It’s time for your checkup!
Twice a year you go the dentist to get your teeth cleaned and to check for cavities and once a year you visit your primary-care physician to get a physical.
Yet, when it comes to the Operational Excellence software solutions that help manage risk, you turn your head and cough at the notion of doing a periodic checkup. “It’s working fine.”
And it undoubtedly is, but that doesn’t mean a Solution Performance Review isn’t necessary.
Even if the software is doing what it’s programmed to do, companies are constantly making changes that need to be addressed to keep it running smoothly. Employees come and go, processes change, new software functionality becomes available and sometimes human errors are entered into the system that the software cannot detect.
Command Performance
So how do you know it’s time to get a Solution Performance Review?
One telltale sign is how s-l-o-o-o-o-o-w the system is getting. If you often head over to your favorite coffee shop while running a report because you’ve “got that kind of time,” then it’s time for a checkup. But even if things are running smoothly, there are ch-ch-ch-changes that need to be addressed. What if the company has adopted a new business process? It’s likely the organization is prepared to address changes when they come one at a time, but what about when changes happen fast and furiously? It’s vital to stay up-to-date on process changes that relate to the business solutions at hand.
Beyond staffing changes, there’s also the possibility of errors that can cause serious problems.
One mining client used Sphera for a “health check,” and it’s a good thing they did. An error in a definition of a unit measure was introduced by a previous administrator and never fixed. The problem was, after a restructuring, a new administrator was brought in who was unaware of the error.
So while the software kept plugging along, unbeknownst to the company, emissions and compliance data were being compromised. The “health check” saved the day before the company had to submit an annual emissions inventory.
When was the last time your company had a Solution Performance Review or “health check”? If the answer is, “I can’t remember,” then it’s time to contact Sphera. You can email Carrie Young at cyoung@spherasolutions.com for more information.
And while you’re at it, isn’t time to call the dentist’s office? That aching molar isn’t going to stop throbbing by itself.