Does your data stack up? How to ensure reliability, confidence and assurance with your field data.

February 6, 2023

Ensure reliability, confidence & assurance with data | The SignOnSite Blog

Over the last few years, the construction industry has had an ever-increasing stream of software solutions to help deliver projects. So what is the best option for you?

A company’s technology stack often occurs organically, responding to the needs of a specific function, with the choice selected to work alongside or even stand alone with existing systems. 

What is often missed is how the design of the system impacts the quality of the information collected, supports business workflows and integrates into decision-making. 

Here are three questions to ask when assessing software design:

Question One: Is the information in the system up to date and reliable?

Underpinning the efficacy of any system is the quality of the data - this is critical to the situational awareness of the business. 

Having confidence in the data is crucial.

To assess information quality, consider the following:

  • Is information being collected from the source or managed by a middle person (are workers providing the details themselves, or is it being managed by an office person, missing up-to-date or the full picture of the information?).
  • Does the information update in real-time, so you always have the most current and up-to-date information on hand? For example, do you know what stage a permit is up to? Or if a person has received a critical site communication sent out today?

 

Question 2: Is information collected with workflows and tools that work for site teams and workers?

Data collection is never perfect, and teams need to choose tooling that reduces friction at the point of collection and has a way of auditing/controlling data quality up to the top aggregate.  

You want to consider how data is being collected and how this works with the site activities and workflows to reduce friction.  

Flexible all-in-one solutions often promise to simplify things but ultimately don’t deliver, as the poor user experience at the coal face leads to poor data quality. You won't have quality data if no one is using your system.

In reviewing the collection of information, consider if the system:

  • makes it easier for workers to provide information to site teams?
  • makes it easier to communicate with workers on site?
  • fits in or improves the existing workflows on site (site induction, communication and training, sign-on)

 

Question 3: Can the data easily be accessed and transformed?

Often multiple teams need access to the same information, but in different formats e.g. Site teams need real-time attendance data for site evacuation drills and site walk-throughs, while the End of Month management reporting requires a summary of attendance and induction compliance information.  

Accessing the information easily as you are doing your job while also having the functionality to connect the data to other systems to get the information in a format that works for the business to make decisions is essential.

Considering the information accessibility for your business, ask:

  • is the information stored in fixed formats (i.e. in pdf), or can I extract this information?
  • can I connect the information to other data easily (either through an API endpoint or integration into another system, e.g. Procore, Autodesk)

 

Conclusion

We understand that the construction industry wants systems that support existing workflows or processes and collect quality information (data) that can be easily translated and accessed by multiple stakeholders.

We often see a balanced selection of a couple of core systems alongside point solutions with good integrations as ways our customers proceed and are successful. Click here to speak to a SignOnSite team member about how data access and integrity could benefit your business.

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