Appraise

2002 Consensus Software Awards

Brief product description

Performance Management Systems Pty Ltd is proud to present…A new approach to business auditing

Businesses everywhere must comply with regulations and standards. These cover quality, safety, environmental, healthcare, legal and financial issues. It is the legal responsibility of business owners to monitor compliance with these regulations through a system of regular auditing.

Most businesses today use manual checklists and a variety of hybrid systems to manage this process. They are time-consuming and inefficient, and even major corporations fail to properly control compliance – and risk - as a result.

Appraise eases the burden of compliance management.

Appraise is a risk-based, audit management tool. It enables any organisation to:

• Create and maintain checklists for all audit requirements in one location. 

This offers centralised control over compliance for an entire organisation.

Web Site – http://www.auditdotnet.com

• Provide an information resource to people having responsibility for compliance.

Details of standards and regulations – even a whole resource library – can be made available for each question, providing valuable insight and information to people who need it – in context.

• Carry out all audits on-line using nothing more than a web browser – or off-line with mobile devices.

Access to the application is facilitated in the most uncomplicated way - an internet connection and a web browser. This provides a huge leap in convenience and accessibility, and significant reductions in software maintenance costs.

• Track all audit deficiencies to ensure that problems are quickly and permanently resolved.

From the space program to healthcare, the majority of man-made disasters originate from systemic failure. Appraise is a tool for business managers to be informed about and to control action on all system deficiencies, regardless of their time or location.

• Have quick access to audit results to demonstrate compliance and detect trends - instantly and from anywhere in the world. 

The paperless, instantly accessible system provided by Appraise means that managers have access to raw auditing data as well as the reported results. Now results and trends can be quickly reviewed and analysed from a centralized location. This is a quantum leap from existing manual systems where audit data is usually in the form of handwritten notes located in filing cabinets across the world.

Product Innovation

Appraise has been developed entirely with Microsoft’s new .NET framework, using the new development language, C#. Appraise will be launched in conjunction with the .NET official release early in 2002, and will among the first .NET web applications to be launched world-wide.

Aside from the use of new technology, Appraise breaks new ground in the following ways:- 

• Using new .NET server control functionality has enabled us to provide users with the ability to structure audit questions in any way, ranging from simple, yes/no questions to multi-choice and multiple option question types, and even questions requiring data entry at audit time - for example, the name of the person being audited, or a free-text opinion. The result is that audits may take the form of a survey rather than a rigid checklist. Our unique, master/supplementary question format means that audit questions may be developed that only appear on the basis of answers to preceding questions.

• Appraise replaces cumbersome, manual auditing systems with an inexpensive, globally accessible paperless system. The majority of organisations conducting audits do so with manual systems. Appraise makes it possible to plan, conduct, report on and analyse audits without printed material, facilitating greater flexibility and efficiency and significantly reducing pre and post audit reporting costs.

• The use of Pocket-PC technology means that audits may be conducted far from an internet connection, in virtually any operational environment. Data is rapidly entered only once, using user-defined standard text, and transferred at a convenient time to the main database via a web service interface.

• Appraise allows users to upload and download any type of file to be used to support the audit. This could include spreadsheet or document files, graphics or others – commonly used to provide supporting evidence for the audit. This further increases the range of audits, eg financial or environmental, that can be conducted using the software.

Performance

Appraise has been developed using Visual Studio 7, the .NET Framework SDKs and C#, demonstrates the following key features:

Data Access

The application uses a web service model to connect to an SQL Server database. Stored procedures are used for all data transactions to increase security and performance.

Globalisation

Appraise has been designed for globalisation, and all text strings are sourced from a resource assembly based on the user’s culture and locale settings (currently only English has been made available).

Appraise will be marketed on a subscription basis as well as for internal use by major corporations.

Separation of Code and Logic through Web Services

Appraise follows a three tier application model. The application can be broken up into three segments: The Data Services interact with the database to retrieve raw Business Data. The raw business data is then manipulated and populated into rich business data that is then bound to the Interface Objects.

Mobile Applications

.NET Mobile SDK and .NET Compact model has been incorporated into the Appraise application. Users will be able to access Appraise from mobile phones and Pocket PCs. The different SDKs communicate to the same business web services due to the rich design and flexibility of the .NET framework.

Generating Server Controls and Graphics Dynamically

Server controls and graphics, and user controls developed by us, are generated dynamically using the rich .NET assemblies. This is needed due to the dynamic nature of subscribers’ business data.

Image and data upload and storage

Appraise allows users to store images as well as data files related to audits (working papers or other evidential material) and corrective action requests, to provide comprehensive information where required.

State Management

Appraise uses the rich state management implemented in the .NET framework. Session state management is used to store security objects and important key variables to ensure Appraise functions to its maximum potential.

Role based Security

Security is implemented by providing secure connections and Session based security objects that extract and manipulate user or group based security policies to ensure that subscriber information is highly protected.

Potential

Model

Appraise has been modeled on an established, PC based audit management tool developed by this company, which is in use in manufacturing, healthcare, local government and utilities. We have received enquiries from all over the world, so we are aware that there is a demand for Audit Management Software.

The product was a finalist in the Brother Business Software Awards 2001, and received a Special Mention Award in the competition.

Features

Appraise was developed in response to a growing call by international organisations for a web-based system, our recognition of the potential around the world for such a system, the need for new, innovative features we have now included in the product, and the desire to provide a product that sets new benchmarks for business auditing software. The new .NET technology gave us the tools and the secure environment we needed to make this investment.

Global Use

Using the globalization features offered by .NET means the application will deliver text and date-time formatting based on the user’s culture and locale settings, without any intervention required by the user. 

The Application can meet all the compliance needs of an organisation. Some of the potential uses of the program include:

• Underground inspections in mines using mobile devices;

• Vehicle inspections – on the road;

• Local and state government compliance monitoring, for example, food safety;

• Monitoring of field operations by service organisations and utilities;

• Vendor assurance programs, nationally and internationally;

• Standards compliance by auditing and registration bodies;

• Any other auditing or compliance activities.

Economic Benefits

There is significant potential for state, federal and local governments to provide communities with the means of assuring compliance with regulations through the use of the software – either directly by hosting the application themselves and providing public access, or by providing agencies or government officers with a readily-accessible compliance tool.

As each question added by the user may be linked to web-based information resources, Appraise provides a pathway to regulations, background data or guidance information.

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