Released on: November 28, 2007, 3:33 am

Press Release Author: Alexandra Lewis

Industry:

Press Release Summary: Websites are risking liability claims and their
organisation's reputation by ignoring the human element in managing content quality.


Press Release Body: Websites are risking liability claims and their organisation's
reputation by ignoring the human element in managing content quality.

Speaking today to web professionals at the 'Streamlining web content publishing and
approval' conference, Sanjay Morzaria, web content manager at Aon, is urging his
peers to rethink the human element in web technology and introduce 'service level
agreements' for relevant employees. This will help ensure accuracy of information
and miminise risks to the business.

Aon's Global Risk Survey 2007 shows that companies view damage to reputation and
third party liability as the first and third top risks to their organisation.
Inaccurate information on the website can affect both of these through:

* regulatory compliance through bodies such as the Financial Services Authority;
* legal observance from Disability Discrimination Act and Data Protection Act to
copyright and E-commerce laws;
* brand & reputation protection;
* defamation;
* breach of privacy.

Sanjay comments: "Spellcheck may pick up typos but it can't tell if your website is
legally compliant or if the copy is libellous. This is where you need skilled people
to vet the content and take responsibility. Companies tend to rely on their content
management systems to manage accuracy as they do not realise the extent of the
damage that could be caused without human intervention."

To supplement the use of technology, Sanjay has designed and launched formal service
level agreements (SLA) for content owners as a quality assurance tool. He adds: "By
formalising the process at a management level, you are placing a responsibility on
content owners that is far more powerful than technology alone. The SLA will also
cover the need to deal with customer queries promptly and compliance with the Data
Protection Act. The result is that content owners take particular care in following
your company guidelines and best practice when publishing content. More importantly,
your customers receive a much richer interaction with your website."

Steps to creating service level agreements are:

1. create a robust process with management on approving content and reacting to
enquiries;
2. agree SLA wording depending on your business culture and employees, bearing in
mind technical competence;
3. achieve management ownership of SLAs and set out guidelines to ensure
individuals understand why the process is so important.

Jon Upshall, broking director at Aon Global, explains why he is advising clients to
seriously consider the risks around their websites: "We're seeing music and video
websites with user generated content hit by multi million pound lawsuits but
corporate sites are equally at risk. Organisations need to use good risk management,
such as legal peer review and service level agreements, to control content in their
communications channels.

"This is even more crucial as websites are excluded from typical public/products
liability insurance policies. This leaves companies unable to claim for legal
expenses or any other costs as a result of inaccurate content or copyright
infringement, unless specific media liability coverage is purchased."

Aon UK is ranked by A.M. Best as the number one global insurance brokerage based on
brokerage revenues and voted best insurance intermediary, offering classic car
insurance, high value home insurance, entertainment and media liability insurance
and builder\'s
insurance.


Web Site:
http://www.commercialservices.aon.co.uk/commercialservices/microsites/construction/


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