Configurable software solutions—Change is good, right?

 

Modern software technology and design has enabled an unprecedented amount of creation and innovation by managers, subject matter experts, and technical staff.

Before, if you wanted a new custom facility environmental audit form, you had to create a set of specifications, outline all functionality, and engage software developers to create the application (or just do it all on paper).  This approach could take months to develop, test, debug, and rework.  With the tools we have now, this kind of custom job can be done within a day, complete with mobile-enabled forms.  It’s amazing how modern technology is such a huge time and cost saver.  But it also introduces a new list of challenges that have to be considered when taking ownership of a configurable software solution.

You need to know what you want.

While we now have easy-to-use tools for creating applications, you still need to define what you want to get out of the application you’re making.  When you buy pre-configured software, you adapt your process to fit the constraints of the system you just bought. When you buy configurable software, you’re able to create the exact workflow that you need, but you have to first develop a complete understanding of what your needs actually are. With flexible tools, it’s easy to try out different configurations with your team members.  However, it’s a challenge to have your team on the same page about what configuration will benefit the entire range of users or departments.

Just because you can make easy and fast changes, doesn’t mean you should.

Typically, you have to wait until a vendor updates the software and hope they address any changes you were hoping for.  With configurable software, you or the vendor can make those changes anytime.

However, if you’re making these kinds of changes on your own, without proper management and communication, there is a very good chance you will create usability issues for other users in your community. Even the simplest management system for changes will make everyone’s life easier. For example, you can categorize potential changes by their urgency. The urgent changes can be notified to users immediately (as soon as they are made), and the non-urgent changes can be scheduled for later. Establishing any kind of management and communication system can help you keep your team up to date with software changes.

You are not in this alone.

Configurable software, with its endless possibilities, may seem daunting.  But you don’t have to be overwhelmed with options— there are plenty of people who would love to help you:

  • The software vendor can be your configuration partner and do the work at your direction. You get real-time updates to ensure the configuration keeps heading in the right direction toward fulfilling your needs— and you can spend your time focusing on your business, rather than configuring the software.
  • Your consultants can configure for you. It’s very likely that you have great, trusted relationships with the consulting community, who already know you and have developed some understanding of your business needs.  These resources can help to ensure you get the perfect solution.
  • Your staff likely has people that would love to configure and would jump at the chance to develop an effective solution that benefits the department and the organization as a whole. They are easy to spot— they spend time in Excel and write macros for fun.
Bottom line: Plan, prioritize, partner.

Configurable software can open up a world of options and often prove to be a great choice for many customers.  But it’s important that you understand the process— including all the advantages and challenges that come with it. Decide how you want to manage the configuration and reach out to trusted people. With some preparation and an invested team, you will have no problem navigating the exciting waters that technology has made possible.

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Still looking for the right EHS software to revolutionize your environmental and compliance initiatives?  Book a demo with us today!

 

Marian Carr

About guest blogger— Marian Carr, Locus Technologies

Ms. Carr is responsible for managing overall customer solution deployments and customer relationships with Locus’ government accounts. Her career at Locus includes heading the product development team of the award-winning cloud-based environmental ePortal solution as well as maintaining and growing key customer accounts with Locus’ Fortune 100 enterprise deployments. In addition, Ms. Carr was instrumental in driving the growth and adoption of the Locus EIM platform with key federal and water organizations.

Why SaaS multitenancy is key to successful and sustainable EHS management

A recently published survey by a research analyst firm indicates that 90 percent of EHS software applications installed today are single-tenant on customer premises or single-tenant, vendor hosted.  Only 10 percent are multitenant, vendor-hosted. In other words, most of the vendors in the EH&S space do not run a single version of their software maintained at one location. Instead, they run multiple copies at a single or multiple locations, with the high likelihood that these multiple copies are not alike, but instead represent multiple versions or contain specific customizations for individual customers. This model is crushing their growth and scalability potential.

Locus delivers EHS+S SaaS solutions as highly scalable, Software as a Service (SaaS) application and platform services on a multitenant technology architecture. Multitenancy is an architectural approach that allows Locus to operate a single application instance for multiple organizations, treating all customers as separate tenants who run in virtual isolation from each other. Customers can use and customize an application as though they each have a separate instance, yet their data and customizations remain secure and insulated from the activities of all other tenants. Locus multitenant services run on a single stack of hardware and software, which is comprised of commercially available hardware and a  combination of proprietary and commercially available software. As a result, Locus can spread the cost of delivering EHS SaaS services across user base, which lowers the cost for each customer. Also, because Locus does not have to manage thousands of distinct applications with their business logic and database schemas, we believe that we can scale our business faster than traditional software vendors. Moreover, we can focus our resources on building new functionality to deliver to customer base as a whole rather than on maintaining an infrastructure to support each of their distinct applications.

