Review of COMET Analysis, Supply Chain Risk Intelligence Software Vendor

Last updated: November, 2025

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COMET Analysis is the commercial brand for a UK-based risk-intelligence software suite (formerly STC INSISO) that targets incident investigation, root cause analysis, assurance and supply chain risk, rather than classical demand or inventory planning. COMET’s product family bundles a proprietary investigation methodology (“COMET Investigate”), an incident management workflow tool, an audit and assurance module, a supply chain risk analysis module, and an AI-driven analytics product (COMET Signals) into a single SaaS environment, marketed as a way to turn incident and audit data into actionable “risk intelligence”.¹²³ Since 2021 the business has been built around the merged STC Global and Insiso entities, subsequently rebranded under the COMET name in 2024, and backed by £2m growth capital from BGF to accelerate rollout of the COMET platform across energy, utilities, transport and construction sectors.^45678910 Technically, COMET is a multi-tenant SaaS application hosted on Azure, sold via the UK G-Cloud framework, with web-browser access, APIs into external EHS platforms (e.g. Intelex, Synergi Life) and in-built Power BI dashboards, plus ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certification.^2111213 Its AI claims centre on COMET Signals, an NLP-driven engine that scans large volumes of HSE text (observations, near misses, incident reports) to detect patterns, hazards and latent root causes; however, public material stops at high-level descriptions and does not reveal algorithms, model classes or validation protocols.¹³¹⁴¹⁵ For supply chain professionals, the key point is that “COMET Supply Chain” is positioned as an efficient supplier risk and assurance tool — performing structured risk assessment, audit and evidence tracking — but does not attempt to forecast demand, optimize inventory or compute replenishment decisions in the way dedicated planning systems (including Lokad) do.^16171811

COMET Analysis overview

From a distance, COMET is best understood as an enterprise risk and safety performance platform with a strong investigation pedigree, modest but credible AI capabilities focused on HSE text analytics, and a supply-chain-adjacent module limited to supplier risk and assurance. COMET itself is both the product brand and, increasingly, the trading identity of the former STC INSISO group.³⁴¹⁹ The core value proposition is to provide a consistent, methodology-driven way to record incidents and audits, analyse causal chains (including human factors), and then use structured taxonomies and AI tools to detect systemic weaknesses across an organisation’s operations.¹²²⁰¹³ Commercially, the suite is mid-maturity: the underlying investigation methodology dates back more than a decade, while the company in its current merged form has been growing steadily since 2021, with named customers in water utilities, ports, rail, energy and manufacturing.^562122231224 Technically, COMET is a conventional Azure-hosted web SaaS application with REST APIs and standard security posture (TLS 1.2+, ISO 27001, 99.9% SLA, replicated PaaS data stores), complemented by an AI add-on (COMET Signals) that uses NLP on HSE corpora but is presented as a black box to customers.¹¹¹²¹⁴ There is no evidence of optimisation engines, probabilistic demand models or supply-chain-specific mathematical programming under the hood; instead, the computational heavy lifting is centred on text mining, root cause taxonomy management and KPI dashboards built over relational data.^161718111314

Corporate history, ownership and branding

STC Global (software) and Insiso (business improvement consultancy) merged in early 2021 to form STC INSISO, with combined turnover initially around £2.75m and ambitions to scale the product suite, particularly COMET.⁵²²²³ Within the first year the merged entity reported turnover of about £3.8m and 14 new clients, including HS2 Euston, East West Rail, Peel Ports and Sky Futures, suggesting growing traction across rail, ports and energy.⁶²¹¹⁴ In February 2023, STC INSISO secured a £2m equity investment from BGF expressly to accelerate the roll-out of its COMET software products for safety, culture and performance, with BGF’s own portfolio listing positioning STC INSISO/COMET as a growth-stage software-enabled services company.⁷⁸⁹¹⁰

In May 2024 the company announced a full rebrand: rather than presenting “STC INSISO” plus COMET as a product, the group has transitioned to COMET as the primary brand, arguing that the COMET name better reflects its vision as a modern SaaS-led risk-intelligence company.⁴¹⁹ External directories now list COMET (also known as STC INSISO) as a private risk-intelligence software vendor headquartered in Aberdeen, serving energy, rail, construction and other sectors.³⁴¹⁹ Industry associations (such as the Environmental Services Association and Offshore Energies UK) recognise COMET as a member and highlight the COMET suite as a key software asset within their networks.^2112312

