Risk-First, Audit-Ready: How Police Bank Unified Vendor Management with Gatekeeper

Effective procurement and vendor management have become critical for organisations aiming to stay competitive in today’s regulatory and operational landscape.

In a recent webinar,  Daniel Barnes, Director of Customer and Product Marketing at Gatekeeper, joined Bradley Dollin, Procurement and Supplier Management Lead at Police Bank, to discuss advancements in:

• Procurement culture
• Contract and third-party management
• Risk-first onboarding practices,
• The transformative power of unified platforms like Gatekeeper.

This insightful session unpacked the challenges, strategies, and innovative solutions Police Bank implemented to overcome procurement bottlenecks while ensuring regulatory compliance.

Here, we highlight the key takeaways.

Key Challenges in Vendor Management

Bradley Dollin introduced the session with frank observations about traditional vendor management practices, particularly the limitations of spreadsheets. He noted how spreadsheets, although versatile, often fall short of providing the scalability and functionality needed to streamline vendor management processes.

"Spreadsheets are great. I love them, but they can only go so far, and they create a lot of friction."

He reflected on how fractured processes burdened teams, complicating workflows and impairing decision-making. Police Bank’s goal was clear: simplify vendor management, make processes user-friendly, and improve visibility into vendor performance.

Innovative Features Police Bank Adopted

1. Risk-First Onboarding

One of the key advancements discussed was risk-first vendor onboarding, a proactive approach to vendor screening. By assessing risks before involving IT, legal, or procurement teams, Police Bank ensures that the onboarding process flows more efficiently.

Bradley provided compelling insights into how foresight has revolutionised vendor screening at Police Bank:

"When you start screening, you can kinda see where the ball is heading and what you need to do preemptively to onboard that vendor, before it gets to IT or legal or other business units. This saves you a lot of time."

This forward-thinking strategy minimises friction and ensures alignment across departments right from the start of vendor onboarding.

2. Gatekeeper Smart Forms for SLA Management

A standout solution implemented by Police Bank was Gatekeeper’s Smart Forms and a structured workflow, designed for vendor performance tracking.

"Once a month, the contract owner here at Police Bank will get a notification saying they're required to complete a Smart Form for that vendor. It has five questions, all weighted within a thirty, thirty, twenty, fifteen, and five metric."

The questions focus heavily on SLA compliance and breaches which are key priorities for regulated institutions like Police Bank operating under standards like CPS 230.Once submitted, the Smart Form produces a performance score and assigns a RAG status (Red, Amber, or Green). The historical tracking ensures that trends in vendor performance can be analysed continuously, enabling informed decisions about vendor relationships.

3. Unified Platforms Simplify Processes

Bradley also emphasised how Gatekeeper’s unified platform transformed Police Bank’s approach to vendor risk and performance assessment. Previously, fractured processes burdened employees with unnecessary friction:

With Gatekeeper, vendor and contract data are centralised:

"Now, we have everything as a central repository...it's streamlined. And Gatekeeper removed all that friction. It’s in Gatekeeper, you can go get it yourself."

This self-service functionality not only empowers employees but also aligns with broader cultural improvements - making procurement more user-friendly and efficient.

Improved Procurement Culture and Stakeholder Feedback

Negative perceptions of procurement as a “blocker” can hinder collaboration within organisations. Daniel Barnes reflected on this common challenge:

"We've all been in procurement teams where, I mean, I started new roles in procurement, and honestly, my first engagement with stakeholders was effectively, procurement is terrible. It slows us down. It's a blocker."

However, Bradley was quick to highlight how Police Bank’s processes and systems have moved away from such stereotypes. The usability of Gatekeeper’s platform played a significant role in improving culture and efficiency:

"It's just the usability of the system, and again, that feeds into the culture aspect. Procurement and vendor management's become more user-friendly to really put it in a nutshell."

Regulatory Compliance Made Seamless

With increasing regulatory expectations, particularly in Australia’s ADI space under CPS 230, Bradley explained how Gatekeeper aligns with compliance requirements:

"CPS 230 from the vendor management perspective is just really asking the question of making sure you're effectively managing your vendors or material services."

Smart Forms and historical tracking allow Police Bank to demonstrate continual oversight, fulfilling these obligations with ease.