IT firm goes on-line with risk management dossier

A niche IT specialist practice has launched what it claims is the first on-line risk management questionnaire produced by a law firm.

Nottinghamshire-based v-lex developed the questionnaires - one for suppliers and one for purchasers - to try to ensure that risk assessment was made difficult for people to manipulate for their own ends.

'Risk assessment has previously been carried out by companies and law firms manually, by filling in a form and grading your risk from one to 100,' explained v-lex chief executive John Yates.

'However, we realised that this system was easy for people to manipulate, and bid managers - who have the responsibility to complete the deal - were sometimes filling it in wrongly to minimise their risks.'

The new questionnaire, which is found on v-lex's Web site, quizzes respondents over whether the project requires additional insurance cover and whether the customer has a strong record of prompt and full payment.

It produces a personalised risk assessment based on the results, which allows suppliers and purchasers to identify the nature and scale of the risks and take appropriate steps.'The logic behind the scoring is hidden, which makes it impossible to manipulate and so produces a very honest result,' Mr Yates said.

LINKS: www.v-lex.com

Victoria MacCallum