SharePoint vs OpenText: The Best Purchase Order Automation Software in Raleigh

In today’s competitive marketplace, firms of all shapes and sizes must find ways to boost productivity and efficiency, while lowering expenditures wherever necessary.

A great place to start is with business process automation (BPA). With BPA, you could simplify repetitive and time-consuming workflows, lessen the load on your team members, and upgrade your workflows by increasing productivity and boosting accuracy.

There are a number of operations and business fields that can make use of BPA. Among of the most frequent adopters are Accounts Payable departments who can use BPA to automate invoicing, purchase order processing, and payroll.

In this article, we’re going to hone in on purchase order automation - how it operates, why automation is a great option for this area, and assess two of our preferred PO process automation platforms: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To start, let’s discuss what purchase order automation is and how it works.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

Through automation, purchase requests can be created in a few clicks from pre-formatted templates, and routing capability can deliver authorizations directly to the supply chain dealer once the approval workflow is done.

This removes any need for manual involvement, record filing processes, and makes the process simpler and more efficient.

The Purchase Order Process

Although the purchase order process can differ from one business to the next, the following provides a great example of a conventional, by-hand purchase order system.

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

Step 2: Then another colleague will review and approve or reject the purchase order.

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

Step 4: Once completed, the organization will then acquire its product or service.

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

Step 6: The invoice should be examined and authorized, and payment is released to the merchant.

Step 7: The final step of the purchasing process is to file or archive the related records to generate an audit trail.

This might not seem like a great deal of steps, but to make this workflow to go smoothly, all participants from your AP personnel, to sales agents, vendors, and executives, must all deliver precise, prompt responses. Several organizations can confirm that this is way harder than it sounds.

There are numerous benefits to automating this procedure, which we will review in the next chapter.

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order Process

There are many benefits to implementing purchase order automation solutions for your organization. These include:

• Lower Costs

• Time Saved from Physical Processes

• Real-Time Insight Into Activities

• A Quicker, More Streamlined Procurement Process

• Lessened Physical Error

• Greater Use of Human Resources

So, now that we’ve covered what purchase order automation is, the elements of the procedure that can be automated, and the advantages of purchase order tools, let us now take a closer look at two of our favorite automation options, OpenText and Microsoft SharePoint.

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 content.

Having said that, with the inclusion of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can easily customize SharePoint’s features to include automation to several of your AP procedures.

Pros

• Fantastic UX/UI

• Moderate learning curve for new users

• Metadata search optimizes searchability

Cons

• No native data imaging or capture feature

• Struggles at fulfilling compliance guidelines in some sectors

• SharePoint Online not equipped to meet Enterprise ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is an ECM tool as well, but provides advanced add-ons that enable organizations to automate tasks, improve business functions, and decrease the risk connected to management and intellectual property.

Pros

• A better choice for business with a high level of compliance

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

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

Cons

• Complex UX/UI

• Often requires specialist optimization to guarantee that it meets business needs

• Can be expensive for corporate functionality and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Comparison

How Wave Can Help You Implement Purchase Order Automation in Raleigh

The truth is by-hand processes in your accounting system basically slow your organization down, cause hindrances and process issues, and ultimately hurt your growth and scalability.

Longer than necessary payment cycles can also contribute to greater costs associated with purchase order management and invoice processing, reduce your visibility and control, and can disrupt your vendor relationships.

At Wave, we can aid you in optimizing your accounts payable (AP) processes end-to-end, including purchase orders, procurement, data entry, payments, approval process, invoicing, and even file storage tools.

We collaborate with Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Netsuite, Oracle, and ECM and ERP systems like those we have examined in this post and also Oracle, Xerox, MFiles, and much more.

We can aid you in implementing your accounts payable automation software on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid framework based on your organizational regulations, budget, and compliance guidelines.

To learn more, connect with us today for a free consultation.