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ACL Analytics vs IBM OpenPages comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

ACL Analytics
Ranking in GRC
5th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Continuous Controls Monitoring (1st)
IBM OpenPages
Ranking in GRC
7th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
IT Governance (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the GRC category, the mindshare of ACL Analytics is 3.2%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM OpenPages is 5.9%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
GRC
 

Featured Reviews

Sohail Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps to save time and useful for data analytics
The tool's pricing is quite high. When I purchased the software, I constantly contacted the representatives. I requested a single license, but they informed me that only packages of three licenses were available. This made it very difficult for us to manage the cost, especially given the economic challenges in our country. The price of $5,000 is high, and transferring money from one country to another, particularly in dollars, is challenging due to high exchange rates. Although we managed to purchase it then, the lack of a single license option and the high cost were issues. I had trouble getting my issue across when I posted a problem with screenshots on the forum. The support team initially didn't seem to understand my problem and replied with general questions. I had to send more emails to explain it better. I think their support could be better. We expect support people to know the software well and understand our issues.
Badri Anand Santhanam - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhancing operational risk management and reporting capabilities with insightful dashboards and automated features
IBM OpenPages offers strong reporting capabilities with Cognos integration, providing standard tabular reports, various charts, and powerful dashboards for different lines of defense. It caters to the first line managing risks and controls, the second line of SMEs providing oversight, and the independent audit function with an internal audit management module. The solution is more intuitive and task-based, allowing better involvement of the risk function across different lines of defense. The automated features translate into reporting capabilities, and data can be easily extracted and downloaded in different formats.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The tool's most valuable feature is its ability to import files from other software packages. Its reporting and visualization capabilities have made our reporting easier. Importing results into spreadsheets or other documents for incorporation into reports is particularly helpful."
"It improved my organization using ​an automated audit revision with scripts."
"The most valuable feature of ACL Analytics is its powerful data control capabilities."
"Initial setup is straightforward."
"I like the fact that in the duplicate section, I can find matches, and I can find situations where certain cells or certain cell points match, but there's a difference as well between two different records."
"I recommend ACL Analytics because it makes work easier and is user-friendly."
"I rate ACL Analytics nine out of ten."
"It is very flexible and has hundreds of functions."
"IBM OpenPages provides time savings in recording risk management components."
"The content, reporting, and workflow features stand out as the most valuable aspects."
"The most valuable features are the workflow engine, calculations, and security rules."
"IBM OpenPages saves time in my work as a developer."
"Everything about IBM OpenPages is valuable, particularly when compared to other solutions in the market like MetricStream, from which we switched due to its feasibility, user-friendliness, and performance."
"The ability to keep a record of internal incidents in the company, and also the monitoring of Key Indicators."
 

Cons

"The tool's pricing is quite high. When I purchased the software, I constantly contacted the representatives. I requested a single license, but they informed me that only packages of three licenses were available. This made it very difficult for us to manage the cost, especially given the economic challenges in our country."
"The ease of use could be better."
"​Reporting and presentation of information directly to solutions, such as PowerPoint.​"
"The visualization capabilities in ACL Analytics need more variety and features."
"Currently, the platform is not very comfortable for users coming from a non-technical or non-coding background."
"It would be beneficial if the software could improve its capabilities when extracting data from databases, particularly for those who may not be familiar with SQL queries."
"The product's pricing has increased over the years."
"IBM OpenPages needs improvement in its UI. Currently, it is difficult to see the relationships (associations/parents) between all items unless you click on the item itself."
"Some self-relationships are not available in OpenPages' relationship model."
"I believe there's room for improvement in establishing connections with external information."
"IBM OpenPages could improve by adding more conditions to workflows, as some existing conditions might not work and can produce errors."
"IBM needs to work on pricing for organizations with around 100 users, as the licensing model is not competitive enough for SMEs."
"It would be useful to have more out-of-the-box functionality, especially triggers and calculations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of $5,000 is high, and transferring money from one country to another, particularly in dollars, is challenging due to high exchange rates. Although we managed to purchase it then, the lack of a single license option and the high cost were issues."
"The pricing for me as an individual seems a lot. For our organization, the price is okay. It's about $6,000 a year. I don't know of any additional costs."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
12%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
29%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ACL Analytics?
The tool's most valuable feature is its ability to import files from other software packages. Its reporting and visualization capabilities have made our reporting easier. Importing results into spr...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ACL Analytics?
The licensing cost for ACL Analytics is around $6,000, which includes both SCA and hybrid functionalities. There are no extra fees.
What needs improvement with ACL Analytics?
The tool's pricing is quite high. When I purchased the software, I constantly contacted the representatives. I requested a single license, but they informed me that only packages of three licenses ...
What do you like most about IBM OpenPages?
The product’s interface is very intuitive.
What needs improvement with IBM OpenPages?
IBM OpenPages could improve by adding more conditions to workflows, as some existing conditions might not work and can produce errors. Additionally, although there are risk assessment tools, I do n...
What is your primary use case for IBM OpenPages?
I primarily use IBM OpenPages ( /products/ibm-openpages-reviews ) for compliance and audit programs.
 

Also Known As

ACL
OpenPages
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Essar Group, Dean Foods, Lafarge North America, Austrian Ministry of Finance
Nationwide, Process Innovation AG, OSRAM Licht AG, Dep‹sito Central de Valores (DCV), Delta Lloyd Group, Unum
Find out what your peers are saying about ACL Analytics vs. IBM OpenPages and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.