CM GROUP
purchase , then that ' s where it is possible for us as a company to open the CM Group up for issues from a security perspective .”
There is a lot more to the supplier ecosystem at the CM Group than simply spending money . Hodson is keen to discuss privacy compliance issues going forward and provides an evaluated vendor as an example . “ I approached a new prospective vendor ; it was a small organisation that didn ' t have the mechanisms in place to secure people ' s personal information that we wanted to share with them to deliver our orders . It ’ s not something that most of us think about when shopping on Amazon . We had no choice but to go with another company able to secure the information and comply with all GDPR and CCPA privacy regulations .”
“ And even with the right vendors and consultants we must have the correct legal paperwork in place that says that all parties are going to keep the information confidential and if for whatever reason they decide to not keep the personal information confidential they are made aware of the repercussions .”
The CM Group is dedicated to being GDPR and CCPA compliant . “ We are compliant as an organisation , but we also have to be able to make sure that the vendors we engage with are compliant with personal information . We also have to speak about security and understand the risks the engagement may bring to the organisation ,” Hodson confirms .
“ Security is obviously a major concern for any organisation . And a question I am often asked is how secure are the online SaaS type tools that we use ? I work closely with the security team to ensure that the software we purchase is not too risky for the business . If you are not diligent with evaluating your
“ It is important that procurement doesn ’ t just save dollars . Our job is also to reduce risk for the company by understanding how we ' re exposing ourselves when we engage with other companies ”
KAREN HODSON CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER , CM GROUP
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