Multitenancy also allows for faster bug and security fixes, automatic software updates and the ability to deploy major releases and frequent, incremental improvements to Locus’ services, benefiting the entire user community. Our services are optimized to run on specific databases and operating systems using the tools and platforms best suited to serve customers rather than on-premise software that must be written to the different hardware, operating systems and database platforms existing within a customer’s unique systems environment. Locus developers build and support solutions and features on a single code base on our chosen technology platform. Locus efforts are focused on improving and enhancing the features, functionality, performance, availability and security of existing service offerings as well as developing new features, functionality, and services.

Locus customers and third-party developers can create apps rapidly because of the ease of use of Locus Platform and the benefits of a multitenant platform. Locus provides the capability for business users to configure applications easily to suit their specific needs.

Also, Locus multitenant cloud platform makes it possible to use a remarkably small number of servers as efficiently as possible. When organizations move business applications to Locus, they can significantly reduce their energy use and carbon footprints compared to traditional on-premises or single-tenant or ASP solutions

Locus built and maintains a multitenant application architecture that has been designed to enable service to scale securely, reliably and cost effectively. Locus’ multitenant application architecture maintains the integrity and separation of customer data while still permitting all customers to use the same application functionality simultaneously.

Both Locus and its data centers providers hold independent  AICPA SOC1 (SSAE16)  and SOC2 certification.

Locus Technologies introduces indoor air management application

The Locus indoor air management application is fully integrated with the dynamic Locus Platform and will automate indoor air management for small and large enterprises.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 6 June 2016 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and sustainability management software, introduces an all-new vapor intrusion and indoor air management application to its newest platform to redefine how companies organize, manage, and report their indoor air and vapor intrusion data. The Locus platform— a true, multi-tenant SaaS— offers a highly configurable, user-friendly interface to meet individual organizations’ environmental management needs.

Indoor air quality is becoming an important environmental and chemical exposure challenge for many companies whose properties may be impacted by contaminated groundwater or soil that release vapors or fumes.  Once the indoor air quality problem is identified, it follows a lengthy investigation that can involve several phases of sampling (including soil-gas, subslab, pathway, and ambient indoor air samples) using either active or passive sampling techniques. Samples are typically composited over time periods that can range from hours to weeks. A substantial amount of additional metadata is collected surrounding each sampling event, including information on the building construction, layout, occupancy, chemical use, and heating and ventilation systems.

All these activities generate large quantities of data, which until now were managed primarily by spreadsheet scattered on laptops or desktops. Locus’ new application brings an organized approach and workflow process to schedule, sample, and manage analytical results stemming from investigation and ongoing monitoring programs. Tools are also included to track the status and effectiveness of mitigation efforts related to indoor air quality. The data are easily summarized for review through reporting and built-in mapping tools, which can identify adjacent properties at potential risk for indoor air quality issues. Plus, if a customer is already a subscriber to Locus EIM, Incidents, or other Locus Platform applications, they can correlate data among various applications and facilitate finding the cause of degradation of the indoor air quality.

“Indoor air quality and vapor intrusion are gaining more and more attention from regulators, property owners, and managers of environmental sites. These projects generate a large volume of structured and unstructured data as part of the investigation and mitigation processes.  To successfully compile and review this information, companies need a software that can manage these various data types and allow quick review and decision making. The right software can reduce the stress, time, and potential inaccuracies associated with these projects.” said Wes Hawthorne, Senior Vice President of Locus.

The new TSCA law not REACH (in data requirements)

After a bipartisan accord, the US Congress overhauled the 40-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), with legislation to give the EPA greater powers to regulate about 100 hazardous chemicals. This is the first major statutory update to US environmental law that’s been passed in over 25 years. On a 403-12 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives on 24 May 2016 approved bipartisan legislation to amend the key provisions of the TSCA.

Under existing law, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has succeeded in regulating only five toxic chemicals since 1976, prompting public health advocates to decry TSCA as broken. Part of the problem is that the law grants EPA only 90 days to decide whether a new chemical poses “unreasonable risk” before it can enter the market, and agency officials say they rarely get the toxicity data they need to make that call in time.

The compromise legislation will remove those procedural hurdles, require EPA to focus on “high priority” chemicals such as arsenic and asbestos, and give the agency new tools to collect data from companies. It also grandfathers in some existing state chemical safety laws, such as those enacted under California’s Proposition 65, but limits states’ authority to create their own restrictions on chemicals in the future. State pre-emption was a key point of contention between Democrats and Republicans during negotiations.

