SharePoint vs OpenText: The Ultimate Purchase Order Automation Tool in Lubbock

Given today’s competitive landscape, companies of all shapes and sizes must find ways to boost efficiency and productivity, while cutting costs wherever possible.

An excellent place to begin is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you can streamline repetitive and time-consuming tasks, ease the load on your colleagues, and improve your processes by adding efficiency and amplifying reliability.

There are a variety of operations and business sectors that could benefit from BPA. Among of the most frequent adopters are Accounts Payable units who can use 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 evaluate two of our favorite PO process automation platforms: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To start, let us discuss what purchase order automation is and how it functions.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

Via automation, purchase requests can be produced in a matter of seconds using pre-formatted layouts, and forwarding capability can deliver authorizations straight to the supply chain dealer when the approval workflow is finished.

This removes the need for human involvement, document filing systems, and makes the operation faster and more efficient.

The Purchase Order Process

While the purchase order process can look slightly different from business to business, the following provides a great example of a conventional, hand-operated purchase order system.

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

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

Step 3: Following that, the purchase order must be sent to the contractor.

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

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

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

Step 7: The last step of the purchasing process is to file or archive the relevant files to provide an audit trail.

This might not seem like a great deal of steps, but in order for this workflow to run efficiently, all participants from your AP team members, to sales agents, vendors, and supervisors, must all deliver precise, prompt responses. Several firms can testify that this is way harder than it sounds.

There are several advantages to automating this process, which we will review in the following chapter.

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order System

There are a number of advantages to utilizing purchase order automation tools for your organization. These include:

• Reduced Expenses

• Time Saved from Physical Tasks

• Real-Time Insight Into Activities

• A Quicker, More Efficient Procurement Procedure

• Decreased Manual Error

• Greater Utilization of Human Resources

Now that we’ve established what purchase order automation entails, the elements of the operation that could be automated, and the advantages of purchase order tools, let us now talk about a couple of our preferred 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 data.

However, with the integration of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can quickly customize SharePoint’s features to include automation to many of your AP procedures.

Pros

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

• Minimal learning curve for new users

• Metadata search adds improved searchability

Cons

• No integrated information imaging or capture capability

• Weak at following compliance guidelines in a few sectors

• SharePoint Online not equipped to fulfill Corporate ECM requirements

OpenText Overview

OpenText is also an ECM solution but includes advanced add-ons that allow firms to automate tasks, enhance organizational activities, and reduce the risk connected to management and intellectual property.

Pros

• A better option for compliance-heavy organizations

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

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

Cons

• Intricate UX/UI

• Often necessitates specialist optimization to guarantee that it satisfies organizational needs

• Can be pricey for corporate features and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Diagram

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

The truth is physical workflows in your accounting system basically slow your firm down, generate logjams and process inefficiencies, and sooner or later hurt your development and scalability.

Extended billing cycles can also contribute to greater costs associated with purchase order management and invoice processing, reduce your visibility and control, and can disrupt your merchant relationships.

At Wave, we can help you to streamline your accounts payable processes thoroughly, including procurement, data entry, purchase orders, payments, approval process, invoicing, and even document storage tools.

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

We can assist you in implementing your accounts payable automation software on-site, in the cloud, or in a hybrid framework depending on your business regulations, budget, and compliance requirements.

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