FAQ GOAT Risk^TM

How does GOAT ensure our data is secure?

GOAT Risk^TM is a cloud-based application hosted with Microsoft Azure. Microsoft is governed by strict standards regarding the privacy and protection of customer data. We take strong measures to protect your data from unauthorised persons or improper access. Not only do Microsoft policies prohibit your customer data from being mined for marketing or advertising, we also restrict access by Microsoft personnel and subcontractors, and carefully define requirements for responding to government requests for customer data. One measure of Microsoft’s commitment to data privacy is their adoption of the world’s first code of practice for cloud privacy, ISO 27018. However, your customer data is available to you at any time and for any reason.

How will GOAT support its customers?

We strive to make it easy to be a GOAT client with clear contracts, simple pricing including optional extras such as a fixed implementation fee or bespoke risk management consultancy to help you get more value from your risk management.  Once deployed, we don’t expect regular technical problems but recognise on some occasions, you may need to contact us where we provide a multi-channel support desk operating from 8am – 6pm GMT where our service level agreement is to provide a personalised response within 2 hours.

How much configuration or customisation will I need to do? And how difficult is it to get started?

GOAT Risk^TM is not just a software platform, and the buying decision is not about replicating your risk registers to an electronic platform. GOAT Risk is a decision to embrace our risk management ethos which we believe will resonate with your senior stakeholders, sustainably add value to your organisation and shift risk management to the core of decision making. There is only minimal customisation around risk assessment definitions, initial users, organisational structure and a few other preferences. We advise a middle-up approach such that sufficient content and data is in the system before engagement with senior leaders and we will work closely throughout the deployment stage.

How does GOAT Risk^TM make the ethos come to life?

All GOAT Risk^TMwill have access to the GOAT RM Toolkit^TM where you will learn our risk management ethos and gain insights on how to implement this. Our ethos and Guiding Principles are intrinsically weaved into our software. A key component of our ethos is integrating risk with data and we’ve spent a significant proportion of our development efforts on getting the user journey to work for key risk indicators including a full audit trail for data changes. The other key area we’ve focused on is the heatmap and scoring methodology. We interpret risk assessment (scoring) as a quick prioritisation exercise, so we’ve made this user experience as easy as point and click. We’ve also weaved in tips and tricks to upskill users’ understanding of risk management.

How will GOAT Risk^TM evolve into the single point of contact for all key management information?

We know this is an ambitious target given most risk programmes currently hold very little management information. GOAT Risk^TM of course is just the software platform so cannot take full credit when you achieve this. We believe this is an achievable target because we know Risk Management is the only function that works across the whole organisation seeking out key risk and now supporting data. If we can demonstrate the power of data wrapped around useful risk narrative, action tracking and escalation workflows, we know senior leadership will embrace this platform and help to accelerate its adoption.

How does GOAT Risk^TM evolve into our ‘Corporate Memory’?

GOAT Risk^TM has an incident reporting and tracking facility to record and report incidents and near misses and associate these with risks. We recognise certain departments may hold incidents for a certain risk or area, but GOAT Risk^TM has the ability to hold loss history across all risk types. This useful knowledge base will stay within the system so that we don’t have to relearn the hard way from past experiences and the memory is not lost as employees leave.

How will GOAT Risk^TM ‘organically grow’ its users?

We know risk management is part of everyone’s job, the most effective programmes are those where the culture and risk management capability is truly embedded deep in the business. We’ve designed the system so that it organically grows and scales as users invite other colleagues into the system, they may own a risk profile, a risk, an action or a key risk indicator. Simply type the users name and if it doesn’t find this person as an existing user, the user can quickly invite them to join. Remember all users will see risk management tips and tricks so the knowledge does get embedded and of course we are aspiring to be the single point of access for key management information in the business.