SharePoint vs OpenText: The Ultimate Purchase Order Automation Platform in Sacramento

Given the current competitive landscape, organizations of varying sizes must discover ways to increase efficiency and productivity, while lowering costs wherever possible.

A great place to start is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you could simplify repetitive and time-consuming tasks, lessen the stress on your staff, and improve your processes by increasing efficiency and boosting precision.

There are a number of processes and business sectors that could take advantage of BPA. Some of the most common adopters are Accounts Payable units who can use BPA to automate purchase order processing, payroll, and invoicing.

In this piece, we’re taking a closer look at purchase order automation - how it works, why automation is a great fit for this area, and evaluate a couple of our preferred PO process automation tools: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To begin, let us go over what purchase order automation is and how it performs.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

Automated purchase order solutions employ business software integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and robotic process automation (RPA) technology to automate the purchase order procedure.

Through automation, purchase requisitions can be produced in a few seconds using pre-formatted templates, and forwarding functionality can deliver authorizations directly to the supply chain dealer once the approval workflow is done.

This eliminates any need for physical intervention, record filing methods, and makes the process faster and more efficient.

The Purchase Order Process

While the purchase order process may differ slightly from one company to the next, the following provides a good example of a standard, physical purchase order process.

Step 1: The first step is creating a purchase order.

Step 2: Then another team member will evaluate and approve or reject the purchase order.

Step 3: After that, the purchase order should be sent to the vendor.

Step 4: Once finished, the organization will then obtain its service or product.

Step 5: The vendor invoice will thereafter be received by the firm.

Step 6: The invoice will need to be reviewed and authorized, and payment is released to the merchant.

Step 7: The final step of the purchasing procedure is to file or archive the relevant records to create an audit trail.

This may not seem like a great deal of steps, but for this procedure to operate normally, all parties from your AP personnel, to sales reps, merchants, and managers, must all provide correct, timely responses. Most organizations can confirm that this is way harder than it sounds.

There are numerous benefits to automating this procedure, which we’ll discuss in the following section.

The Benefits of an Automated Purchase Order Process

There are a number of benefits to implementing purchase order automation tools for your company. These include:

• Lower Costs

• Time Saved from By-Hand Processes

• Real-Time Operational Visibility

• A Quicker, More Efficient Purchasing Procedure

• Lessened Physical Error

• Greater Utilization of Human Resources

So, now that we’ve established what purchase order automation entails, the parts of the process that can be automated, and the gains of purchase order tools, let’s now talk about a couple of our favorite automation solutions, Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

SharePoint is an enterprise content management solution (ECM) that in its base form, is a program for handling, collaborating on, and distributing content.

Having said that, with the addition of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can quickly modify SharePoint’s functionality to enable automation to most of your AP operations.

Pros

• Superb user experience and interface

• Moderate learning curve for new users

• Metadata search adds improved searchability

Cons

• No native information capture or imaging capability

• Weak at meeting compliance requirements in a few industries

• SharePoint Online is not designed to meet Enterprise ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is also an ECM solution but provides advanced add-ons that allow organizations to automate tasks, improve organizational activities, and decrease the risk associated with administration and intellectual property.

Pros

• An excellent alternative for companies that must adhere to strict regulations

• Powerful document management, classification, filtering, and access restrictions

• OpenText Documentum adds case and inventory management capabilities to its feature set.

Cons

• Complex UX/UI

• Typically necessitates expert configuration to guarantee that it meets organizational needs

• Can be pricey for enterprise capabilities and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Analysis

How Wave Can Assist You in Implementing Purchase Order Automation in Sacramento

The reality is physical workflows in your accounting framework basically slow your firm down, create bottlenecks and process headaches, and sooner or later hurt your development and adaptability.

Prolonged billing cycles can also contribute to increased expenses associated with purchase order and invoice processing, limit your visibility and control, and can add strain to your vendor relationships.

At Wave, we can assist you in streamlining your accounts payable (AP) processes completely, including procurement, data entry, purchase orders, invoicing, payments, approval process, and even document storage platforms.

We work closely with SAP, Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, in addition to ERP and ECM tools like those we’ve discussed in this piece and also MFiles, Oracle, Xerox, and many others.

We can help you deploy your AP automation tool on-site, in the cloud, or in a hybrid framework contingent on your organizational rules, budget, and compliance requirements.

To discover more, contact us immediately for a free consultation.