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

Given today’s competitive marketplace, businesses of varying sizes must discover ways to boost efficiency and productivity, while cutting costs wherever necessary.

An excellent place to start is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you can simplify repetitive and laborious processes, lessen the burden for your colleagues, and upgrade your system by developing productivity and boosting accuracy.

There are a variety of operations and business sectors that could make use of BPA. Among of the most common adopters are Accounts Payable departments who can utilize BPA to automate payroll, invoicing, and purchase order processing.

In this piece, we’ll focus on purchase order automation - how it operates, why automation is an excellent fit for this area, and assess a couple of our favorite PO process automation platforms: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To start, let us talk about what purchase order automation is and how it performs.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

With automation, purchase requests can be generated in a matter of seconds using pre-formatted layouts, and transmitting capability can deliver approvals straight to the supply chain contractor when the approval workflow is finished.

This removes any need for manual intervention, record filing methods, and makes the process smoother and more efficient.

The Purchase Order Process

Though the purchase order process might differ from one company to the next, the following offers an excellent example of a conventional, manual purchase order process.

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

Step 2: Then another colleague will evaluate and approve/reject the purchase order.

Step 3: Then, the purchase order should be routed to the vendor.

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

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

Step 6: The invoice must be examined and approved, and payment is delivered to the merchant.

Step 7: Then the final step of the purchasing procedure is to archive or file the associated documents to create an audit trail.

This may not seem like a lot of steps, but in order for this workflow to go smoothly, all parties from your AP personnel, to sales agents, suppliers, and executives, must all deliver precise, prompt responses. Most firms can attest that this is grueling.

There are many benefits to automating this process, which we’ll review in the following section.

The Benefits of an Automated Purchase Order Process

There are a number of benefits to adopting purchase order automation solutions for your organization. These include:

• Cost Savings

• Time Saved from By-Hand Tasks

• Real-Time Insight Into Activities

• A Quicker, More Efficient Procurement Process

• Reduced Physical Error

• Greater Human Resource Utilization

Now that we’ve reviewed what purchase order automation entails, the elements of the process that could be automated, and the advantages of purchase order software, let’s now take a closer look at a couple of our preferred automation solutions, Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

SharePoint is an enterprise content management software (ECM) that in its base form, is a program for managing, collaborating on, and publishing content.

Regardless, with the inclusion of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can easily modify SharePoint’s features to enable automation to several of your AP processes.

Pros

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

• Short learning curve for new users

• Metadata search optimizes searchability

Cons

• No local information capture or imaging functionality

• Weak at following compliance guidelines in some industries

• SharePoint Online is not made to fulfill Enterprise ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is an ECM tool as well, but offers powerful add-ons that allow businesses to automate processes, improve business activities, and lower the risk associated with administration and intellectual property.

Pros

• An excellent alternative for business with a high level of compliance

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

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

Cons

• Intricate UX/UI

• Often necessitates expert configuration to ensure it fulfills organizational requirements

• Can be expensive for enterprise features and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Table

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

The fact is that manual processes in your accounting framework simply slow your organization down, cause logjams and process headaches, and sooner or later hurt your development and adaptability.

Longer than necessary payment cycles can also contribute to greater costs associated with purchase order and invoice processing, limit your visibility and control, and can disrupt your merchant connections.

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

We work closely with Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Netsuite, Oracle, as well as ECM and ERP systems like the ones we’ve discussed in this article and also Xerox, MFiles, Oracle, and more.

We can help you deploy your accounts payable automation solution on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid model based on your business regulations, budget, and compliance guidelines.

To discover more, reach out immediately for a free consultation.