A-LIGN A-SCEND vs IBM Z Crypto Discovery & Inventory: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

A-LIGN A-SCEND

Security and compliance teams running multiple audit frameworks simultaneously will get the most from A-LIGN A-SCEND because its evidence deduplication engine cuts the actual audit workload in half. The platform maps evidence across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HITRUST, and FedRAMP audits so you're not rebuilding the same control narrative four times, and its FedRAMP 20x Low authorization proves it handles the most demanding federal requirements. Skip this if your organization runs a single compliance framework or hasn't yet centralized evidence collection; the ROI flips when you're managing fewer than three concurrent certifications.

IBM Z Crypto Discovery & Inventory

Enterprise organizations running IBM Z mainframes need IBM Z Crypto Discovery & Inventory to map cryptographic sprawl across legacy systems where key inventories don't exist and policy enforcement is manual. The tool addresses the ID.AM and ID.RA gap that leaves most mainframe shops unable to answer basic questions about algorithm strength, key length, and regulatory exposure across their infrastructure. Skip this if your organization uses modern cloud-native stacks exclusively; the value collapses outside the IBM Z ecosystem where crypto visibility is already native to your deployment model.