ITIL etc. that meets all the regulatory requirements

like GLBA, HIPAA, PCI DSS etc., as a potential standard for third

party assessments. While this view was common amongst Client

organizations and Service Provider organizations with eighty nine and

sixty seven percent respondents respectively selecting this option, in

reality Clients may be more inclined towards new standard than the

Service Providers because they demonstrate compliance to different

regulations. Though this has an indirect impact on Service Providers but

they are primarily driven by contractual obligations.

Both Client and Service Provider organizations have similar number of

respondents who selected ISO 27001 (sixty six percentages). It seemed

that organizations are satisfied with the acceptance of ISO 27001 as a

A new standard mapped

to ISO 27001, NIST-SP,

COBIT, ITIL etc. that

meets all the regulatory

requirements like GLBA,

HIPAA, PCI DSS etc. as

a standard for third party

assessments

Potential assessment standards for third party assessments of Service Providers 88.89% 66.67% 22.22% 22.22% 11.11% ISO 27001 standard

A new standard mapped to ISO 27001, NIST– SP, COBIT, ITIL, etc. that meets all the regulatory requirements like GLBA, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.

Others Security and Privacy practices defined by SRO BITS shared assessment framework

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Potential assessment standards for third party assessments of Service Providers 66.67% 66.67% 16.67% 8.33% ISO 27001 standard

Security and Privacy practices defined by SRO

BITS shared assessment framework A new standard mapped to ISO 27001, NIST-SP, COBIT, ITIL, etc. that meets all the regulatory requirements like GLBA, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.

Service Providers’ perspective

standard bearing in mind the challenge faced by Client organizations with

respect to the comfort/ assurance provided by Service Providers through

ISO 27001 certification.

Respondents in the ‘Others’ category also suggested the use of a unified

compliance framework for assessments.

Role of DSCI in Service Provider assessments

The question aimed to identify the role that DSCI could play as

a Self Regulatory Organization (SRO), representative of both

Client and Service Provider organizations, for conducting Service

Provider assessments.

Majority of the Client organizations (sixty seven percent) indicated

that DSCI should create a panel of competent auditors to conduct

Service Provider assessments on behalf of DSCI, develop code of

practices for Data Security and Privacy that should be adopted by

the industry and define some criteria for assessing the maturity of

the Service Providers.

Fifty eight percent of the Service Provider organizations

indicated that DSCI should develop a Service Provider

assessment program that comprises of framework, processes

and methodology for conducting Service Provider assessments.

This option was also highlighted by a similar number of Client

organizations (fifty six percent).

Clients’ perspective

Role of DSCI in Service Provider assessments

66.67% 66.67% 66.67% 55.56% 55.56% 55.55% 33.33% DSCI should establish a mechanism to manage

the assessment results including sharing of results with clients and respective Service Providers DSCI should have code of practices for security and privacy that need to adopted by its members The code of practices should have some criteria for assessing the maturity of the Service Providers

Code of practices should take a note of existing preparedness and initiatives of Service Providers in the areas of security and privacy DSCI should have mechanism to review the Service Provider assessments results on a regular basis DSCI should have a Service Provider assessment program that comprises of framework, processes, methodology for the assessment DSCI should create a panel of competent auditors who will conduct the assessments on behalf of DSCI

Majority of Clients

and Service Providers

perpetuated that DSCI

should have a Service

Provider assessment

program that consists of

framework, processes

and methodology of

assessments

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Role of DSCI in Service Provider assessments

58.33% 33.33% 25.00% 25.00% 25.00% 8.33% 8.33% 8.33% Others

DSCI should have a Service Provider assessment program that comprises of framework, processes, methodology for the assessments DSCI should create a panel of competent auditors who will conduct the assessments on behalf of DSCI DSCI should have code of practices for security and privacy that need to adopted by its members The code of practices should have some criteria for assessing the maturity of the Service Providers

DSCI should have mechanism to review the Service Provider assessments results on a regular basis DSCI should establish a mechanism to manage the assessment results including sharing of results with clients and respective Service Providers Code of practices should take a note of existing preparedness and initiatives of Service Providers in the areas of security and privacy

Outcome of Service Provider assessments

The survey results have unequivocally established that there

should be organization-wide Security and Privacy maturity ratings,

and domain specific ratings.

It was also indicated that the both Client organizations as well as

Service Provider organizations prefer ratings over certifications.

Outcome of Service Provider assessments — Data Security

77.78%

55.56%

44.44% DSCI should provide organization

wide security maturity rating DSCI should provide domain specific maturity rating (e.g. Application security maturity rating) DSCI should provide organization wide security certification to Service Providers

Outcome of Service Provider assessments — Data Privacy 88.89%

44.44%

DSCI should provide organization wide privacy certification to Service Providers DSCI should provide organization wide privacy maturity rating

Clients’ perspective

Organization-wide security

and privacy maturity ratings

may be provided as a

result of Service Provider

assessments

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Service Providers’ perspective

Outcome of Service Provider assessments — Data Security

58.33%

33.33%

16.67% DSCI should provide organization wide

security maturity rating DSCI should provide organization wide security certification to Service Providers DSCI should provide domain specific maturity rating (e.g. Application security maturity rating)

Outcome of Service Provider assessments — Data Privacy

75.00%

50.00% DSCI should provide organization wide

privacy maturity rating DSCI should provide organization wide privacy certification to Service Providers

Sharing of Service Provider assessment results

Majority of Client organizations (sixty seven percent) confirm that

if DSCI assumes the role of a third party assessor, DSCI should

conduct the assessment of the targeted Service Provider and

share the report with the Client. Client organizations are also in

favor of DSCI conducting assessments of the Service Providers

and sharing the report with Service Providers’ Clients based upon

the authorization of Service Provider (thirty three percent), while

only eleven percent of the Client organizations suggested DSCI

conducting the assessment of the Service Provider and submitting

its report to the Service Provider.

In case DSCI assumes

the role of a

third-party assessor,

Client and Service

Provider organizations

strongly support

DSCI conducting

the assessments of

the targeted Service

Provider and sharing the

report with the Client on

receiving requests from

the Client

Most suitable assessment process in case DSCI assumes the role of a third party assessor

66.67%

33.33%

11.11%

11.11% On receiving request from the client, DSCI

conducts the assessment of the targeted Service Provider and shares the report with the client On receiving request from the Service Provider, DSCI conducts the assessment of the Service Provider and based on the authorization of Service Provider, DSCI shares the report with Service Providers’ clients On receiving request from the Service Provider, DSCI conducts the assessment of the Service Provider and submits its report to the Service Provider. Service Provider then shares this report with his clients when requested or otherwise Based on DSCI assessments, Service Providers are benchmarked against defined parameters and the report is made public

Service Provider Assessment Framework

Most suitable assessment process in case DSCI assumes the role of a third party assessor

41.67% 41.67% 33.33% 8.33% 8.33% Others

Based on DSCI assessments, Service Providers are benchmarked against defined parameters and the report is made public On receiving request from the Service Provider, DSCI conducts the assessment of the Service Provider and based on the authorization of Service Provider, DSCI shares the report with SPs’ clients On receiving request from the client, DSCI conducts the assessment of the targeted Service Provider and shares the report with the client On receiving request from the Service Provider, DSCI conducts the assessment of the Service Provider and submits its report to the Service Provider.