A-LIGN A-SCEND vs Kiteworks CMMC Compliance: 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.

Kiteworks CMMC Compliance

Defense contractors pursuing CMMC certification need Kiteworks CMMC Compliance because it handles the operational burden of CUI tracking and access control that auditors actually inspect, not just theoretical compliance posture. FedRAMP Moderate authorization plus native RBAC, encryption at rest and in transit, and consolidated audit logging mean your audit trail is already built; you're not retrofitting compliance into an existing platform. Skip this if you're a small shop under 50 people with minimal CUI exposure; the pricing and deployment overhead assume contractors managing substantive controlled data flows.