OpenPages Inc. has expanded its suite of enterprise risk management (ERM) and compliance products with the introduction of OpenPages Audit, a fully integrated solution for internal audit. The software gives internal auditors the ability to test and validate risk and compliance initiatives enterprise-wide and allows for a collaborative approach with business functions, according to Gordon Burnes, OpenPages vice president of marketing. Estimating demand for this type of product to be in the $500 million range, Burnes says the highly fragmented market now consists of a hodge-podge of inefficient solutions including spreadsheets and home-grown technologies. "Traditional docu-centric software solutions, paper-based products and asynchronous electronic processes performed in silos lead to mounting inefficiency, which distracts audit from performing its core function–assurance and risk management," says Burnes.

OpenPages Audit, when used as part of a broader ERM strategy, lets users: risk-rank the audit universe, by entity, process, risk or other factors; define, plan, execute and report on audits, cross-business and provide independent assurance to the business as an integrated part of overall ERM efforts.

The Waltham, Mass.-based company, which expects to compete with integrated governance, risk and compliance (GRC) vendors more than point solution providers for internal audit, doesn't plan to take on products that have deep analytics capabilities. Instead, the new program is positioned as a building block to enhance the full lifecycle of risk management. It can be used in conjunction with OpenPages' four other modules: Financial controls management, operation risk management, information technology risk and governance and general compliance management for business compliance. "All these modules, including Audit, fit together to provide a single integrated view of risk across the enterprise," says Burnes.