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Throw away the help manual as IT solutions are intuitive than ever

29th Sep 2015
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There is a trend developing - a crossover with technology that took off in the consumer world now being used in the world of business. For example we are seeing more and more companies moving to the cloud. The disruptive change of new technology impacts software functionalities and the business terms around it. The knock-on effect for businesses is that many employees are now IT experts. It’s not just the IT department that can work across a number of systems. Whatever the department, staff expect to be using intuitive and user-friendly systems just like when they’re at home.

Technology in our consumer life is designed around how easy it is to use, it is intuitive, think Amazon, Apple or Google for example. As a consequence of these enterprises leading the way with innovative technology, companies need to start making their IT solutions friendlier – thinking about the process from the point of view of the end users. It’s an end to end process - from how their staff process Purchase Orders to applying for the use of software applications, from engaging with clients to storing data – creating an automated intuitive environment is beneficial not only to end users, but to the business as a whole. In the long-run, it has been proven that automated solutions save time on training and costs, however for them to work in a business environment they need to be more attractive to the end users to foster easier adoption. Using an IT solution that is difficult to figure out and difficult to use will not be supported among your employees, impacting efficiencies as the solution goes unused or worse, misused.

Take the finance team as an example, we all know finance processes are the backbone for most businesses – simple transactions and invoices can be misplaced and lost if employees are discouraged to use proper processes. Legacy IT equipment and paper trails make it difficult for many financial controllers to have robust control and visibility across the purchasing process. From items as simple as stationary and travel costs to the larger items such as ordering new equipment, software or paying for services – there is a definite requirement for an easy to use, intuitive system.

Older electronic document management systems (eDM) can be difficult to navigate through processes and connecting an invoice system to a purchase order system can result in lengthy manual-matching-up processes. The arrival of automation significantly improved invoice approval practices, however, it did not allow for the budget holder’s full control at the point a spending commitment was made.

Using intuitive systems, mimicking the likes of Amazon and other online retailers, makes processes even simpler for employees. In a finance environment a solution should move the point of control from the invoice arrival, to the earlier point of requesting a purchase - enabling the budget holder to see the potential impact of that commitment on their budget before any expenditure is committed. In real-terms it should be as simple as employee moving purchase order items to a shopping basket, sending a request for approval based on rules within the system and the budget holder being able to approve or deny based on a one screen view.

When reviewing your finance purchase order process perhaps a good question to ask is – do you have a purchase order process manual? If the answer is yes, taking a look at your purchase order process and reviewing it in the eyes of an online shopper may provide some insight into how to better streamline and improve efficiencies within your business.

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