Product portfolio and functional scope

COMET is sold as a modular “technology-enabled software suite” with a consistent investigation and assurance methodology running through several named modules:¹²²⁵¹¹

• COMET Investigate – flagship root cause analysis (RCA) solution delivering the proprietary COMET methodology as both a training package and an online tool. It emphasises structured discovery, barrier analysis, human factors and coded taxonomies to identify systemic causes and design preventive actions.¹²⁰
• Incident Management – workflow tool for logging, classifying and managing incidents, near misses and observations; often described as “mobile-first” for real-time capture and tightly integrated with Investigate.¹¹¹
• COMET Assured – audit and inspection module combining checklists, evidence capture and RCA elements to analyse why audits fail, not just what failed.²¹¹¹³
• COMET Supply Chain – supplier risk and assurance module providing a configurable framework for supplier risk assessment, audits, evidence documentation and risk scoring across tiers and categories.^216171811
• COMET Signals (AI Data Analytics) – AI and data-analytics module that ingests large volumes of HSE data to identify hazards, topics, severity patterns and latent root causes using natural-language processing.¹³¹⁴¹⁵
• Resilience and other newer modules – ESA and COMET materials additionally reference “COMET Resilience” and resilience-oriented tooling aimed at broader operational risk and reliability.²²³

Functionally, these modules address:

• Data capture and structuring – web and mobile forms for incidents, observations, audits and supplier assessments, linked to taxonomies and risk matrices.¹¹⁶¹¹
• Investigation and analysis – guided RCA using the COMET methodology (barrier analysis, human factors categorisation, causal chains).²⁰
• Assurance and compliance – audit scheduling, non-conformance tracking, corrective actions and evidence management.¹¹¹³
• Risk scoring and dashboards – visualisations (often in Power BI) for trends by hazard, location, supplier, project, etc., derived from coded data and Signals outputs.¹¹¹³
• Training and services – practitioner courses, investigation support and culture programmes delivered by COMET’s investigators and trainers, tightly coupled with the software.¹²⁰²⁴

The suite is therefore firmly oriented around safety, quality and operational risk, with supply chain primarily appearing as a domain where audits, risk assessments and assurance processes are applied.

Architecture, deployment and security

The most detailed public technical description of COMET comes from the UK Government Digital Marketplace (G-Cloud 14), where COMET is listed as “Lot 2: Cloud software” under STC INSISO Ltd.¹¹¹² Key points from that listing:

• Cloud model: COMET is delivered as a cloud-based SaaS/PaaS solution, accessed via web browsers (IE11, Edge, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera) with no client install.¹¹¹²
• Hosting and availability: the service runs in Azure data centres (UK plus other locations), with replicated and mirrored database and application services, presented as a PaaS deployment capable of restoring services within seconds and backed by a 99.9% uptime target dependent on Azure.¹²
• APIs and integration: COMET exposes APIs to move data to and from broader EHS platforms such as Intelex or Synergi Life, and to push data into customers’ internal Power BI dashboards. COMET can ingest incident records created in an external EHS platform and show them within its own investigation interface.¹¹¹²¹³
• Data import/export: data import uses CSV; export is available via API or flat-file export (Excel, JSON) from the UI.¹²
• Security: communication uses TLS 1.2+; data at rest is encrypted; COMET is ISO/IEC 27001-certified (via NQA) and holds Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus along with additional certifications such as IASME Gold.¹²
• Identity and access: user authentication supports two-factor authentication and role-based access controls, with audit logs for access activities.¹²
• Analytics: in-built usage metrics and Power BI-based dashboards provide real-time views of incidents, audits, investigations and root cause distributions.¹¹¹²

Onboarding and offboarding are handled through standard SaaS practices: COMET is configured for the buyer at rollout, with additional configuration available to admin users (e.g. custom audit templates, tag structures, risk matrices in the supply chain module). At contract end, data can be extracted through the API or requested as flat files.¹¹¹²

From a technical-architecture standpoint, this is a conventional multi-tenant Azure SaaS application with a REST API, relational back end and BI tooling layered on top. There is no public evidence of a domain-specific language, large-scale probabilistic simulation engine or embedded mathematical optimisation solvers; the sophistication lies more in the investigation methodology, taxonomies and NLP engine rather than in bespoke infrastructure.

