Including Non-financial Benefits in a Business Case for an ERM System (Part 4)

In addition to financial benefits, non-financial benefits need to be targeted for realization - you have previously seen three different categories of benefits, along with benefits that can be quantified in financial terms and those that can be quantified in non-financial terms and non-quantifiable or intangible benefits.   Indirect measures can be used to track progress against achievement of non-quantifiable benefits.  Besides benefits quantified in financial terms, there are many potential benefits that can be realized from an ERM Program and they are located in three main areas:

The area of “Information sharing and access” provides a number of potential benefits including:

• There will be no ‘lost records’, as no correctly-indexed record is ever lost. 
• An ERM environment also allows any authorized user to find any record, easily and quickly.
• There will be faster information retrieval, since an ERM environment allows the quick and efficient retrieval of information stored in it.  Typically, any record can be found and retrieved within seconds.
• Information can be shared efficiently.  Records can be distributed to recipients, and unlimited numbers of users can refer to the same record simultaneously.
• Files stored in electronic format facilitate individual and department, moves and other re-organizations.
• If required, information can be retrieved at any time - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Remote retrieval is facilitated.  If a suitable infrastructure is available, records can be retrieved from or added to the ERM environment from remote locations.
• Integration with e-mail has two potential benefits.  Firstly, information retrieved from an electronic system can be forwarded to other parties by e-mail within seconds.  Secondly, e-mail messages can be stored and managed properly.
• With simultaneous access, an unlimited number of authorized users can read, refer to or print any electronic record at any time.
• Finally, users will find their jobs easier and more fulfilling as they are able to search for and obtain information faster and more easily. 

The second area of consideration is “Decision-making”, where the benefits include:

• With an ERM environment, records presented as evidence in litigation will be complete and completely credible and reduce the likelihood of criminal penalties and/or regulatory fines.
• Many benefits of an ERM environment combine, to facilitate the taking of decisions which are completed more quickly, and based on better information.
• A properly-configured ERM environment provides information on which users can rely. Records are up to date and complete.

The final area of consideration is “Management of Information”, where the benefits include:

• Increased confidence from comprehensive audit trails and access controls as a correctly-filed record can never be lost.
• By default, backup copies of the ERM records will be kept.  As long as an effective business continuity plan is in place, these backups can be used to recover records from any disaster which affects the ERM environment.
• An ERM environment can be configured to provide exceptional awareness functionality by circulating new or incoming records according to specified rules.
• By default, an ERM environment implemented to the expected standard will keep a complete audit trail for every record, which may prove valuable in the event of audit or other investigations.

By Carl E.Weise.