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ARIS Risk and Compliance Manager vs RSA Archer 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

ARIS Risk and Compliance Ma...
Ranking in GRC
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
RSA Archer
Ranking in GRC
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
IT Governance (1st), IT Vendor Risk Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the GRC category, the mindshare of ARIS Risk and Compliance Manager is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RSA Archer is 17.2%, down from 17.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
GRC
 

Featured Reviews

BPMexp67 - PeerSpot reviewer
Covers the entire risk management cycle, from identification and evaluation to control, mitigation, and monitoring
The most effective features are the basic ones to evaluate and control risk. We have many specific small models inside of ARIS Risk and Compliance Manager, like issue management. These are smaller add-ons depending on the needs. You are including specific models as well. The basic ones do exactly what is required for risk management: identification, evaluation, control, mitigation, and modification. And, we have dashboards with the possibility to configure compliance policies and risk limits based on which we can create alarms. If there are maximum limits, we create alarms attached to the responsible people. Normally, there is someone that identifies the risk, and then you have the risk owner. These people [normal users] can send notifications to the risk owner, who will evaluate the risk and decide whether it's important to control it or not. I remember a project where the customer wanted to control all risks and assigned many people to identify them. They started identifying risks everywhere. After a few years, the customer realized that it didn't make sense to control all of them. So, they created limits—levels of risk the company was willing to accept because it was more expensive to implement controls than to manage the risk. So, regarding ARIS Risk and Compliance Manager, you can implement all the risks and policies you can imagine because it's very customizable. You can customize a lot of things.
IMRAN ALMARZOOQI - PeerSpot reviewer
Automates compliance management effectively but needs improved interface and dashboards
The tool basically automates whatever processes you already have, so I cannot specify improvements in that regard. However, my main issue with Archer is the graphics. The graphics have always been lacking. I always need to depend on another tool to read information from Archer to have better dashboards. It is like using Linux, and it has a Linux mindset and interface. I want to use Archer for top management and CEOs, but it looks too technical, and the dashboards are not really friendly. They are bulky, like opening an old Nintendo system from nineteen-ninety. The management agrees that Archer lacks in terms of presentation and dashboarding. It is complex, not user-friendly, and bulky. The interface just looks old.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the risk testing, where you can attach your processes to the risk, and automatically generate all of the tests."
"We can set it so that for a specific risk, or for all risks if we want, people will receive automatic notifications to do the evaluation and implement or test the control at a set interval, like every six months or every year."
"The solution has helped our organization manage our internal and external activities."
"RSA is a very rich application. I like its adaptive suggestion, where based on your users and the class of data, it can actually recommend you the proper control to choose. For example, we have been using PCI DSS as an NIST. So based on application feedback, it will provide you with a suggestion on which control objective needs to be set. Based on that, you can make a decision—you don't need to take the suggestion, but you can customize that particular provided suggestion. RSA Archer's workflow is also good, in terms of process automation."
"It is enterprise-wide accessible. So, it is very helpful for all the employees in our bank. They can log in and do their risk management activities. It has a few inbuilt modules that are helpful for doing risk management activities, such as issue management, risk identification, risk assessment, and policy exception management. It also has some inbuilt workflows inside these modules. They are also helpful."
"The Advance Workflow feature simplifies things."
"RSA Archer's best features are advanced workflow, reports, dashboards, and notifications."
"Risk management is one of the most impressive features of Archer, especially with the recent restructuring of the user interface."
"I like how Archer requires very little programming ability. A person with minimum coding experience can configure the necessary fields in Archer. It's more of a drag-and-drop solution."
"The tool has stability, and it allows me to automate whatever process I have."
 

Cons

"I would like to see the modeling less strict so that connectors can be more flexible."
"In future releases, I would like to see more features around AI (artificial intelligence)."
"I would like to have the ability to build and maintain an inventory of personal data processing activities and assets utilizing a purpose-built taxonomy and data structure."
"There are certain restrictions on API integrations, and it is not simple or straightforward."
"The bullet chart is the best graph for my purposes, and it should be available for inclusion in the dashboards."
"It would be nice if RSA Archer featured more customization. When customers are updating, they should be notified whether certain updates are optional. The install screen should not proceed to the next page unless we make some selections about which updates we want to install."
"It would be useful for customers if COBIT 2019 could be translated into different languages."
"The first improvement I would suggest for RSA Archer is a better search feature. The search criteria needs to be improved. Sometimes I do a search and the search doesn't return the exact item I'm looking for. RSA Archer could also be improved by being more user-friendly. Maybe I have been using a limited version of RSA Archer, but I'm not sure whether it has ESG, environmental and social governance. In the next couple of years, ESG is the next feature that will be integrated into GRC tools. I would recommend RSA Archer adds ESG."
"It's resource-hungry, that's the best way of putting it."
"GUI could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The initial purchase is cheap. You pay a nominal price to start then renew the license annually. You also must buy a license for each module. I'm not too fond of that aspect of the licensing model. You buy the elephant and then spend more money to feed the elephant."
"I am not sure about other companies, but it's quite expensive."
"The price of RSA Archer is good. The price isn't too high considering it is a leading tool in the market."
"Fairly highly-priced, especially for smaller companies."
"It is not expensive. It is reasonable. We only pay for the licensing."
"The pricing is okay. The licensing costs are very reasonable; it is very affordable to us."
"The solution is not at all a cheap product."
"The license is costly for the solution, but the remaining set up and maintenance is quite cheaper."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Educational Organization
52%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
3%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS Risk and Compliance Manager?
We have some nominated licenses, which are per user, and concurrent licenses. The concurrent licenses are more expensive than the other ones but are better, at least for a big company. We can have ...
What needs improvement with ARIS Risk and Compliance Manager?
In future releases, I would like to see more features around AI (artificial intelligence).
What is your primary use case for ARIS Risk and Compliance Manager?
I recommend it to my customers. Sometimes, we follow the normal cycle: risk identification, then evaluation, then mitigation, and lastly, monitoring. In other processes, we use the software to anal...
What do you like most about RSA Archer?
It has various valuable features. For example, showing us if a control aligns with specific standards or frameworks helps us understand it better and verify its compliance.
What needs improvement with RSA Archer?
If the user needs to fill data, they need to go to one page and then to the next page if they can reduce the number of clicks to perform some activities and would like RSA to improve in this area. ...
What is your primary use case for RSA Archer?
I perform all of our information security management governance and risk -related activities through Archer. My organization manages all types of audits and Enterprise risk activities using Archer.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

No data available
Archer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Alicorp, Tesco, Dubai Municipality, Emirates NBD, Suva - ARIS serves customers across all industries and of every size worldwide. Companies trust ARIS as being in the market of business process management for more than 30 years, serving users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.
T-Systems, Bridge Point, Equifax, First Data, Global Imaging Company, Manulife Financial
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS Risk and Compliance Manager vs. RSA Archer and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.