AI, analytics and automation claims

COMET’s AI story is split between two layers:

1. AI/ML in the core COMET platform – the G-Cloud listing describes “predictive alerts using AI/ML to learn from previous incidents” plus AI/ML-enhanced risk intelligence to “see the unseen”.¹¹ However, it does not specify the model types (e.g. gradient-boosted trees vs. neural networks), training regime, feature engineering or validation metrics.

2. COMET Signals (AI Data Analytics) – positioned as a separate AI-driven tool, originally co-developed with Lloyd’s Register and later fully acquired by STC INSISO.¹³¹⁴¹⁵ Official materials state that COMET Signals:

   • Scans large volumes of HSE data (observations, near misses, incident reports) across an organisation.
   • Uses natural-language processing to identify patterns in hazards, topics and severity, and predict latent root causes with the potential to cause future incidents.¹⁴¹⁵
   • Is deployed in pilots with large organisations such as Coca-Cola, Network Rail and McDermott.¹⁴

Technical details remain high level: Signals is clearly an NLP application, but there is no discussion of model architectures (e.g. transformers vs. earlier approaches), training corpus size, precision/recall on labelled data, or model monitoring in production.¹⁴¹⁵ Public case-study material emphasises qualitative benefits (“clear, immediate, actionable insights”) and lists pilot customers, but does not provide quantitative accuracy benchmarks or comparisons against simpler baselines (e.g. keyword dashboards).¹⁴¹⁵

In summary, COMET’s AI is credible—there is a real product (Signals) with real pilots—but opaque. The platform likely uses modern off-the-shelf NLP techniques, but without enough disclosure to robustly assess how far beyond standard text classification and trend detection it goes.

Client base and commercial maturity

COMET has a visible client footprint in several safety-critical sectors:

• Water utilities – Severn Trent Water signed an 18-month SaaS contract for COMET Investigate, with South West Water renewing its contract; both deals together total over £70k and follow earlier content development work for South West Water’s HomeSafe programme.²¹
• Ports and logistics – Peel Ports extended a six-figure contract with STC INSISO/COMET for health and safety assessment across container terminals, indicating multi-site deployment in port operations.²²
• Energy, rail and utilities – COMET case studies from Offshore Energies UK and ESA emphasise usage across oil and gas, construction, marine, utilities and rail, with COMET described as a fast-growing suite of human- and AI-led audit and inspection tools.^2112312
• Manufacturing and global brands – COMET’s marketing and webinar materials cite customers such as Corning, Cummins Power Systems, Borr Drilling and GSK, with testimonials referencing reductions in first-aid cases and improved safety performance using COMET’s investigation and audit tools.¹²⁴

Financially, post-merger STC INSISO reported year-one turnover of about £3.8m (a £1m increase over the pre-merger combined figure)⁶¹⁴, and the £2m BGF funding round was explicitly earmarked for accelerating COMET’s product roadmap and market rollout.⁷⁸⁹¹⁰ External directories place COMET in the 11–50 employee range, reinforcing the picture of a mid-sized, specialist vendor.³

Overall, COMET / STC INSISO appears to be an established but still growth-stage vendor with a credible customer base in safety-critical industries, rather than a large enterprise platform in the SAP / Oracle sense.

Supply chain relevance

COMET’s direct relevance to supply chain is concentrated in COMET Supply Chain, described in official materials and third-party directories as an “efficient supply chain risk analysis tool” for supplier assurance:^16171811

• The module supports configurable risk-assessment matrices for suppliers, allowing buyers to score and categorise suppliers based on criteria such as safety performance, compliance, ESG and operational risk.¹⁶¹⁷¹¹
• It provides templates for supplier audits and inspections, with tracking of findings, corrective actions and evidence.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸
• It is integrated with the broader COMET suite, so supplier-related incidents or audit findings flow into the same taxonomies and dashboards as other incident data.^2161113

Energy sector coverage emphasises COMET as a tool to “control risk and assure operations” across a range of industries, including supply chain interactions; Energy Voice describes “streamlined supply chain management” in the context of vendor assurance and risk control rather than stock optimisation.¹⁸²³¹⁴ Likewise, the TechnologyCatalogue listing for COMET Supply Chain highlights real-time visibility into supplier risks and performance, not demand forecasting or replenishment.¹⁷

Across COMET’s marketing corpus and the G-Cloud documentation there is no evidence of:

• Demand forecasting algorithms (time-series models, probabilistic demand distributions, etc.).
• Inventory or replenishment optimisation (e.g. order quantity optimisation, multi-echelon safety stock).
• Order-level decision outputs (e.g. suggested POs, transfer orders, production plans).

