IBM today announced that it will acquire OpenPages, a provider of risk management and compliance software.
More than 200 clients use OpenPages software to help with information-related challenges and manage risk and compliance issues. The privately-held company based in Waltham, MA counts Allianz, Barclays, Carnival Corporation, Duke Energy, SunTrust, TIAA CREF and Williams as customers.
The acquisition of OpenPages expands IBM’s business analytics capabilities to support compliance and risk management processes. OpenPages software allows businesses to develop a comprehensive compliance and risk management strategy across a variety of domains including operational risk, financial controls management, IT risk, compliance and internal audits.
Today, managing risk is a top priority for businesses in all industries including finance, insurance, retail, healthcare and energy and utilities. A recent IBM study of 1900 global CFOs and senior finance leaders revealed that risk management has risen in priority by 93 percent since 2005.
“Unforeseen risk can hurt a company’s bottom line as well as its brand reputation,” said Rob Ashe, general manager, business analytics, IBM. “Integrating risk management systems across once-divided units and functions is essential to seeing the bigger picture.”
Business analytics has grown from addressing departmental concerns to enterprise-wide standards spanning business intelligence, performance management, advanced analytics and now risk management requirements.
For example, a manufacturer may have aggressive revenue goals for an emerging market, but those goals may generate business risks such as not aligning to regional regulations and unintended costs associated with extending the necessary financial, IT and business controls to a remote location. OpenPages software can highlight inconsistencies in risk and performance goals, giving business leaders a view of the business opportunities and risks associated with the expansion.
IBM and OpenPages have also partnered to deliver the core data system for the Operational Riskdata eXchange Association (ORX), a consortium of over 55 major banks in 18 countries, based in Switzerland formed with the objective of sharing quality operational risk data on a secure and anonymized basis for the purposes of risk management.
OpenPages client and partner investments in existing IBM and OpenPages technologies will be preserved, allowing customers to take advantage of the broader set of capabilities without the need to replace existing systems.
Over four years, IBM has invested more than $11 billion, dedicated 6,000 consultants and opened seven analytics Centers of Excellence around the world to help clients uncover hidden insights within their data.
The acquisition is subject to applicable regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions. Following the close of the acquisition, IBM intends to integrate OpenPages within IBM’s Business Analytics software portfolio. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.