How to ensure a smooth transition from BowTieXP to BowTieXP Enterprise

The BowTieXP desktop solution is an advanced risk analysis software tool that is based on the bowtie method. It enables you to easily create bowtie diagrams to analyze risk. BowTieXP provides you with the ability to visualize complex risks in a way that is understandable, but also allows for detailed risk-based controls and improvements. Combined with IncidentXP, it allows to learn from incidents and thus prevents these risk scenarios from recurring.

BowTieXP Enterprise is the ‘big brother’ of BowTieXP. It is a central web-based system of the bowtie suite tools, and is available in the Cloud. With BowTieXP Enterprise, organizations can centralize risk information (bowties, and incident and audit information) at all levels within an organization in a single database.

If you are currently using BowTieXP and have decided to transition to BowTieXP Enterprise, continue reading to learn how to make the transition as smooth as possible through these three steps.

1) Clarify your current use of BowTieXP

Start by doing an inventory of the products that you currently use. There are two scenarios:

• BowTieXP only
• BowTieXP and IncidentXP

This is important to build the scope of your BowTieXP Enterprise project plan.

Next, determine how users are using BowTieXP and IncidentXP (if applicable) today. Since each user has their own instance of BowTieXP, seek to understand how they make use of the application. Even if you tried to standardize the use of BowTieXP across your company, you can’t rule out the possibility that users have used the application in their own way, and it’s important to find out more about it.

Also, assess the level of maturity of the bowties created by users. They will range from the least mature to the most mature:

1. Bowties created without any reference data
2. Bowties created with reference data
3. Bowties created with reference data and barrier-centric audit findings (by answering audit questions)
4. Bowties created with reference data, audit findings, and incident analyses data

These steps are the preparations for the content setup for BowTieXP Enterprise.

2) Establish the scope for the BowTieXP Enterprise project

BowTieXP Enterprise is comprised of many modules and features, including Bowtie Viewer, Bowtie Editor, Audits, Observations & Incidents, Action Tracking, and others. As part of the transition from BowTieXP, your BowTieXP Enterprise project plan must be properly scoped by deciding which modules and features will be implemented. Wolters Kluwer Enablon or our partners can support you in this step.

To give you an idea of what the scope of the project may look like, here are some of the most common deployment types and the functionality included:

1. BowTieXP Enterprise Core + Bowtie Editor: Manage bowties; View centralized bowties and relevant data; Update bowties and relevant data online.
2. BowTieXP Enterprise Core + Bowtie Editor + Audits: In addition to #1 above, manage barrier-based audits and/or complete questionnaires on the web, and report audit findings.
3. BowTieXP Enterprise Core + Bowtie Editor + Incidents: In addition to #1 above, report observations and incidents; Follow up and analyze them; Apply Scenario-based Incident Registration (SIR).
4. BowTieXP Enterprise Core + Bowtie Editor + Audits + Incidents: All of the above.

Once the scope of the BowTieXP Enterprise project plan has been defined, the following important tasks should be done:

• Obtain the proper licenses and manage users
• Create a standardized, corporate template based on the current use of BowTieXP
• Create the initial content based on the content created by users
• Make all necessary configurations
• Plan for training for different user types, including administrators, superusers, and users

3) Plan and execute the software deployment

After determining the scope for your BowTieXP Enterprise project, it’s now time to think about the software deployment. Start by answering these questions:

• Which version of BowTieXP Enterprise will be installed?
• What’s the deployment model (on premise, hosted by a third party, or hosted by Enablon)?
• Do you have any specific requirements such as using Azure Active Directory, Single Sign-On, etc.?

If you install BowTieXP Enterprise on premise, the instruction manual will walk you through all the steps. If you want Enablon to host the system, our Cloud operations team will work on the deployment.

Have both a User Acceptance Testing (UAT) environment and a Production environment. You will use the UAT environment for testing and then you will migrate to the Production environment. Therefore, these two environments should be aligned with your BowTieXP Enterprise scoping, training, and complete rollout.

Most importantly, be sure that you have the resources necessary for a successful software deployment project.

Finally, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Enablon account manager for any assistance. Enablon or Enablon Bowtie Suite partners can support you with the scoping of your project. Our partners can also provide training and consultancy for creating content, such as bowties.