The “supply chain” label is therefore best read as supply chain assurance—auditing, risk assessment and compliance—rather than supply chain planning or optimisation.

Overall technical assessment (non-supply-chain specific)

Technically, COMET delivers:

• A mature, structured investigation methodology (COMET Investigate) that embeds human factors and barrier analysis into RCA workflows.²⁰
• A coherent modular suite for incident management, audits, assurance and supplier risk, supported by taxonomies and BI dashboards.^12251113
• A modern, but standard, Azure SaaS architecture with API integration into existing EHS platforms and Power BI-based analytics.¹¹¹²¹³
• A specialised AI module (COMET Signals) that applies NLP to HSE text to detect patterns and potential latent causes.¹³¹⁴¹⁵

From a “state-of-the-art” viewpoint:

• COMET’s methodological depth in investigation and human factors is a genuine strength and a differentiator versus simple incident-tracking tools; this is backed by extensive investigator experience and training services.²⁰²⁴
• The AI capabilities are modern but largely presented as black box; without disclosure of model architectures or validation metrics, it is safer to consider Signals as a solid application of standard NLP rather than demonstrably cutting-edge AI research.
• The architecture is contemporary enterprise SaaS rather than novel; there is no visible attempt to re-think infrastructure or data models beyond good practice on Azure.

For organisations primarily seeking to improve incident investigations, audits and risk assurance (including across their supply chain), COMET is technically fit-for-purpose. For organisations seeking demand planning, inventory optimisation or production scheduling, COMET lacks the necessary forecasting and optimisation machinery; it would need to be complemented by other tools.

COMET Analysis vs Lokad

COMET and Lokad address very different problem classes. COMET is a risk-intelligence and safety performance suite whose “supply chain” footprint is limited to supplier risk and assurance; Lokad is a quantitative supply chain optimisation platform focused on forecasting and decision optimisation for inventory, production and pricing.^{23251626272829303132}

Domain focus. COMET positions itself as a technology-enabled suite for incident investigation, assurance and data analytics, providing structured RCA, audits, supplier risk assessment and AI-driven HSE insights across high-risk industries such as energy, utilities, rail and construction.^123231213 Lokad, by contrast, presents itself as a platform for “forecasting and optimizing supply chains”, delivering probabilistic demand forecasts and financially-optimised decisions (purchase orders, stock transfers, production plans, sometimes pricing) for retailers, manufacturers, distributors and MRO organisations.^{26272829303132} Where COMET’s outputs are investigation reports, corrective actions and risk scores, Lokad’s outputs are decision lists and control variables for the flow of goods and capacity.

Data and models. COMET’s primary data sources are incident records, audit findings, observations, near misses and supplier assessments. COMET Investigate and Assured use structured taxonomies and human-factors-oriented RCA to classify events; COMET Signals applies NLP to textual HSE data to derive hazards, topics, severity patterns and inferred latent causes.^20131415 Lokad ingests transactional and master data (sales histories, stock, BOMs, lead times, prices, etc.) and uses probabilistic forecasting to estimate full demand distributions per SKU-location-time, then applies stochastic optimisation and economic driver modelling (holding costs, stock-out penalties, MOQs, etc.) to recommend actions that maximise expected profit or minimise expected cost.^2627293132 In COMET, AI serves to make risk patterns visible; in Lokad, AI/ML and optimisation are used to compute concrete supply chain decisions.

Architecture and configurability. COMET is a multi-tenant Azure SaaS application sold through frameworks like G-Cloud. Configuration is primarily done through the UI: administrators can customise templates, risk matrices and taxonomies; APIs are exposed for EHS integration and BI.¹¹¹²¹³ Lokad is also delivered as a multi-tenant cloud SaaS platform but exposes a domain-specific language (Envision) so that forecasting and optimisation logic is programmed rather than configured via forms, enabling bespoke models and decision pipelines per client.^2627293031 In COMET, the vendor’s embedded methodology and UI patterns strongly shape how the tool is used; in Lokad, a supply chain scientist (Lokad’s or the client’s) writes code that directly expresses the desired optimisation logic.

