Remediating and reporting exceptions

Simply identifying exceptions in data doesn't mean you have solved the problem. If you are spending much of your time chasing down people to remediate, root issues will still persist. To be efficient, organizations need the ability to automate exception remediation and monitoring, and present a data story that mobilizes action to better manage risk. In this article, we discuss how to automate a remediation workflow and visualize data using the Results app.

This article builds on the examples illustrated in Creating a script to automate a business process and Scheduling an analysis.

What does it mean to remediate and report exceptions?

Remediating exceptions involves identifying and managing red flags and gathering information from respondents to contextualize data. Reporting exceptions includes visualizing data to highlight trends, patterns, or outliers.

Where do I remediate and report exceptions?

You can remediate and report exceptions using the Results app.

The big picture

You can take an analytic script that you created in Analytics, and upload it to Robots to run the script on an automated basis. A robot can perform a task to execute an analysis and export exception data to Results.

In Results, you can automate a remediation workflow using questionnaires and triggers. Then, you can use Storyboards to visualize data:

  • Questionnaires are used to contextualize data and responses are stored in tables.
  • Triggers automate your organization's remediation workflow by executing a set of actions based on record data in tables or metric thresholds you define.
  • Storyboards present data results using multiple visualizations, which is based on record data in Results tables.

Steps

Ready for a tour?

Let's take a closer look at these features in context.

1. Automate remediation and monitoring

Results helps you automate your organization's remediation workflow when investigating potential issues. Using a combination of questionnaires and triggers, you can manage a large number of potential issues, and identify and prioritize those which need immediate attention.

Set up an environment for processing records

Each table in Results includes a default view for processing records. You can also create additional views of the data in the underlying source table. This allows you to organize and isolate data based on different dimensions or categories, and present other users with a pre-configured view that they can use to process records.

Example

Scenario

You want the person reviewing exceptions to have all the information necessary to make appropriate decisions. You also want certain transaction red flags to be immediately visible to them as they review exceptions.

Process

Help topic Viewing table data

First, you open the Employees over monthly limit table in Results, and configure the table view to display the following fields:

  • Status
  • COUNT
  • employee name
  • transaction amount

Then, you apply conditional formatting to the Status and transaction amount columns. Finally, you save the view and call it Employee Pcard violations.

Result

You have set up a pre-configured view that other users can access when processing records:

Create questionnaires

Questionnaires are used to gather information from respondents and contextualize data. Each collection can have one or more questionnaires that you deploy as follow-up mechanisms when remediating records. Responses are captured in the specified table with each question defined as a distinct column.

Tip

The Template Questionnaires Collection contains a variety of pre-built questionnaires that you copy and use as a starting point. Each template questionnaire relates to different industry segments and is pre-populated with a series of questions.

Example

Scenario

Currently, exception data is exported from Analytics to Results on an automated monthly schedule. You need a way to tell the finance manager in your organization that new exceptions are available to review. The finance manager can then decide whether or not additional follow-up is required.

If the finance manager decides an exception requires follow-up, a questionnaire should be sent to the appropriate employee, requesting further information about the transactions that put them over their monthly limit.

Process

Help topicCreating questionnaires

You create two questionnaires:

  • Pcard exception review sent to Vandelay's financial manager to facilitate the initial investigation process
  • Pcard follow-up sent to employees if the finance manager decides that further investigation is required
Pcard exception review
Question Response type Column name
After your review, does this exception require further investigation? Single choice Further_investigation
Pcard follow-up
Question Response type Column name
Confirm you have read Vandelay's Procurement Card Policy and understand the section on monthly transaction limits. Single choice

(Yes / No)

Policy_attestation
Under what circumstances were these Pcard transactions made? Paragraph Circumstances
Did your manager pre-approve these transactions? We will follow up with them to confirm. Single choice

(Yes / No)

Manager_approval
Attach supporting documentation here: Attachment Supporting_documentation

Result

The questions you added to the two newly created questionnaires display as distinct columns in the Employees over monthly limit table. When people respond to the questionnaires, their responses are saved alongside the original record information.

Create triggers

You can create triggers to automate your organization's workflow by defining a set of actions that automatically execute when a specific change occurs. Triggers are associated with individual tables and can be configured for record changes or metrics thresholds.

