Ensuring security requirements are defined at the request-for-proposal (RFP) stage is the most effective security outcome in an organization's contract management process because it establishes and communicates the security expectations and obligations for both parties, and enables the organization to evaluate and select the most suitable and secure vendor or service provider. Performing vendor security benchmark analyses at the RFP stage is not an effective security outcome, but rather a possible security activity that involves comparing and ranking different vendors or service providers based on their security capabilities or performance. Extending security assessment to cover asset disposal on contract termination is not an effective security outcome, but rather a possible security activity that involves verifying and validating that any assets or data belonging to the organization are securely disposed of by the vendor or service provider at the end of the contract. Extending security assessment to include random penetration testing is not an effective security outcome, but rather a possible security activity that involves testing and auditing the vendor's or service provider's security controls or systems at random intervals during the contract. Reference: https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2017/volume-1/data-ownership-and-custodianship-in-the-cloud https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2016/volume-4/integrating-assurance-functions