Supply chain role. COMET’s supply chain module is focused on supplier assurance: assessing and scoring supplier risk, running audits, tracking findings and corrective actions, and providing risk-oriented dashboards.^16171811 It does not compute inventory targets, order quantities, transfer policies or production schedules. Lokad’s raison d’être is exactly those decisions: when, where and how much to buy, move, make or discount, under uncertainty.^27293031 For a supply chain organisation, COMET would typically sit alongside planning systems as a complementary risk and assurance layer; Lokad competes more directly with, or supplements, advanced planning and inventory optimisation systems.

Users and workflows. COMET’s main users are EHS, risk and operations leaders who investigate incidents, run audits and manage supplier assurance programmes. The workflows are investigative and governance-centric. Lokad’s users are supply chain planners, inventory managers and data-savvy stakeholders who consume prioritised order lists and dashboards, sometimes co-developing Envision scripts with Lokad’s team.^26272830 Where COMET aims to prevent repeat failures and reduce risk exposure by learning from incidents, Lokad aims to continuously rebalance inventory, capacity and pricing in response to demand and supply uncertainty.

In short, COMET and Lokad are not interchangeable: COMET is a strong candidate for organisations wanting to professionalise incident investigation and supplier risk assurance; Lokad targets organisations wanting to re-engineer quantitative planning and optimisation. In many enterprises, both could coexist, with COMET feeding richer risk and incident context into the governance layer, and Lokad driving day-to-day inventory and production decisions.

History, ownership and branding

COMET’s roots lie in STC Global (software) and Insiso (business improvement). The two Aberdeen-based firms merged in early 2021 to form STC INSISO, with initial combined turnover around £2.75m and ambitions to grow to £3.5m.⁵²² Within the first year, STC INSISO reported revenue of £3.8m (a £1m uplift over the separate companies’ previous year), and a client list spanning medical, rail, renewables and marine, including HS2 Euston, East West Rail, Peel Ports and Sky Futures.⁶²¹¹⁴

In 2023 STC INSISO secured £2m from BGF, with the investor and company both emphasising the expansion of the COMET software platform as a key use of proceeds.⁷⁸⁹¹⁰ Offshore Energies UK similarly highlighted that the funding was intended to help roll out COMET more rapidly across sectors such as oil and gas, construction, marine and utilities.⁸²²²³ BGF’s portfolio description places STC INSISO/COMET as a business services company with a “growing suite of software products spanning safety, organisational culture and technology”.⁹

In May 2024, STC INSISO publicly rebranded to COMET, stating that the COMET brand more accurately reflects its modern SaaS and data-driven risk-intelligence focus.⁴¹⁹ ESA’s member directory lists “COMET (STC Insiso)” and describes the suite as offering a structured approach to investigation, assurance and data analytics.² Third-party directories such as Craft characterise COMET (also known as STC INSISO) as a private risk-intelligence software company serving energy, rail, construction and other industries.³

Product and functional analysis

Core COMET methodology and Investigate

The COMET Investigate module operationalises the COMET methodology — a structured process for incident investigation, root cause identification and prevention created by professional investigators with major incident experience.²⁰ The methodology emphasises:

• A strong “Discover” phase to ensure high-quality input data before analysis.²⁰
• Barrier-based thinking: identifying failed or missing barriers that allowed an incident to occur.
• Human factors: COMET markets itself as the first commercially available investigation method with accredited Human Factor Analysis built in.¹¹²⁰
• A coded root cause taxonomy to support trend analysis and systemic learning.¹¹²⁰¹³

The Investigate tool guides users through data capture, analysis and action planning, embedding this methodology into the software. Marketing materials and case studies indicate measurable improvements such as reductions in first-aid cases when the tool and method are adopted, though such claims are not backed by controlled studies in the public domain.²⁰²⁴

Incident Management and Assured

The Incident Management module manages the lifecycle from initial report through classification, investigation and action tracking. The G-Cloud entry notes that this module is “mobile-first” so that users can log incidents, near misses and observations in real time, with later linkage into Investigate for deeper analysis.¹¹¹²

COMET Assured extends the methodology into audits and inspections: organisations can configure templates, run audits, record findings and then use mini-RCA to understand why audits failed, not just what failed.¹¹¹³ The same coded taxonomy and Power BI dashboards used for incident data apply, enabling cross-cutting analysis of issues surfaced in audits and incidents.²¹¹¹³

