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

Considering today’s competitive marketplace, firms of all sizes must find ways to boost productivity and efficiency, while reducing expenditures wherever possible.

One of the best places to start is with business process automation (BPA). With BPA, you can simplify repetitive and laborious processes, ease the load on your colleagues, and improve your system by developing productivity and raising precision.

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

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

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

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.

Via automation, purchase requisitions can be produced in a few clicks from pre-formatted templates, and transmitting functionality can deliver approvals directly to the supply chain contractor once the approval workflow is finished.

This eliminates the need for manual intervention, document filing systems, and makes the process faster and more efficient.

The Purchase Order Process

Although the purchase order process might differ from business to business, the following provides an excellent example of a standard, hand-operated purchase order system.

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

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

Step 3: Following that, the purchase order should be forwarded to the contractor.

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

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

Step 6: The invoice must be verified 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 documents to create an audit trail.

This may not seem like many steps, but for this procedure to go smoothly, all participants from your AP staff, to sales reps, merchants, and managers, must all deliver correct, prompt responses. Many organizations can confirm that this is easier said than done.

There are numerous advantages to automating these steps, which we will explore in the next chapter.

The Benefits of an Automated Purchase Order System

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

• Lower Costs

• Time Saved from Hand-Operated Processes

• Real-Time Visibility Into Operations

• A Quicker, More Efficient Purchasing Process

• Decreased Physical Error

• Better Utilization of Human Resources

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

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

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

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

Pros

• Superb UX/UI

• Moderate learning curve for new users

• Metadata search enhances searchability

Cons

• No local information imaging or capture functionality

• Struggles at meeting compliance requirements in some industries

• SharePoint Online is not designed to handle Enterprise ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is an ECM tool as well, but offers powerful add-ons that allow firms to automate workflows, improve business activities, and reduce the risk related to administration and intellectual property.

Pros

• A better alternative for compliance-heavy organizations

• Robust document filtering, management, classification, and access permissions

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

Cons

• Intricate UX/UI

• Often demands expert tuning to guarantee that it fulfills business needs

• Can be pricey for enterprise features and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Analysis

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

The truth is hand-operated workflows in your accounting framework just slow your firm down, cause hindrances and process issues, and sooner or later hurt your growth and flexibility.

Longer than necessary payment cycles can also lead to increased costs associated with purchase order and invoice processing, limit your transparency and control, and can damage your merchant connections.

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

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

We can aid you in implementing your AP automation tool locally, in the cloud, or in a hybrid concept based on your business rules, budget, and compliance requirements.

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