In today’s competitive economy it is very important for businesses to maintain an organized and focused business process. There is therefore a need for an intuitive and reliable package for entering and tracking company Action Items (AIs). RTI developed an n-tier Java Servlet architecture utilizing any JDBC database that allows the entering and cataloging of AIs. The database operates on the World Wide Web and allows all assigned actions to be easily and dynamically tracked from any location.

The system is designed to allow the administrator to easily configure multiple database instances, allowing users from different projects to track AIs independently. Users can be selectively added from either a custom-built authentication system or from a user configuration file.

RAID implements a four-level security policy, keeping the contained information as guarded or as open as the administrator desires. The first block is a password protected user authentication system. Every user has an individual login name and password, which can only be changed by the root administrator or the user himself. The second level is the global security option. At installation the administrator may specify that the database be in restrictive or view modes. In the restrictive mode, only users specifically authorized to view individual action items may do so. The third security tier is at the user level. Each user is assigned a specific security level indicating how the user may interact with the system. The final security precaution is based on individual Action Item Role. Only users assigned specific roles within the individual action items may perform certain actions. In addition to system level security, individual action items may be assigned user or group based permissions. These permissions can control user access to specific action items, allowing administrators to grant tailored access to action items above the standard system protection. RAID is HTTPS compatible, allowing the administrator to encrypt sensitive data during transmission using the best available encryption systems.

In addition to containing general information about the AI, such as title, creator, owner, date of AI, status, closed date, and other relevant fields, upon installation the administrator may specify custom fields for the AI. This allows RAID to be configurable for any business data tracking need (E.G. Action Items, Risk Management, Product Trouble Reports).

Tailored drop-down menus are used for fields that can have only a fixed number of responses, like:

• Created by: (tailored with project team member's names)
• Owner: (tailored with project team member's names)
• Closer: (tailored with project team member's names)
• Status: (tailored with available status codes, one of which indicates closed)
• Priority: (high, medium, or low)
• Severity: (1-5)

RAID also allows the user to filter the data based on several predefined filters or on any combination of custom user-defined filters. This allows the user to create custom reports containing, for example:

• All AIs assigned to the user
• All open AIs
• All AIs that are due on, before, or after a specific date

RAID allows users to upload attachments and associate them with specific versions of each action item. This allows associated documents, such as Microsoft Office Documents, AutoCAD projects, Visio files, or Orcad Schematics to be quickly saved along with the action item data.

Users can subscribe to Action Items they wish to keep track of. Every time an AI is updated, an email is sent to all subscribers containing the new version of the AI. Users who are assigned specific roles for the AI are automatically subscribed to the Action Item. Users can also select any Action Item they have permission to view and email the selected list to an entered email address. Action Items may be emailed in ASCII text format or as a PDF attachment.

Using RAID, project personnel, whether in the office or on-site, can quickly access project Action Items, and update the status of the various stages of Action Item resolution. If desired, customers can also be given access to the database so they have an instant picture of the state of project with respect to outstanding problems and issues that require resolution.

Using RAID, companies can quickly track large lists of Action Items and keep their customer’s aware of their project’s progress. This allows for more efficient time allocation, fewer forgotten actions, and better customer relations.

RAID maintains a version history of changed action items. Users can select to view any action item version and the attachments associated with that version.

RAID also automatically keeps a record of all modifications to any action item. Modifications are stored in a log file separated by action item ID number. System Administrators can view these logs and trace the user ID of the modifier, the time the modification was performed, and all changes made starting with the original creation of the action item.