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 ‘Technology’
New Built In Analytics and Dashboards
September 15th, 2014 by
Most of you are used to running analytic reports and having them come back to you in Excel spreadsheets. While we stand by this approach for analytic reports because we feel it put the data in your hands it does have its limitations. Specifically, you cannot readily display a spreadsheet with multiple tabs as a dashboard within the system. With recent releases of CIP we now have a new reporting engine that can both create spreadsheets as usual, but also display within the application for creating dashboards.
People don’t buy what you do; They buy why you do it.
September 8th, 2014 by
Every now and then, I happen across something that hits home so profoundly that it causes me hours of reflecting on the way I’ve done things in the past, and even influences how I might do things in the future. Over the weekend, I happened across a blog entry written by Sir Richard Branson entitled Why all businesses should ask themselves ‘why’? Being a big fan of Mr. Branson and many of his brands, I read his article with great interest.
You’ll Miss The Best Things If You Keep Your Eyes Shut
July 1st, 2014 by
O.K. I Admit It; Dr. Seuss Inspires Me
While reading Dr. Seuss to my kids for bed tonight I was reminded that the books really are a work of art. Pronouncing those tricky limericks may have been the very first game that was fun to play but impossible to win. However, if you get past the tongue twisters you can find some wisdom for the ages. Tonight the words “You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut” found me while I was reading a bedtime story to my kids. (more…)
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).
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.
Top 10 Questions to Ask Yourself about Incident Reporting Software
December 24th, 2013 by
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#1 – Should I build my own software or buy from a vendor?
The core business model of a software company is to build a product with capabilities, features, and enhancements which far exceed anything which would normally be built by an end user for themself. That software is then sold by the vendor for less than it would cost for the end user to build which should leave the end user with a simple choice. However, there are times when building your own software does make sense particularly when you have the capability, free time, desire, and lack a budget to buy software.
Have you considered long term support? This is a major “gotcha” that most people forget to consider. If you are depending on an IT department or key employee to author your software, what happens when your project is low priority or those people are no longer employed with you? Believe it or not, this happens all the time and is one of the main reasons end users buy incident reporting software.
In summary, if you have the budget buying incident reporting software is the best long term answer assuming you select a qualified vendor. There are always going to be evolving requirements and maintenance issues to attend to and having partnered with a qualified vendor guarantees you have a solution for those needs.
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