The Audit Right You Never Exercise Is Not a Control
Published by The Governance Desk | Article 2 of the Governance Architecture Series
Most organizations negotiate audit rights into their vendor contracts. It is a standard clause. It signals due diligence. It satisfies procurement checklists and regulatory expectations. But in practice, the audit right is rarely exercised. And a right that is never exercised is not a control. It is a contractual artifact.
This article examines why the gap between contractual rights and operational governance creates structural risk - and what it reveals about how organizations actually govern their third-party relationships.