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RSA Archer vs Workiva Wdesk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

RSA Archer
Ranking in GRC
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
IT Governance (1st), IT Vendor Risk Management (2nd)
Workiva Wdesk
Ranking in GRC
5th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Business Performance Management (11th), Financial Close Software (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the GRC category, the mindshare of RSA Archer is 16.0%, down from 18.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workiva Wdesk is 7.8%, up from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
GRC
 

Featured Reviews

Raviteja Nekkanti - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly, minimal learning curve and good for security assessment
My use case is for security assessment. It's my daily task. I use it for security assessment in Azure. We have tickets where users need to submit details about an application, computer, or server. For Archer, my direct task is to assess the security risk of an application, infrastructure, or…
Phillip Gough - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution is easy to deploy and enables collaboration, but it must improve its speed and enable users to create pivot tables
I rate the ease of setup an eight out of ten. The initial setup was straightforward. The solution is cloud-based. We deployed the product along with Wdata in six months. It was for a lot of use cases. To deploy the tool, we designed the use cases and developed them. Then, we went through unit tests, integration tests, and user acceptance tests. It was an Agile delivery cycle.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"RSA Archer is a good tool and I have found performing the application, ISMS, and TPRM assessments beneficial."
"Its user interface is pretty neat, and there is flexibility in generating the data. You can customize reports at any level. You can directly get reports in Tableau format. If you want to generate statistical data, you can create reports with graphs. There is an adequate amount of flexibility for changing the format, the type of graphs, etc."
"Makes auditing much more convenient."
"Archer has simplified our security audits. It's made it easier to raise and trigger questionnaires to customers."
"The most valuable feature is the enterprise module, which provides the capability of having all of the information stored and linked with everything else."
"Integration is another great aspect of RSA Archer. From the beginning, integration has been a central focus for RSA, and Archer has always integrated well with most tools on the market today."
"It has the best workload management features."
"First of all, its access control feature where it provides application level access, solution level access, and even recall access, as well."
"The collaboration within the platform is valuable."
"Workiva Wdesk has a flow diagram that is standardized, making it easy for people to file documents on ECDAs, which are in HTML format."
"The cross-functionality between connectivity, whether through API connections between different software platforms or the connection of data collection to the actual written ESG report, is highly valuable. The connectivity of all these aspects significantly aids in data assurance, which I consider a bonus."
"Workiva Wdesk is pretty good in terms of getting the data from the system, automating the reporting schedules...It has a very good integration with ERP tools."
"It makes the compliance process more efficient and more effective."
"It helps you to maintain a backup of your data, including the connectivity with the tables, which provides a user-friendly way to handle and access your files."
"The most valuable feature is its ability to easily upload and update financial results, creating a dynamic data sheet."
 

Cons

"The solution as a whole could be simplified."
"There is no inbuilt alert in Archer to let us know that a data feed has failed or did not run for different reasons. So, we don't even get to know that a feed has not run until somebody reports it to us. This has been a problem all the time. Data feeds have always been a big headache for us because there is no feature to let us know if a feed has not run or has failed. If Archer had a feature to send us an email notification when a feed has failed, it would've been very helpful. This is the reason why our users are slowly moving away to another platform. Some of the modules that I have been managing are being moved to ServiceNow. Next year, a lot of our modules will be moved from RSA Archer to ServiceNow, and the data feed issue has been one of the main reasons."
"Some areas are not truly automated but are only scheduled."
"Solution could use more inbuilt applications."
"Performance could be improved."
"An area for improvement would be the user interface. They could also offer more on-demand applications free of cost."
"Slow turnaround time from support team."
"The solution can be a little slow due to the Silverlight feature."
"The most critical issue is the need to shift between uppercase and lowercase."
"With this product, it's more about the integrated data model where you can have a one-to-many/many-to-one relationship between your policies and processes, risks, and controls. They need to showcase how you can put those pieces together."
"Regarding the solution, reporting has certain areas that can be considered for improvement."
"At this point, I don't see a compelling reason to invest in Workiva. It may be necessary for compliance and controlling the version of SCC, but not everyone needs its high-end capabilities."
"The tool's script encoding needs to be updated to make it more user-friendly and less of a manual process when changes are made to a company's program. Those changes happen frequently due to mandatory or voluntary reporting requirements, leading to lost linkage connections that must be manually reset each time a change is made. This aspect is not functional now, and I see it as an opportunity for improvement."
"The speed must be improved."
"One area where Workiva Wdesk could improve is by ensuring that its cloud-based system is fully compatible with the most current versions of PowerPoint and Excel."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not sure about other companies, but it's quite expensive."
"It is not expensive. It is reasonable. We only pay for the licensing."
"The price of the solution is very affordable."
"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."
"The solution is not at all a cheap product."
"I am not 100% familiar with that, especially with their new model. I just know that the way they've licensed per user to scale is good."
"Fairly highly-priced, especially for smaller companies."
"The solution's price should be reduced. You only have to pay the license and there are no additional fees."
"Our clients in Asia think that the solution is too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
52%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Educational Organization
15%
Computer Software Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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?
The user interface needs work. There are many small text boxes, like credit card size's boxes, where we need to input a lot of text. You can't see what you're typing beyond the tiny window, so you ...
What is your primary use case for RSA Archer?
We primarily use the system control module and specific IT control models for ongoing risk assessment activities. We use it on a day-to-day basis.
What do you like most about Workiva Wdesk?
The most valuable feature is its ability to easily upload and update financial results, creating a dynamic data sheet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Workiva Wdesk?
Wdesk is affordable and as far as I'm aware, there were no additional costs beyond the standard license increase. We didn't have to make any other changes; it primarily involved accessing the platf...
What needs improvement with Workiva Wdesk?
The tool's script encoding needs to be updated to make it more user-friendly and less of a manual process when changes are made to a company's program. Those changes happen frequently due to mandat...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Archer
Wdesk
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

T-Systems, Bridge Point, Equifax, First Data, Global Imaging Company, Manulife Financial
Noodles Company, eBay, Winnebago, American Assets Trust, AmericanEnterprise, Calpian, Capstone Infrastructure, Cascades, Circor International, Coeur Mining, Davey, Dr Pepper Snapple
Find out what your peers are saying about RSA Archer vs. Workiva Wdesk and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.