So how does the new TSCA law compare to the EU REACH program? REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances) is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals. REACH also promotes alternative methods for the hazard assessment of substances to reduce the number of tests on animals. Under the REACH Regulation, companies are responsible for providing information on the hazards, risks and safe use of chemical substances that they manufacture or import.

One notable difference between  REACH and TOSCA is how they support downstream users in implementing their chemicals management programs. Regarding knowing chemicals in products, REACH provides clear direction that downstream users must communicate uses up to suppliers and know and publicly disclose (if requested) if their product contains substances of very high concern (SVHC). The TSCA  does essentially nothing to support downstream users in knowing chemicals in products and disclosing them to the public, and its requirements for upstream communication to suppliers on uses are uncertain.

Significantly, REACH requires companies to provide minimum data sets on the inherent hazards of chemicals. This data enables downstream users to evaluate and compare chemicals on their hazard characteristics. TSCA, while expanding the ability of the US EPA to require testing of chemicals, explicitly prohibits the agency from requiring minimum data sets.

While it is important to avoid the unnecessary testing of chemicals, it is also vital to have a data set on chemicals that enable their comparison on a common set of endpoints. The EPA needs the authority to establish a minimum data set on chemicals, although this may differ depending on the specific chemical.

On assessing the hazards of chemicals, the new  US law falls short of REACH and impedes harmonizing European and US requirements for chemical testing. Given that most US chemical companies sell into the European market, and therefore are already meeting those requirements, it is inefficient and wasteful to establish a totally separate testing regime in the US.

To support the use of inherently safer chemicals, REACH provides a clear and more streamlined process for identifying and restricting SVHCs. Over the course of seven years, the Regulation has identified 161 Candidate SVHCs, while over five years, the  US bill only requires the designation of 25 high priority chemicals and with new law extending that number to about 100 chemicals. Harmonization, consistency, and predictability are critical for downstream users, and these elements are all lacking in the new TSCA law.

 

Stanford Board of Trustees issues a statement on climate change

In a statement, the Board of Trustees underlines Stanford’s commitment to battling climate change, highlights university initiatives to address it and responds to Fossil Free Stanford’s request to divest from the fossil fuel industry.

The trustees have concluded that Stanford’s endowment will not divest, based on a review of criteria in the university’s Statement on Investment Responsibility and input from the Advisory Panel on Investment Responsibility and Licensing. The trustees also announce a new climate task force that will solicit new ideas from across the Stanford community for addressing climate change.

Find out more about Stanford University’s new climate change policy.

Locus Technologies introduces new calculation engine for GHG emissions inventories

The Locus GHG calculation engine is fully integrated with the dynamic Locus Platform and will automate emissions calculations for large enterprises.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 20 November 2015 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and sustainability management software, introduces an all-new calculation engine to its newest platform to redefine how companies organize, manage, and calculate their greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. The Locus Platform offers a highly configurable, user-friendly interface to fully meet individual organizations’ environmental management needs.

With an increased focus on the role that GHG emissions play in climate change, ensuring that companies’ emissions are reported accurately is more important than ever. GHG emissions reports are coming under increased scrutiny from regulators, stakeholders, verifiers, and financial auditors. Choosing the right calculation engine plays a critical part in remaining compliant with these rapidly evolving requirements and regulations.

Locus GHG calculation engine eases compliance burdens for GHG tracking

GHG inventories may be the result of mandatory state, regional, or national reporting programs, such as California Air Resource Board (AB32), U.S. EPA Mandatory Reporting Rule, or European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Organizations need a GHG calculation engine that can calculate GHGs automatically and accurately from all emission-producing activities at all of their facilities anywhere in the world. The new Locus calculation engine supports simultaneous calculations using multiple methods so that users can input data once and report to federal, state, and voluntary reporting programs according to each proper protocol.

“The requirements and procedures for GHG reporting are varied, complex, and rapidly evolving. To ensure compliance, companies need a calculation engine that can handle complex equations using appropriate emission factors, conversion factors, and calculation methodologies for each reporting program. The right calculation engine can reduce the stress, time, and potential inaccuracies found in home-grown accounting methods,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

New GHG calculation engine removes reporting inaccuracies

As a leading accredited GHG verification company in California, Locus observed challenges that many companies experience with GHG inventory calculation, coupled with the gross inadequacy of tools previously available in the market. Informed by the verification of hundreds of inventories, Locus developed the new calculation engine.

