The Modern Alternative To OpenWater
Enterprise power shouldn’t require enterprise bloat. Nobel is the AI-native award management platform that delivers total customizability without the clunky interface, steep learning curve, or months-long implementation.
Enterprise complexity is slowing you down
OpenWater is a massive system, but it comes with a heavy tax on your time. Admins are forced to navigate a visually dated, click-heavy backend where making a simple update requires opening multiple tabs. When you need an implementation specialist just to launch a basic award cycle, your software is managing you.
Enter Nobel. Enterprise power with a consumer-grade UX
We built Nobel because your team deserves software that actually feels good to use. Nobel delivers the robust features of an enterprise platform—like complex multi-stage routing and deep reporting—but built on a modern, AI-native architecture. Your admins can build what they need in minutes, and your judges get a frictionless, premium experience.
Compare Solution Side-by-Side
| Nobel | OpenWater |
| User Interface (UI) | Sleek, frictionless, modern dashboard | Clunky, multi-layered, and visually dated |
| Implementation | AI-assisted rapid deployment in minutes | Heavy enterprise rollout (often weeks/months) |
| Managing Updates | Centralized, visual workflow builder | Requires navigating endless tabs and menus |
| Judging Experience | AI-generated executive summaries & smart rubrics | Functional, but tedious legacy portal |
| Reporting & Data | Intuitive, dynamic impact dashboards | Complex report building that requires training |
Why enterprise organizations are migrating to Nobel
Why enterprise organizations are migrating to Nobel
In legacy systems like OpenWater, simply updating an applicant’s profile or changing a submission phase feels like a chore. Nobel’s centralized, modern architecture changes that. With our visual, drag-and-drop workflow builder, you have total, intuitive control over your entire program from one clean screen. No training manuals required.
Launch in minutes, not months
You shouldn’t have to hire an outside consultant to set up your award software. Because Nobel is AI-native, the platform does the heavy lifting for you. Tell the system your requirements, and our intelligent builder will generate your forms, routing rules, and scoring rubrics instantly. You get enterprise-grade customizability with self-serve speed.
Modernize your review panel’s experience
High-level VIP judges and industry experts don’t have time to battle clunky enterprise portals. Nobel provides a premium, branded applicant hub and a frictionless judging interface. Better yet, our AI automatically generates clean, unbiased executive summaries for every application, saving your judges hours of reading time while keeping them focused on what matters.
Built for teams that demand modern tools
“We used to dread award season because setting up the legacy software took longer than actually reviewing the candidates. Switching to Nobel’s modern, flexible platform cut our administrative time in half. It’s the easiest tool our judges have ever used.” – a Award Program Manager in Hong KongWe were drowning in our legacy enterprise software. It could technically do what we needed, but the backend was so dated and frustrating that our team hated using it. Migrating to Nobel gave us all the power we needed to run our global grants, but in an interface that actually makes sense. Our judges have never been happier.