FAQ on the convergence of Pentana Audit and MKinsight
05 December 2018
In September 2018, Ideagen acquired Morgan Kai Group Ltd., a rapidly growing software company that has developed an audit automation software application, MKinsight. Together, Pentana Audit and MKinsight make up the 2nd largest Internal Audit software business globally.
So, what’s happening?
Ideagen's mission is to be the market leader in Internal Audit software. For this reason, we have decided to converge Pentana Audit and MKinsight so that the complementary capabilities of both products can be enjoyed by all our customers. This converged product, will bring together the many strengths of both software platforms, as well as significant new functionality.
The release is due to take place in 2020, after which you will have the opportunity to upgrade to our next-generation audit management system Regardless of whether you use Pentana or MKinsight, the functions you currently use will be available in the new product. In addition, the converged product will include several significant enhancements, such as comprehensive SOX functionality, a revamped user interface, an API to support integration opportunities and a continuously updated library of regulatory content for use within the application.
I’m an MKinsight user. How will this affect me?
Prior to the release of the converged product, two new versions of MKinsight will be made available: versions 11.2 and 12.0. Details about each of the releases is provided below:
MKinsight V11.2 (March 2019 release) – Includes advanced authentication tools allowing hosted customers to utilize Single Sign On for user authentication.
MKinsight V12.0 (August 2019 release) – Features full assurance mapping, enhanced audit trails, and more robust methodology and workflow options for Audits, Key Dates, and Recommendations.
When upgrading, will my configuration and terminology settings be maintained?
Yes, all configuration, terminology, and methodology settings will remain in place.
When upgrading, will my audit data be retained?
Yes, we are fully committed to ensuring your audit data remains available after the upgrade.
I’m a Pentana Audit user. How will this affect me?
Prior to the release of the converged product, one new version of Pentana Audit will be made available:
Pentana Audit V5.4 (April 2019 release) – Includes the ability to link a Control to more than one Risk, multiple matrix configurations within a Client, improved check in and check out procedures, and improvements in the Retain integration.
When upgrading, will my audit data be retained?
Yes, we are fully committed to ensuring your audit data remains available after the upgrade.
How will risk management be addressed in Pentana MK 2.0?
Both Pentana Audit and MKinsight currently provide the ability to manage risk registers, including the documentation, ongoing assessment and reporting of process-level and enterprise-level risks. This will continue to be available within the 2020 release. As part of the convergence of Pentana Audit and MKinsight, where functionality exists on one and not the other, customers will benefit from additional functionality and added value through that convergence.
Will Pentana MK 2.0 be a desktop or web-based UI?
This is still to be determined. Cloud hosted platforms will be hosted in Microsoft Azure, in a data centre appropriate to the customer’s geographic location.
Supported browsers will include the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari and Internet Explorer 11.
A fully web-based platform is on the product roadmap. Further information on this development will be released in the future.
Will the converged product have offline functionality?
Yes, it will have offline functionality available to users.
If I’m on an older version of my software, should I wait until 2020 to upgrade directly or should I upgrade to a 2019 release first?
Prior to the 2020 release we recommend that you upgrade to the latest version of your respective system (Pentana Audit V5.4 or MKinsight V12.0) in order to take advantage of the additional features included with each of those releases.
Is there a specific timeframe for upgrading?
Each customer can decide when they would like to upgrade to the converged product. Previous releases of
Pentana Audit and MKinsight – starting with V5.3 and V11.1 – will be officially supported through 2023 at a minimum. While Development will fix identified bugs during this timeframe, new functionality will not be added to these versions. In order to get the most out of your software, we recommend upgrading to the latest version as soon as it is made available.
Will there be any increase to our current maintenance and support fees?
No, all maintenance and support fees will be kept in line with the existing agreements.
Will there be a fee associated with the converged product?
No, there will be no additional cost to upgrade to the future product, as all upgrades are included as part of maintenance and support services.
How can we, as users, influence the future development of the product?
Customer feedback is crucial to shaping the product roadmap. A library of requests from both customer bases is being leveraged by the product development team. We strongly encourage you to share any feedback or suggestions you may have in terms of how the system can be better designed to meet your needs and add value within your organizations. Development requests can be submitted through your customer support representatives or via the respective customer websites. In addition, we are currently evaluating other ways in which we can engage customers in the roadmap process.
What training resources will be available once we upgrade?
A comprehensive suite of training resources will be available to support users upgrading in 2020. This will include online tutorials, videos, user manuals, and guidance documentation. In addition, live interactive training courses will be offered.
What is Pentana Risk?
Pentana Risk is a cloud-based application that offers a structured, integrated and collaborative approach to risk management to drive efficiency, effectiveness and agility throughout your organisation.
Although both Pentana Audit and MKinsight have risk management capabilities, they are mostly limited to the function of Internal Audit. With Pentana Risk, businesses have real-time visibility and complete control over any type of internal or external risk. Highly visual dashboards, scorecards and strategy maps bring critical risk data to life, making it easy for managers and users to understand information at a glance, and be able to align risk management processes to business strategy and objectives.
Pentana Risk provides a single version of the truth by integrating data from back office and third-party systems, delivering clarity, control and the ability to make the right decisions at the right time with the right data.