Marketing claims are often polished, but user feedback and real user insights are a live reality. The Info-Tech GRC Platform Data Quadrant report compiles verified reviews into a clear view of how each GRC platform performs in real use. Besides features, it focuses on results, customer satisfaction and user experience. These rankings show how real customers rate support, usability and reliability after months of use, not just minutes in a demo.
This article explains why user-validated data matters more than marketing material. We also cover how the Data Quadrant report helps GRC leaders choose the best GRC software solutions.
What User-Validated Rankings Mean in Practice
In GRC software, claims alone can’t prove performance. Real value shows through in how actual users rate the product after living with it day to day. That feedback exposes strengths and weak spots that marketing materials rarely mention.
The Info-Tech GRC Platform Data Quadrant report takes those lived experiences and turns them into verified data that buyers can trust. Here’s what goes into these rankings of the best compliance risk management software:
- Verified end-user reviews, screened to remove noise and vendor influence
- Consistent scoring across vendors and products
- Composite scoring that combines vendor capabilities, product features and real-world customer relationships
- Net Emotional Footprint that measures user sentiment toward the vendor
The result is a ranking built on authentic user experience. Each score represents the voice of real professionals who depend on these systems for governance, risk and compliance every day.
Where User-Validated Rankings Outperform Vendor Marketing
Vendor marketing often tells one side of the story. User-validated rankings give the other. They are consistent, comparable and grounded in experience, supporting stronger data governance and smarter decision-making. Every product in the Data Quadrant report is measured with the same yardstick, so buyers can compare platforms on equal terms.
Relevance matters even more. These results come from professionals who use the software daily. Their feedback reflects actual performance across third-party risk management and compliance.
The data also separates vendor experience from product experience. Buyers can see where a company delivers support and training alongside how the tool performs in real use.
More importantly, the Net Emotional Footprint adds context that no brochure can. It tells you how users feel about vendor trust.
Why Buyers Should Care
When you’re deciding between risk management tools, don’t merely depend on the claims made by the vendor. Take notes from other organizations like you that have put those tools into real-world practice.
Let’s see what difference user-validated rankings make.
Reduces Risk
Verified reviews cut through the hype and expose how a platform performs once it’s deployed. For leaders managing third-party risk management or compliance risk management, transparency and strong customer relationships reduces uncertainty.
Shortens Time to Shortlist
You don’t have to sort through dozens of vendors to select the best GRC platform. The Data Quadrant report offers category-level rankings to narrow the field quickly. You can focus on three to five products, such as the Onspring GRC Suite, SAP and Workiva Platform, that consistently perform well with real users.
Predicts Adoption
Usability, training and support scores hint at what rollout will look like. High marks in these areas mean teams can get up to speed faster. They also help you avoid long adjustment periods that risk slowing operations.
Prevents Re-Platforming
How do you know if a platform is a long-term fit? Customization and administration scores help.
For example, Onspring’s ease of customization (88%) and administration (85%) scores reflect its suitability for teams with complex workflows. Strong results here suggest the system can grow with your business instead of forcing you into another migration down the road.
How the Info-Tech Data Quadrant Is Built
The Info-Tech Data Quadrant turns verified user feedback into a structured view of the GRC software market. It evaluates governance, risk and compliance platforms side by side, using real data instead of vendor claims.
The makeup of the 2025 report looks like this:
- Scope: Governance, risk and compliance platforms evaluated together
- Sample: 578 verified reviews across 17 products
- Core Outputs: Composite score out of 10 and percentage scoring for vendor capabilities, product features and likelihood to recommend
How do you use this information? Use the composite to rank your first pass of products, then analyze the sub-scores to spot strengths and gaps that fit your use case. Once you’ve done that, use the number of reviews to measure confidence in each platform you’re considering.
With this structure, buyers can skip guesswork and move straight to a shortlist that fits. It also provides a consistent basis for comparing vendors of different sizes.
How to Read the Table Like a Buyer
The Data Quadrant table is designed to be read step by step. Start with the Composite Score to see how each product ranks overall. For example, in 2025, Onspring GRC Suite leads with 8.4 out of 10, ahead of ServiceNow at 8.2 and SAP GRC and Cybersecurity at 8.1.
Next, check the Net Emotional Footprint. Onspring scores +90, with 92% positive and 2% negative feedback, which shows that users trust the vendor and rate their experience highly.
Then, scan Vendor Capabilities. Onspring holds 85%, reflecting strong satisfaction with support, training and customization. Look at Product Features next. Onspring’s 87% rating highlights solid breadth and quality across key functions like reporting and risk management.
Finally, look at the Likelihood to Recommend and the number of reviews. Onspring scores 91% with 72 reviews, which gives its results more weight than smaller sample sets, such as the 25 users who reviewed AuditBoard.
Follow that flow, and the table helps you move from a broad view of performance to the finer details that matter most to buyers.
How to Use These Rankings Inside Your Buying Process
User-validated rankings guide real purchasing steps by helping teams focus on what matters, not on sales claims or feature lists.
Use the findings from the Info-Tech Data Quadrant to find the best GRC platform for your organization with this step-wise approach.
- Define your top five use cases and success criteria by team.
- Scan the Data Quadrant to pick three strong candidates.
- Map sub-scores to your use cases to predict fit and adoption.
- Request targeted demos that show those use cases end to end.
- Pilot with real data and one live workflow per team.
- Check reference calls for the same friction points as the table flags.
- Score vendors on adoption risk rather than just features.
When you follow these steps, your search for a risk and compliance management software will depend on real-world performance. This approach turns rankings into direction within the buying process.
Who Should Lean on User-Validated Rankings Most?
User-validated rankings matter most for teams that can’t afford trial and error. That includes organizations in regulated industries like healthcare and finance. These rankings help filter GRC software that performs well in desired categories like customization or risk management.
For cross-functional teams managing risk, audit, and compliance, verified user data brings shared clarity when multiple departments weigh in on a purchase.
Similarly, teams that need a fast rollout without long development cycles or deep customization can use these rankings. Scores for usability, training and implementation tell how quickly a platform can go live. So, start your shortlist with the 2025 Info-Tech Data Quadrant and see which vendors real users trust most.
Make Your Shortlist Backed by Real Data
Want to see how each GRC vendor scored with verified users? Download the Info-Tech GRC Data Quadrant to compare results side by side, and make a shortlist backed by experience-driven data integration and user insights.