Example

Scenario

You want to automate the following remediation workflow:

  1. The finance manager receives a questionnaire (Pcard exception review) that prompts them to review new exceptions and decide if additional follow-up is required.
  2. If the finance manager decides an exception requires follow-up, a questionnaire (Pcard follow-up) should be sent to the appropriate employee, requesting further information about the transactions that put them over their monthly limit.
  3. If no response is received in seven days, the questionnaire (Pcard follow-up) should be sent to the employee again.
  4. When an employee submits their questionnaire Pcard follow-up, the finance manager should be notified.

Process

Help topicCreate a trigger

You create the following triggers:

Trigger name Conditions Actions
Send Pcard exception review questionnaire to finance manager
  • Record
  • Status is new
  • Further_investigation is blank
  • Questionnaire Send Pcard exception review to finance_manager@example.com
  • Frequency Real-time, Record
Close investigation of the Pcard exception
  • Record
  • Further_investigation contains No
  • Status Closed
  • Frequency Real-time

    Questionnaire is submitted | Pcard exception review
Send Pcard follow-up questionnaire to employee
  • Record
  • Further_investigation contains Yes
  • Questionnaire Send Pcard follow-up to Email from field > email address
  • Status Under Review
  • Frequency Real-time

    Questionnaire is submitted | Pcard exception review
Resend Pcard follow-up to employee after seven days of no response
  • Record
  • Updated is 7 or more days ago
  • Further_investigation is not blank
  • Policy_attestation is blank
  • Questionnaire Send Pcard follow-up to Email from field > email address
  • Frequency Weekly
Notify finance manager when employee submits questionnaire
  • Record
  • Policy_attestation is not blank
  • Notify User
  • Frequency Real-time

    Questionnaire is submitted | Pcard follow-up

Result

The triggers are set up to notify and send questionnaires to the appropriate people and update record statuses when the conditions are met. The actions are automated and the entire workflow is managed through Results — with no external systems or bottlenecks to contend with.

Track key indicators with metrics

Metrics monitor the data in a single column over a time period using an aggregate function such as average, count, or percentage of total. When you configure a metric, you also set triggers with threshold conditions that test the value of the calculation. When any of these conditions evaluate to true, the trigger's calculation value changes and any associated actions execute.

Example

Scenario

Now that you have some experience creating triggers, you're interested to see if you can create a trigger to track indicators of control failure in an automated way. If Pcard controls are failing, you want to be able to notify the appropriate stakeholder.

Process

Help topics

First, you create a metric called Count employees over monthly limit. Then, you add a trigger to notify the compliance manager when the count of the metric is greater than 0:

Result

The metric and trigger configuration is saved. The trigger notifies the compliance manager to investigate when the metric threshold is exceeded, which indicates that the control is failing.

2. Visualize data

Data visualizations are essential to helping people understand the story within the data. Placing the data in a visual context helps patterns, trends, and correlations emerge that might otherwise go unnoticed. Data trends and patterns are best demonstrated in the context of larger goals and metrics. By presenting data visualizations within context, a better story emerges from data and stakeholders can draw clearer conclusions.

Example

Scenario

Now that you have automated the remediation workflow for exceptions, you are ready to analyze results and share findings with key stakeholders.

Process

Help topic Visualizing table data in charts

You create the following visualizations:

  • Employee violations under review (Pie chart) provides visibility into the status of Pcard exceptions
  • Transaction total by location (Stacked bar chart) provides visibility into Pcard spending by location
  • Merchants by total and count of transactions chart (Treemap) provides visibility into Pcard transaction spending by merchant

Result

You are able to visualize and summarize the analysis using three charts:

Pie chart Stacked bar chart Treemap

3. Present a data story

Storyboards provide a macro view over a larger collection of similar incidents in order to determine trends and analyze the root cause of systemic issues. For frequently recurring incidents, storyboards can be used to report on the incidents portfolio as a whole.

Example

Scenario

You have been busy creating visualizations and metrics to communicate the Pcard program exceptions. Now, you want to pull the analysis together into a storyboard to tell the data story.

You need a way to share findings with all the necessary people across your organization. Sharing this information with Pcard program and compliance stakeholders is critical, but not everyone in your organization has access to Results.

Process

Help topics

First, you create a storyboard, and include the table view, metric, and charts you previously created in the storyboard. Then, you share an anonymous link to the storyboard with the appropriate stakeholders.

Result

The storyboard displays multiple visualizations and text content in a single, communication platform. Managers and other stakeholders can use this information to detect patterns or trends, analyze the root cause of system issues, and develop more efficient and effective business processes.

What's next? 

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