In one way or another everyone has a junk drawer in their reporting process. Some call it “Other”, others call it “Miscellaneous”, and a few miscellaneous others call it JDLR (Just Doesn’t Look Right). I have a message for you – that junk drawer might just be your most important treasure-trove of data IF you master its secrets.
CIP Reporting Blog
Blog for Risk Management and Incident Reporting Software
Posts Tagged ‘Incident Reporting Software’
Drowning in Data
May 21st, 2014 by
It’s Monday morning, you’re just arriving to work, bleary eyed and not yet fully engaged coming off a weekend that was undoubtedly too short… Getting through your first cup of coffee and scanning through emails when you see a note from your boss –
Jenkins, (let’s just pretend your name is ‘Jenkins’…)
The board is requesting a report to show all recorded employee incidents resulting in injury for the last six months. It seems our insurance premiums are being increased and the board would like the Executive team to present data on behalf of the organization to either keep the premiums as they are or begin shopping for new insurance providers. I need your report on my desk by COB tomorrow.
Thanks,
The Boss
Ready? Set! Deploy!!
March 24th, 2014 by
One of the most frequent questions we’re asked is in relation to the deployment of CIP Reporting. That’s to say, “what all goes into deploying this fully configurable software solution, and what’s required of us vis-à-vis resources?” And to be sure it’s a great question to ask! In fact, a common reason many of our customers select CIP Reporting is because of the deployment details. The idea they can purchase a tailored solution on a configurable and scalable software platform and have it delivered in a turn key manner. Meaning, the day the customer goes live, the solution is not only working, but easy to use and with very little training required.
The K.I.S.S. Principal Applies Here, Too
March 7th, 2014 by
In the World of Incident Reporting and Business Process Workflow, the K.I.S.S. principal is applicable to the fundamental work you do. If you’re not familiar with the K.I.S.S principal, it’s an age old acronym for Keep It Simple S……. (enter your own defamatory ‘S’ word, here). Though truly it’s a reminder as to how we should approach certain tasks and job functions that may seem otherwise daunting, particularly in the collection of data. Whether you’re collecting data to measure performance metrics, mitigating a risk portfolio, or providing requisite data in order to follow Federal, State, and / or Corporate guidelines and mandates, collecting the data is the easy part. What is not simple however, is the consideration for how to utilize that data. At least not without the proper tools. And surely you’ve heard the colloquialism, “The Right Tool for the Right Job”; a slogan from True Temper Tools that began in 1907, and a slogan still in use today. In Incident Reporting, CIP Reporting is indeed the right tool for the right job. Though more than that, we keep the three basic concepts of collecting information, enforcing process, and utilizing data, simple…
Make a Customer, Not a Sale
February 28th, 2014 by
Coming off of a trade show conference in Las Vegas, I find myself recounting every conversation and considering all of what’s discussed between shopper and vendor. And though I’ve heard it before, this year seemed to carry with it more of a theme; that theme being around customer service and support, or rather, lack there of… Of the interested parties I found myself speaking with, it seems every one of them had something to say about how they feel frustrated, neglected, and even abandoned in their dealings with their existing software vendors; feeling as though they were sold a piece of software, not a solution. And who can blame them? They were… (more…)
The Beats Lab – Syndicating Reports via RSS Using the CIP API
February 28th, 2014 by
RSS is a very simple technology for publishing information which many devices and software applications support. RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a simple XML format for presenting information. The uses for RSS “feeds” are really limitless and in my personal opinion is one of the most under utilized technologies in the wild. It is nothing complex, but you really can do a lot of neat things with it easily. CIP Reporting can generate RSS feeds using the API which when used correctly can do a variety of crafty things such as populate a folder in Outlook, Send alerts to your phone, publish reports to a web page, or even something crazy like post tweets to Twitter (No I am not kidding).
Don’t Let Risk Manage You
February 23rd, 2014 by
Risk Management is not an exact science, though it can be. In fact, there’s so much gray area in even beginning to understand your Risk Portfolio that often times it takes a trained expert to sift through data for weeks on end, create tabulation reports and spreadsheets for days, and then find some kind of way to present that data in a manner befitting an eager executive bent on making business critical financial decisions to promote the future of that business. Sound familiar? If so it’s because you’re reading this and realizing you’ve been in this position before. (more…)
Knowledge is Power – Particularly in Incident Reporting
January 23rd, 2014 by
The whole reason we collect information is to better understand something. The better we understand something, the sooner we’re able to make sound decisions. And that’s in anything we do, not just incident reporting. In life, as in business, the more information you have available, the more capable you are of making that good decision. The difference with Incident Reporting is, you’re collecting so much information that unless you have the ability to drill into it and pull out critical data, it’s difficult, if not near impossible, to aggregate the data in an informative way. So what do you do with your data?
Incident Reporting Software Scalability – Don’t Boil the Ocean!
January 17th, 2014 by
Time and again I encounter hard-working, wide-eyed and eager Risk Managers, department Directors, and even C-Level executives who are thinking – with all good intent – they need to buy a software that will solve absolutely every challenge they’re experiencing in their respective department or organization RIGHT NOW. The proverbial “Boil the Ocean” approach… That’s to say, their ideas and innovations are warranted, though exceptionally difficult to realize in short order.
The thing is, traditional Incident Reporting practices require a very compartmentalized approach.
First there are the reports themselves – What data are we capturing? What is required information? When should a report escalate?
Then there are the logistics of the report – Who should see it? Will it follow an approval process? Is there business critical or confidential information being captured that cannot be seen by certain parties? How do I insure data respective to anything from personal privacy to Federal compliance is kept confidential?
And finally there’s the usability of the data itself – Now that we’ve captured this information, how do we use it? After all, information is power…
Incident Reporting Software Trends for 2014
December 28th, 2013 by
Having headed up a company that provides incident reporting software for the last 8 years I was really taken back at the changes in the market I observed in 2013. New technology and computer software are usually lock-step arm-in-arm in a race to the future, but in the world of incident reporting software it seemed like the industry was complacent and the market was well served with old toys. This year was different and being the technologist that I am I found myself right at home at the top of my game serving up a lightly chilled plate of cool technology appetizers to the industry. However, I think 2014 is demanding a technology feast; one to rival the holiday dinners we have all just shared with our friends and families. So while I sit here reflecting on 2013 it motivates me to share where I think the industry is going in 2014 and if you like technology I think you will like where my head is at.