“Besides spreadsheets, many calculation engines are proprietary to software vendors and are not transparent. For GHG calculations to pass audits and meet cap & trade requirements, transparency is absolutely required. Some of these ’black box‘ calculation tools have not been sufficiently stress-tested in the market and are generating errors that cause enterprises to fail their GHG verifications. Locus’ calculation engine addresses these deficiencies and capitalizes on the architecture of the highly scalable Locus platform. All calculations are viewable and traceable through the tool to the original data inputs,” said J. Wesley Hawthorne, Locus’ Senior Vice President of Operations and an accredited GHG verifier.

When evaluating carbon management software with built-in calculation engines, companies must ensure that users are able to define both the calculation rules and display of calculated data for the purpose of reporting to various regulators. By giving end users the power to view, analyze, and make changes to analytic model data, Locus helps companies emphasize the transparency of the process and ensure that calculations are correct and that the company meets all verification requirements.

“We listened to industry users and created a configurable calculation engine that is easy to use, dynamically driven, transparent, provides reproducible calculations, and is easy to verify. This calculation engine, along with the Locus Platform, will improve companies’ data collection, analysis, and most importantly, reporting capabilities,” added Duplan.

Locus will conduct live demonstrations of the Locus Platform and calculation engine at the Locus booth at the National Association for Environmental Management (NAEM) 2016 Sustainability Software and Data Management Conference from March 15-16, 2016 in Tampa, FL.

Locus makes ENR TOP 200 Environmental Firms as the only EHS Software company

Locus Technologies Introduces Locus Mobile for Data Access and Input On the Go

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) leverages new mobile app for its environmental data collection processes

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 27 October 2014 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, has announced the launch of a new mobile application Locus Mobile, designed for easy and accurate data collection on the go.

Locus Mobile works both online and offline to ensure continuous access and interaction, and takes advantage of the most advanced technology to provide a variety of options for ad hoc sampling, additional field data checks, dynamic forms, and effective mapping tools. Locus Mobile users can easily configure business-specific data collection needs, enter data offline and upload on-demand, and synchronize data back to Locus’ systems for final review, storing, managing, and reporting.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has awarded a contract to Locus for the new Locus Mobile app, through which users can upload data directly from the field to their data management and compliance system, EIM. By taking advantage of configurable planned sampling and monitoring events, real-time data validation in the field, GPS mapping capabilities, and a complete audit trail of who, what, when and where, LANL expects that it will operate with a significantly higher degree of confidence that its environmental reporting and decision making are based off of the most accurate information possible in real time.

“We are seeing growing customer interest in adding mobility to our full-line of environmental and sustainability information management applications to more efficiently centralize remotely collected information for executive decision-support reporting. The next step is to push information the other way so that remote personnel are empowered with the information and instructions they need to take appropriate preventative and remedial action on the ground, perform real-time data validation, and spot exceedances,” said Locus CEO, Neno Duplan. “As a result of this more frictionless two-way data flow, mobile has the potential to completely transform the way enterprises address their environmental and sustainability challenges and achieve positive outcomes for the environment, brand protection, and their shareholders and customers.”

Locus Mobile is offered as a downloadable app from the Apple App Store to work with Locus’ cloud software systems.

Locus Recognized as a Top Environmental Firm in Silicon Valley

Read about the top environmental firms in Silicon Valley, ranked by the number of professionals in Silicon Valley. Learn more about their specialities, 2013 FY revenue and the number of employees each firm has locally and firm wide.

Monsanto Selects Locus’ Cloud Software for Sustainability Management

Leading Agricultural Products Technology Company Selects Locus for Sustainability Reporting

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 2 June 2014 — Monsanto Company, a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality, has selected Locus Technologies (Locus) to provide a comprehensive, integrated software platform for sustainability management and environmental stewardship throughout the corporation’s facilities.

Monsanto has adopted the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, a comprehensive sustainability reporting structure that is widely used around the world to more effectively measure, build upon, and communicate its current sustainability efforts. As a member of the GRI G4 Pioneers program Monsanto is utilizing the Locus enhanced data collection process to enable the transition to the new GRI G4 platform.

Locus’ award-winning EH&S and sustainability software platform is already implemented and provides Monsanto with enterprise tools to organize the GRI indicator collection and reporting solution for its corporate sustainability group. Monsanto site personnel are now able to enter GRI Indicator data by site, and produce reports for their sites. Corporate personnel are able to produce reports of data aggregated across the entire organization for use in preparing and automating their GRI Reporting.

“We are very pleased that Monsanto has selected Locus’ cloud-based software to organize its GRI information,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “The GRI Guidelines are the world’s most widely-used sustainability reporting framework and we are very pleased to support Monsanto in their reporting requirements. Both Monsanto and Locus are GRI Organizational Stakeholders,” added Duplan.