Autopilot, an app published to Microsoft AppSource, features customizable automation that streamlines contract approvals and keeps important documents on file and in order. Microsoft AppSource interviewed Rene Bredenkamp, Finance and Operations Executive at +OneX, to learn why she recommends Autopilot. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What do you like best about Autopilot?
Working with Autopilot has helped us streamline our processes and work more efficiently. We have automated processes which previously were manual and time-consuming. With Autopilot, all our documents are saved in a central depository with a full audit trail, which makes our lives and the auditors’ lives so much easier.
How has the product helped your organization?
Autopilot has helped us in automating manual processes. By automating, we have saved a substantial number of hours across our company.
We started out as a small organization. In our initial stages we could manage processes and approvals manually, but as the organization grew, our volumes increased and manual processes were no longer sustainable. We are also part of a listed organization, and with that comes additional controls and processes we need to comply with. Since you have full flexibility, in terms of process and rules, the Autopilot solution fits our environment perfectly. A normal vendor onboarding system you can buy off the shelf wouldn't have necessarily worked for us, as we have specific controls which needed to be built in to meet our requirements from a listed-entity point of view.
We worked with the Autopilot team and explained each of our processes and how we need the workflow to run. Internal processes, such as our expense claim process, vendor and supplier onboarding, credit note requests, and others are now fully automated.
The expense claim process, as an example, would include the creation of an expense claim, uploading of supporting documentation and the submission for approval. All these steps were done manually with no automated workflows.
For the revenue accrual process, should a business unit administrator need to raise a revenue accrual, they simply follow the prompts per Autopilot and load the required supporting documentation. Once submitted, the request will follow an automated workflow for approval based on our internal delegation of authority.
Our automated vendor and customer onboarding process has simplified the process for external users to do business with us. The contracts process is also automated. Once we are ready to go ahead, we can upload the contract and the supplier or customer can sign on the Autopilot system as part of the onboarding process. Again, we have a single interface and a single depository where documents are stored. From a status tracking point of view, Autopilot has a process flow overview, which you can use to see exactly how many processes are pending and whom they are with for actioning.
A central depository enables all supporting documentation and evidence of approval to be saved in one location, and Autopilot integrates into our SharePoint. Once the process is complete, all the documents and an audit trail of approvals are stored in a dedicated folder. This is ideal for easy access and manageable from an audit point of view. I can now comfortably say to the auditors, “There's all the documents and the relevant approvals,” which is quite nifty. When you do things manually, you lose the audit trail, or it gets stuck in someone’s inbox.
How are customer service and support for Autopilot?
Customer service and support was probably the one thing I was nervous about. Generally, after a solution is built and implemented, once there are queries, you just become a number in the call center. This is not the case with Autopilot. The support we have received to date from Autopilot has been beyond excellent. Our queries are attended to timeously, and, depending on the complexity, some calls are actioned and closed on the same day, which is great. The team we work with is friendly and helpful, which makes the experience pleasurable.
Any recommendations to other users considering this product?
It is crucial that you have a well-documented business process indicating exactly what you want the system to do and how the flow should work. It makes it much easier than to build as you go and also ensures there is no confusion in terms of expectation.
What is your overall rating for this product?
5 out of 5 stars.
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