Ventiv Technology

8 Airmic Technical Inappropriate infrastructure Ventiv Technology conducted a poll of Airmic workshop attendees and estimated that only 10% of risk managers are using fully integrated data management systems whilst roughly 60% use spreadsheets. Reliance on static databases restricts the opportunities presented by data. Effective data management systems must be able to keep up with the 'four Vs' of big data - volume, variety, velocity and veracity. 'Spreadsheets reduce data validity and quality. They prevent proper version control, audit trails and efficient data sharing. To innovate businesses must move away from the norm by capturing and storing structured and unstructured data on a singular platform that allows you to pull the signal from the noise.' John Irving, Regional Director, EMEA, Ventiv Technology Harnessing the web The Aon Data Centre had the task of consolidating information from 400 separate databases and applications onto one platform. Aon moved from the 'tins and wires' of traditional databases to online cloud and amazon based servers. Data became more accessible to customers, employees and key stakeholders as all information was held on the same infrastructure, ensuring common and consistent messaging across all parties. The web-based platform allowed use of online computation models and reduced costs as storage capacity can be turned off and on to meet the peaks of data collection across the business. 5 The barriers to data use Despite the excitement for using data analytics Airmic members cite a number of barriers that must be overcome before the opportunities can be realised (Airmic, Transformation of the Profession, 2017) each of which are considered below. Lack of budget Over a third of Airmic members lack the budget to enhance their approach to analytics. However, this can be a symptom of the 'too big to handle' view of data. Risk managers are encouraged to start small. By considering a specific question and collecting the relevant data to investigate it time and budget will be spent more effectively than simply collecting vast amounts of information and hoping something interesting crops up. 'A common misconception surrounding analytics is that it will require a complete overhaul of how risk data is collected. We often find that businesses already have the information they need, or small changes need to be made to make it more consumable. It's about understanding the question you need to answer and the information required to do so.' Philip Songhurst-Thonet, Head of Risk Consulting, Aon Risk Consulting Defining the question When assessing variations in operational resilience across a manufacturing firm, Inoni focused on improving data collection by building on the organisation's established 'resilience standard'. This was used to develop a 70-question survey, where questions were based and weighted against the 12 risk indicators routinely measured by the business. The 400 operating sites were benchmarked against the standard by the risk function and local operating managers completing the survey every 6 months. Survey data was overlaid onto standard performance measures, allowing the business to spot risk management shortfalls and target improvement budgets. Most critically, organisations must move away from a short term approach where specific data is used for discreet one-off purposes.

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