SharePoint vs OpenText: The Best Purchase Order Automation Platform in Norfolk

In the current competitive landscape, companies of all shapes and sizes must develop ways to boost productivity and efficiency, while lowering expenditures wherever necessary.

A great place to start is with business process automation (BPA). Through BPA, you can simplify monotonous and time-consuming workflows, reduce the stress on your colleagues, and upgrade your workflows by increasing productivity and amplifying reliability.

There are a number of tasks and business sectors that could take advantage of BPA. One of the most common adopters are Accounts Payable teams who can utilize BPA to automate purchase order processing, payroll, and invoicing.

In this post, we’ll focus on purchase order automation - how it functions, why automation is a perfect option for this area, and evaluate a couple of our favorite PO process automation software: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To start, let’s go over what purchase order automation is and how it functions.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

Via automation, purchase requisitions can be created in a matter of seconds using pre-formatted templates, and routing functionality can deliver approvals straight to the supply chain contractor after the approval workflow is done.

This eliminates any need for physical intervention, record filing processes, and makes the operation faster and more manageable.

The Purchase Order Process

Although the purchase order process might differ from one organization to the next, the following provides a good example of a standard, by-hand purchase order system.

Step 1: The first step is to create a purchase order.

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

Step 3: After that, the purchase order should be forwarded to the merchant.

Step 4: Once finished, the company will then acquire its service or product.

Step 5: Then the company will receive the vendor invoice.

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

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

This might not seem like a great deal of steps, but in order for this process to go smoothly, all parties from your AP team members, to sales agents, vendors, and executives, must all deliver accurate, timely responses. Many businesses can testify that this is way harder than it sounds.

There are several benefits to automating these steps, which we will review in the following chapter.

The Benefits of an Automated Purchase Order Process

There are numerous benefits to adopting purchase order automation tools for your business. These include:

• Reduced Expenses

• Time Saved from By-Hand Tasks

• Real-Time Visibility Into Operations

• A Faster, More Streamlined Purchasing Process

• Decreased Physical Error

• Greater Utilization of Human Resources

Now that we have reviewed what purchase order automation entails, the elements of the operation that can be automated, and the gains of purchase order solutions, let us now take a closer look at two of our favorite automation solutions, Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

SharePoint is an enterprise content management software (ECM) that, at its core, is a program for managing, collaborating on, and sharing data.

Having said that, with the addition of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can simply customize SharePoint’s capabilities to incorporate automation to most of your AP operations.

Pros

• Excellent user experience and user interface (UX/UI)

• Minimal learning curve for new users

• Metadata search aid searchability

Cons

• No local information capture or imaging capability

• Struggles at fulfilling compliance standards in some sectors

• SharePoint Online is not made to meet Enterprise ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is also an ECM solution but offers powerful add-ons that empower organizations to automate processes, augment business activities, and lower the risk connected to administration and intellectual property.

Pros

• A better choice for companies that must adhere to strict regulations

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

• OpenText Documentum expands its features with case and inventory management functionality.

Cons

• Complex UX/UI

• Often necessitates expert tuning to ensure it meets business needs

• Can be expensive for corporate features and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Analysis

How Wave Can Aid You in Implementing Purchase Order Automation in Norfolk

The truth is hand-operated workflows in your accounting framework basically slow your firm down, generate hindrances and process inefficiencies, and ultimately hurt your progress and flexibility.

Longer than necessary payment cycles can also contribute to higher expenses associated with purchase order and invoice processing, reduce your visibility and control, and can damage your vendor connections.

At Wave, we can aid you in optimizing your accounts payable (AP) processes thoroughly, including purchase orders, procurement, data entry, invoicing, payments, approval process, and even document storage solutions.

We collaborate with Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, and ECM and ERP tools like those we’ve discussed in this article and also Oracle, Xerox, MFiles, and much more.

We can help you deploy your accounts payable automation tool on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid concept depending on your organizational rules, budget, and compliance guidelines.

To learn more, reach out today for a free consultation.