COMET Supply Chain (supplier assurance)

COMET Supply Chain is the module most directly relevant to supply chain, but its scope is supplier risk and assurance rather than end-to-end planning.^16171811 Official and third-party descriptions emphasise:

• Configurable supplier risk-assessment matrices, allowing organisations to define risk factors and weightings appropriate to their supply base.¹⁶¹¹
• The ability to create and manage supplier audit templates, run audits, capture evidence and track corrective actions.¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸
• Integration with other COMET modules such that supplier-related incidents or audit findings can be analysed alongside other operational risks and failures.^2161113

Energy Voice’s “streamlined supply chain management” coverage describes COMET’s role in managing supplier-related risk and assurance processes for an energy-sector customer, but does not mention planning, forecasting or inventory.¹⁸ The TechnologyCatalogue listing similarly frames COMET Supply Chain as giving real-time visibility into supplier performance and risk.¹⁷

There is no public documentation suggesting that COMET Supply Chain calculates optimal order quantities, safety stocks, lead-time buffers or similar planning outputs. It is better seen as an overlay to existing procurement and supply chain transaction systems, ensuring that suppliers meet risk, compliance and performance standards.

COMET Signals and AI data analytics

COMET Signals is the most notably “AI-branded” product in the suite. According to COMET and news material, it:

• Originated as an AI-driven HSE data analytics tool co-developed by STC INSISO and Lloyd’s Register to scan HSE data at scale and deliver clear, immediate and actionable insights.¹⁴¹⁵
• Was fully acquired by STC INSISO in 2022, with the company taking sole ownership of the intellectual property and software to drive an ambitious product roadmap in AI data analytics.¹⁴¹⁵
• Uses natural-language processing on large volumes of HSE data (observations, near misses, incident reports) to identify patterns in hazards and topics, analyse severity and predict the presence of latent root causes that could lead to future incidents.¹⁴¹⁵
• Is being piloted at major organisations including Coca-Cola, Network Rail and McDermott.¹⁴

Signals is presented as part of the broader COMET Safety Performance System, feeding intelligence back into the RCA and assurance processes.¹⁴ However, as noted earlier, the AI implementation is essentially a black box from the outside: no model architectures, training approaches or performance benchmarks are publicly available.

Other modules and services

Materials from ESA and COMET refer to additional modules such as COMET Resilience, focused on wider operational resilience and reliability, and to a broader portfolio of culture, training and consulting services built around the COMET methodology.^2231224 COMET’s “Try COMET for free” and webinar pages emphasise a partnership-oriented engagement model: training courses (e.g. three-day practitioner courses), tailored leadership programmes and ongoing support from investigators and subject-matter experts.¹²⁰²⁴

Architecture, deployment and security

As detailed earlier, the G-Cloud listing provides a structured view of COMET’s technical characteristics:¹¹¹²

• Multi-tenant SaaS on Azure, delivered as PaaS with mirrored databases and application servers and a 99.9% uptime SLA.
• Browser-based access with responsive design and specific support for major browsers.
• Mobile-first incident capture for the Incident Management module.
• APIs to integrate with cloud EHS systems and internal BI tools, with API documentation and a sandbox environment.
• CSV import, Excel/JSON export and full data extraction at contract end via API or flat files.
• Security anchored in ISO/IEC 27001, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, with TLS 1.2+ in transit and encrypted storage at rest.
• Access control via 2FA and role-based access, with audit logs for user and supplier activity.

Operationally, COMET aligns with modern SaaS security and governance practices (e.g. external penetration testing, Microsoft Defender-based monitoring, supplier-defined configuration and change management controls).¹² None of this is unusual for a contemporary enterprise SaaS product; it is a competent, standard implementation rather than a radically novel architecture.

Deployment, rollout and operations

COMET is typically implemented as a cloud service layered on top of existing EHS and operational systems:

• Onboarding involves configuration of modules (e.g. taxonomies, templates, risk matrices) to match the customer’s processes and governance. Training courses are offered for Investigation and Assured modules, delivered on-site or virtually.¹¹²⁰¹²
• Integration usually relies on APIs to connect COMET to EHS platforms (Intelex, Synergi Life) and internal dashboards, allowing incidents and observations logged in other systems to flow into COMET’s RCA workflows and BI.¹¹¹²¹³
• Operations are supported by a helpdesk, email and phone support with SLAs; customers can raise tickets and track status.¹¹¹²
• Change management appears to be primarily configuration driven at the customer level, with deeper changes and roadmap items managed centrally by COMET’s own product and engineering teams.¹¹¹²¹³

Because COMET is not a transaction system (it does not execute procurement or production actions directly), deployment risk is lower than for an ERP replacement. The main adoption challenges lie in embedding the COMET methodology in organisational practices and ensuring that investigations and audits are consistently run through the tool, so that its analytics and AI engines have high-quality data to work with.

