By Patrick J. O’Neill, Founder and President, Redhand Advisors
In every area of life, those who take responsibility for and control their own journey experience the greatest successes.
Risk Management Information Systems (RMIS) management is no exception.
My role, together with that of the RMIS vendor, is to provide the information and tools to help your business make the right decisions about your RMIS and ultimately achieve success. Those businesses that take it and run with it, gaining insights into their needs and goals throughout their implementation process and beyond by engaging the RMIS when new opportunities present themselves, stand to gain the most from their new software.
When COVID-19 hit, for example, empowered risk managers were the ones who looked to their RMIS to manage their new and ever evolving risks. They didn’t bother looking for a new solution because they already had one they knew could help.
From selection to implementation to Go Live and beyond, the vendor will continue to provide customer support and insight. However, the most successful organizations take control of their RMIS journey and don’t rely on their vendor to lead the way.
3 Tips to Becoming an Empowered RMIS User
Any organization can become empowered RMIS user. Follow these three tips to achieve success:
- Proactively experiment with the system. Your RMIS lifecycle is in your court. Those that understand the systems and process during normal times or low periods of risk will be more equipped to implement a new function or feature when the time is right. By willingly exploring your RMIS and engaging with it directly on a regular basis, you will come to identify your own solutions to help you manage your risk.
- TIP: Request a “sandbox,” or a copy of your system environment from your vendor. This will allow your team to experiment and try out new features and solutions, without compromising the live system performing critical daily operations.
- Cultivate an internal champion. Your RMIS continuous improvement journey post-Go Live should be led by your internal champion, whose goal it is to continually identify new assets, features and upgrades to the system that will benefit the organization. If your organization isn’t large enough to dedicate a specific person for this role, you should designate an existing resource within your business. The champion doesn’t have to be highly technical but should know how your organization operates with regard to risk. This knowledge can help them identify the most beneficial features of the system and apply them to your needs.
- TIP: While new features will be released on a regular basis, remember not every one is ideal for your business. Prioritize the list that will have the most impact within your organization. Understanding your organization’s risk profile is most critical to knowing which features to implement.
- Align the solution with your business goals. Tailoring an RMIS to your business goals isn’t a once-and-done process. Stay away from thinking: What does the system do for my organization? Instead, think: How do I use the system today? Does it align with our goals? Too often a business goes live and then fails to go back and modify the original configuration to keep up with changing objectives, leaving only features from the initial implementation to carry your business through even as your risk priorities have changed. When your business has a new risk or priority, you need to reevaluate and consider how the system can help support it.
- TIP: Continuously ask yourself these questions to determine how and when to best update your business’ RMIS:
- How do we use the system today?
- What are our goals that we trying to achieve?
- How are we accomplishing these goals?
- Do we have the tools to help solve for X?
- Can our existing RMIS system help support this?
- If not, what do we need to do so it can?
- TIP: Continuously ask yourself these questions to determine how and when to best update your business’ RMIS:
A RMIS is the most beneficial when your business can take full advantage of it. By becoming an empowered customer, you’ll ultimately, make the most of your RMIS system over time, well beyond Go Live.
By continuously reevaluating your use of the system and how it relates to your organization’s goals and priorities, you’ll discover new ways the system can support you in achieving your chief objectives.
For more information on RMIS management best practices and how to choose the right RMIS system, schedule an Inquiry Call with Patrick.