Info Quest Technologies

As the largest authorized distributor of ICT products and services in Greece, Info Quest Technologies collaborates with more than 270 vendors, as well as more than 2,500 partners, system integrators, dealers, resellers and retailers. The company’s procurement department found that collaboration with many of these companies was manual and paper based. Hilde Vekeman, procurement manager at Info Quest Technologies, described the need to modernize the management of so many documents: “As a procurement department, we work with national and international vendors, logistics centers, banks, etc. We had a huge number of documents that were handled manually. To improve productivity, transparency and security, and in terms of archiving and auditing, we had a substantial need for digitalization and centralization of procurement processes.”

To support the search for a solution, the company turned to Uni Systems, a member of Quest Group, and an OpenText Reseller Silver Partner and OpenText Support Partner. Uni Systems specializes in design, implementation and support for integrated solutions and service delivery across Europe. When Uni Systems assessed the status of the company’s procurement department processes, it proposed OpenText™ Extended ECM for SAP® Solutions, built on OpenText™ Content Suite. “We evaluated the proposal with several departments involved in this project, including the logistics center/warehouse and accounting department,” Vekeman said. “Following evaluation, we were confident that the offered solution was what we were looking for, not only because it was a modular solution, which we immediately embraced, but OpenText Extended ECM for SAP Solutions also created a direct link with our ERP system, and this was exactly what we needed.”

Extended ECM for SAP Solutions provides a secure and centrally managed content repository for business processes, enabling the storage, control, transformation and retrieval of any type of electronic content and ensuring seamless integration with business applications, such as SAP®.

An integrated Enterprise Content Management platform

After working with Uni Systems to map out the department’s needs, the company implemented the solution. Vekeman noted that the project took longer than expected due to the pandemic: “COVID-19 was an obstacle and not everything went as quickly as we wanted. But we have been using the solution for more than nine months and the adoption is going very well,” Vekeman said. “OpenText was easily adapted into our day-to-day processes. We had no loss of documents—everything was in one place, the flow of information was automated and the platform provided quick access to documents. We are embracing the new solution and everybody is very happy with the result.”

The team acknowledged the invaluable support of OpenText’s partner Uni Systems in bringing the project to fruition. Rania Skordili, marketing director at Info Quest Technologies, said, “Uni Systems analyzed our business needs accurately and they know the OpenText solution very well. They quickly found the correct solution for us.”

Easy access to content via centralized repository

With roughly 18,000 documents added to the OpenText repository over the last nine months and new content being added daily, the department has realized several key benefits, including improved content accessibility, which helps drive productivity. In the past, the department had been using a solution that lacked a centralized repository, resulting in departmental content silos. Vekeman added that documents stored locally on desktops were an additional risk. “If a computer crashed or somebody was not in the office, others in the department had no direct access to those documents,” she said. “With OpenText Extended ECM for SAP Solutions, this was solved. OpenText made it easy to have everything stored in one place, so there is quick access to documents. We no longer have to search for files in various places all over the company.”

Keeping operations running remotely

Easy access to content became an unexpected priority with employees working remotely due to restrictions related to COVID-19. Staff was able to seamlessly access the documents they needed to continue to perform their duties at home. “When 70 percent of employees had to stay home due to COVID-19, work didn’t stop. Everybody could go on and do their job using OpenText Extended ECM for SAP Solutions,” Vekeman said. “We were very pleased that we started this project when we did. It came at the right time and it supported us in coping with pandemic restrictions. It was a really great aid.”

Reduced costs by digitizing paper documents

In addition to improving productivity, Info Quest Technologies has reduced costs by digitizing paper files and storing them in the central ECM repository, where they can be controlled and used more effectively than archived paper stored in large binders. “Environmental consciousness is a critical priority for our company. We are trying to minimize our environmental impact as much as possible,” Vekeman said. “The paperless office is among our top priorities, and OpenText has helped us in a huge way in that process. We have already eliminated a lot of paper and gained a lot of physical storage space.”

A digital future across the company

As a rapidly growing company with a commitment to digital transformation for itself and its customers, Info Quest Technologies has no plans to slow the pace. Vekeman described next steps in the plan to digitalize processes: “We don’t want to stop here with OpenText. We are planning to digitalize all the payment approvals processes, the communication with banks and bank documentation and accounting processes. We also want to further integrate and see what additional solutions could be used in the digitalization of all the paper-based business in the company.”

Partner

Uni Systems, a member of Quest Group, is a long-standing strategic ICT partner to financial institutions, public organizations, telecom operators, enterprises and institutions in the European region, providing integrated solutions and value-added services. Today, the company invests substantially in its European perspective and demonstrates a proven record of achievements in complex and critical IT projects in more than 26 countries through its subsidiaries in Belgium, Romania, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain.

Uni Systems is an OpenText Reseller Silver Partner and an OpenText Support Partner and works closely with OpenText towards fulfilling key market objectives to drive new business and create value for its clients. For more information, visit unisystems.com.