Commercial maturity and client footprint

Beyond the financial and investment indicators already discussed, COMET’s maturity can be read through its customer base:

• Water utilities – multi-year use by South West Water and a new contract with Severn Trent Water suggest COMET Investigate is accepted in a mature, safety-conscious sector.²¹
• Ports and terminals – Peel Ports’ six-figure contract extension for health and safety assessments shows COMET’s applicability to port and logistics operations.²²
• Energy and utilities – case studies and association features (OEUK, ESA) point to adoption across oil and gas, utilities and waste management.²²³¹²
• Industrial and global brands – testimonials from Corning, Cummins, Borr Drilling and GSK signal adoption in manufacturing and pharma R&D contexts.¹²⁴

This pattern is consistent with a mid-sized specialist vendor whose software is sufficiently robust for safety-critical industries but not yet scaled to the size or breadth of generic enterprise platforms. There is no evidence of large-scale M&A, nor of COMET being acquired by a larger player; growth appears organic and investment-funded.

Critical appraisal of state-of-the-art claims

From a sceptical, evidence-driven perspective:

• COMET’s core strength is its structured RCA methodology and its integration into a coherent suite of tools for incidents, audits and supplier assurance. This is well documented in brochures and case studies and validated by adoption in safety-critical sectors.^2021222324
• The AI narrative (especially around COMET Signals) is plausible: using NLP on HSE text to detect patterns and latent causes is a legitimate, valuable application. However, the public record stops short of technical transparency — no model descriptions, benchmarks or ablation studies are available — so it cannot be objectively rated as state-of-the-art AI, only as a modern analytics product applying standard techniques.¹³¹⁴¹⁵
• COMET’s supply chain proposition is accurately described as “supply chain risk analysis” and assurance, not optimisation. There is no indication that COMET competes with APS, MRP or advanced planning tools in forecasting or optimisation, and all available evidence supports the view that it does not.^16171811
• Architecturally, COMET is solid but conventional: Azure SaaS, relational data, REST APIs, Power BI dashboards, standard security certifications. This is a sensible engineering choice rather than a differentiator in itself.¹¹¹²

For supply chain-focused evaluations, the key caveat is that COMET should not be mistaken for a planning system. It is well suited for organisations wanting to mature their investigation, audit and supplier risk processes, potentially feeding better risk information into separate planning tools.

Conclusion

COMET Analysis (the COMET suite) is a specialised risk-intelligence and safety performance platform that has evolved out of the STC Global / Insiso merger and subsequent rebrand, supported by growth investment and a growing customer base in safety-critical industries. Its core technical assets are a structured investigation methodology, tightly integrated incident and audit tooling, and an AI-driven analytics module (COMET Signals) that applies NLP to HSE data. Architecturally, COMET is a standard Azure SaaS with APIs and strong security certification; technically, it represents competent engineering focused on EHS and risk use cases rather than novel infrastructure or mathematical optimisation.

The “COMET Supply Chain” module adds supplier risk and assurance capabilities—configurable risk assessments, audits and evidence tracking—so COMET does have a legitimate foothold in supply-chain-related workflows. However, there is no evidence that COMET performs demand forecasting, inventory optimisation or production planning; it does not generate order quantities or schedules. For supply chain practitioners, COMET should thus be evaluated as a complementary risk and assurance system, not as a substitute for planning or optimisation engines.

Compared with Lokad, which is explicitly designed to produce probabilistic forecasts and financially-optimised supply chain decisions, COMET operates in a different layer of the stack: governance, assurance and learning from failure, including failures in the supply chain. Used together, COMET could strengthen the organisation’s understanding of where and why failures occur, while Lokad (or similar tools) could optimise day-to-day flows of goods and capacity. Used alone, COMET is a strong candidate where the primary goal is to improve investigation quality, reduce repeat failures and formalise supplier risk management, rather than to algorithmically optimise stocks and flows.

Sources