Strategic Thought

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 Benefits of Risk Software

Having asked a cross section of our customers why they originally purchased ARM, we found that certain capability/benefit/RoI requirements were consistently mentioned by all customers.

Amongst these was a desire to increase visibility of risks and therefore reduce duplication of risks recorded.

London Underground, for instance, had thousands of risks in their risk register before implementing ARM, and, by improving visibility and reducing duplication, has now reduced this number to approximately 350 risks.

At BNG the original requirement was for a consistent approach to risk across all projects, operational areas and the business as a whole. They had several different systems and no consistency of data. Using ARM allowed them to improve visibility of all risks across the whole business, as well as providing a birds-eye view of all risks allowing priority risks to be drawn out from the register and raised to senior managers and directors.

Another common initial requirement is to improve the maturity of risk management processes, and ARM has aided this in several ways, including, for instance, by examining both opportunities and threats at Network Rail.

Improved Quality of Data was required by every one of customers interviewed. Most important was to ensure that data could be collected in an appropriate format under a consistent approach that fits the existing RM process. This in turn means that employees can concentrate on the actual data, rather than the format in which it has to be collected.

Other requirements commonly requested include reliable availability of data, easier and more central reports with standard filters, implementation of a more consistent approach to risk management, and facilitation of timely updates of risk and mitigation responses.

To recap and summarise, the general returns that some of our customers expected from a risk management system included:

• Informed & Controlled Risk Taking
• Better Decision Making
• Reducing business losses and earnings volatility    
• Reduce blanket risk mitigation costs (Insurance Premiums)
• Consistency between risk evaluation and FYr performance
• Achieved efficiency savings
• Meeting the Board’s expectations by increasing level of transparency through real-time reporting
• Adherence to corporate code and compliance regulations
• Minimising uncertainty and meeting KPI’s and Objectives

The Butler report includes an interesting statement regarding the use of a single risk management tool:

‘The software caters for all types of risk management found in an organisation, including insurance, project, corporate, health and safety, financial, and operational. This comprehensive coverage of risk areas ensures that everyone in the enterprise can use one common solution, preventing the continuance of the different risk management silos employing their own risk management software, or the reliance on Microsoft Excel.’