Environmental monitoring – things can and probably will go wrong!

May 30, 2023

The chains are on, 4WD is locked in and we are well past the point of no-return. The season has not started yet but there’s enough snow already to add to the complexity of maintaining a service. We’re heading to a remote monitoring unit that stopped reporting water flow. It’s part of the service we provide to support our customers to get the data they need. Something has gone wrong, and we need to react – in this case taking us into the mountain for a physical inspection and reset to resume service.

We all want things to work first time. We all want solutions whether technical or otherwise to be reliable. No one likes it when things go wrong, be it the person delivering a solution or the person receiving it.

It is a subject that can make or break relationships, be the difference between successful or failed projects, or at best be the difference between a good night’s sleep or a bad one. However, we all must accept that at some point something is going to go wrong. This is common to every industry, of all sizes, in the world. There will be different scales of the consequences of that failure and that will come down to how critical the failure is and the impact of that failure to the end user.

At Van Walt we work with our teams, partners, and suppliers to try and minimise risk of failure in everything we provide. We provide world class equipment with proven track records for a multitude of use cases. However, we will always be open and honest with you that deviations from the expected is a risk and likely scenario at some point. With that acceptance we will work with you to mitigate the risks that make this a challenge.

We will focus on two key areas using our knowledge and experience and work with you to understand the specifics to your requirement. First, how do we mitigate against failure in the design phase of your solution (e.g. understanding the risks, component redundancy, enhanced physical security, backup solutions etc). Second, how do we respond if something does go wrong (e.g. response expectations, remote vs. onsite support capability, support availability etc). Focussing on these areas will help us recommend the best solution to your requirements with a clear set of expectations for the support and maintenance of a service to meet your needs.

Things can and probably will go wrong at some point. But it is how we respond to that challenge that will set the service apart.

David van Walt

May 2023

New Zealand Office

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