What’s the Best SharePoint Alternative for Franchises?

In the world of technology, bigger doesn’t always mean better. Though large user counts are nothing to sniff at, they don’t guarantee high satisfaction rates.

SharePoint is a stark example of this. Despite boasting over 200 million monthly active users worldwide, many businesses face difficulties with the software’s inflexible security controls, customization limitations, and performance problems.

For franchises, these problems are only exacerbated.

In this article, we’ll investigate why SharePoint is a bad fit for franchises — and what software you should consider in its place.

Why SharePoint isn’t fit for franchises

Everyone knows that the most profitable franchises depend on operational consistency. It’s the key to replicating success, building brand recognition, and driving sales… But, in order to achieve this level of operational excellence, your knowledge, communications, policies, and training must be centralized.

And this is precisely where SharePoint falls short.

In most cases, individual franchisees must operate their own Microsoft 365 account, separate from the franchise. This results in:

• Disconnected Azure tenants
• Disjointed domains (and, as a result, no shared login)
• Disparate user and permissions controls
• Complex cross-network user management
• Inconsistent licensing
• Fractured communications and siloed information

In other words, SharePoint doesn’t just hinder operational consistency — it prevents it.

This decentralization increases the risk of non-compliance and inconsistencies. Which, in turn, can lead to unsatisfied customers, reputational damage, and haemorrhaging sales.

This puts you in a very precarious position. Unless you have the budget and IT resources to work around these issues, SharePoint will never provide the franchise management software you need.

The question is: what’s the alternative?

Claromentis: The best SharePoint alternative for franchises

Simply put, Claromentis is an end-to-end franchise management software (FMS) that consolidates your people, processes, and resources. It’s a one-stop-shop for managing your units, growing your network, and upholding operational excellence.

Unlike SharePoint, Claromentis:

• Is completely tenant-independent. Claromentis works across all of your different Azure tenants, or none at all.
• Centralizes roles and permissions. There’s no need to manually change permissions for every single user. Simply define permissions groups once and apply globally across your network.
• Allows for custom domains. If needed, you can build bespoke, brand-aligned portals for every franchisee, while still retaining access to your shared core resources. (Such as your operations manual, e-learning pathways, automated forms, and policies.)
• Provides simple licensing. Say goodbye to complex and costly Microsoft licensing. With Claromentis, scaling your platform to accommodate new franchisees is easy and affordable.

Of course, the ability to centrally manage users, domains, and licensing is the bare minimum you should expect from any franchise software. To make a tangible difference to your franchise’s performance, you need to find a solution that goes above and beyond.

This is where Claromentis really stands out.

The benefits of our franchise management solution

You’ll be hard pressed to find a franchise management software as comprehensive as Claromentis.

At its core, our FMS comprises three integrated platforms; a customizable franchise intranet; a SCORM-compliant learning management system; and a no-code automation software. Plus, you have the ability to integrate third-party tools and request custom applications to expand Claromentis’s capabilities further.

When used to its full potential, our FMS enables you to:

• Unify your communications. Share news articles, blog posts, and urgent announcements with your network, and ensure everyone has the up-to-date information they need to work effectively.
• Improve knowledge sharing. Consolidate your procedures, messaging, brand assets, and more in one version-controlled hub. Franchisees can also share communications and upload documents of their own.
• Standardize onboarding and training. Create trackable courses and learning pathways with our built-in learning management system. Automated triggers allow you to progress new franchisees and expand their content experiences once they pass their onboarding training.
• Automate repeatable operations. Our native automation platform, InfoCapture, can turn any manual process into no-code e-forms and automated workflows. This allows you to streamline and standardize inspection reports, inventory management, evidence capture, and more.
• Streamline royalty reporting. Harness our completely customizable royalty management workflow to standardize sales reports, automate fee calculations, and improve payment monitoring. 
• Bolster compliance and operational excellence. Store your agreements, operations manual, health and safety policies and more in a convenient policy management application. With acceptance mechanisms and a native AI chatbot, you can ensure franchisees read, understand and comply with every policy.
• Monitor franchisee performance. Build bespoke reports and dashboards for every franchisee, giving you a quick overview of training accomplishments, policy acceptance rates, financial performance, and more.
• Build a thriving community. Unlike some FMS solutions on the market, Claromentis encourages your franchisees to actively participate and engage with your network via discussion rooms, comment threads, and internal communication tools. This is great for fostering collaborative relationships and supporting franchise advisory council initiatives.

See the difference for yourself

SharePoint might have a big following, but it doesn’t deliver big results. In fact, for franchises and other multi-location businesses, it doesn’t deliver anything at all.

So don’t fall into the herd mentality trap. There’s a better way to manage your franchise — and it’s only one short call away.

To find out how our franchise management software can increase operational efficiency, compliance, and performance across your network, arrange a chat with one of our experts. We can provide you with pricing information, feature walkthroughs, and even your own personalized demo.