5 signs your environmental data loading processes need improvement
Managing environmental data is no easy feat – but getting the fundamentals right when capturing and loading data into an environmental data management solution can save you time and efforts down the track when trying to answer the big question, “are we compliant?” at reporting time.
Understanding how your team loads data into an environmental data management solution is the first step to determining whether your environmental database is performing as an enabler or a burden to your team.
Your software should allow environmental professionals to seamlessly ingest and transform data from a range of environmental monitoring types – automating data input where possible to reduce manual handling of data and dependency on supplementary software.
Here are 5 questions to determine whether data input is a challenge for your company:
1. How much manual handling of your data is involved each month?
Data loading into any environmental data management solution should be a simple process. If you’re relying on manual handling processes or additional software to manipulate data into specific formats to load into your environmental database, then you’re introducing substantial risks around human error.
Your software should allow your team to load data sources from the field, automatically feed data in from labs, and other third-party providers directly into your environmental database, with minimal manual handling or additional third-party software.
2. How many tools do you rely on for loading your environmental data?
Relying on multiple tools to house and manage different data sources increases the risk of a system failure. Should any system lag in support or functionality, this may impact your company’s ability to track compliance of your environmental activities.
Having a single, integrated repository for your environmental data enables you to discern quickly and easily, the:
- time data is collected, including real-time data,
- source of data,
- frequency of acquisition, and
- the complete chain of custody.
3. How much time do you spend manipulating files if validation errors have occurred outside of your solution?
A crucial feature to consider when working with an environmental data management solution is how it handles data validation errors. Most error validation should happen before data is loaded into your solution however, when this doesn’t occur, your solution may not be equipped to handle or process this data.
Manipulating files may involve backing load files out, updating files, deleting records in the file, or even going back to third-party providers to request updates to your data, to load back data into your solution, which can impede significantly on getting timely information, particularly around reporting.
Having an environmental data management solution that allows users to remedy file load mapping issues and remember naming standards across data providers ensures the smooth integration and uniformity of data, regardless of the data source.
4. How much flexibility do you have around your loading formats?
Even though you’ll want to standardise the data coming in as much as possible, environmental professionals will always need to work across a broad variety of environmental data formats and sources.
This can be a cumbersome process if you’re locked into set loading formats accepted by your software. With little ability to tailor them to your needs, environmental professionals can experience significant time delays and potential data traceability issues when coordinating data from labs and manually manipulating data into the right load formats.
With an environmental data management solution that enables environmental professionals to model files within the software, you can build aliases around locations, test methods or parameters, so regardless of what format your data comes in and what source it comes from, you can seamlessly load any environmental data into your solution.
5. When out in the field, how seamless is it to get your environmental data into a database?
Using a field data application that’s native to your environmental data management solution and reliably works without network, means even if you’re working offline in remote areas, your field teams can identify data outside limits, recognise exceedances and get location coordinates for sampling anywhere, anytime. Having native and relevant validation and verification functions in your field data capture practices will help safeguard your environmental data.
Make your environmental data loading work smarter for you
EnviroSys is a quality and compliance-focused software solution that can efficiently capture, validate, monitor, analyse and report any type of environmentally-related data.
With a streamlined data input console to remedy file load mapping issues, protocols to automate tasks and eliminate manual data reformatting and manipulation, and flexible data mapping to handle naming standards across multiple data providers, EnviroSys ensures a seamless user experience while also providing the accessibility, transparency and security of your data.
Find out more about how EnviroSys can improve your environmental data management processes by exploring more here or viewing a demo of EnviroSys here.
