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

Considering the current competitive landscape, organizations of all shapes and sizes must develop ways to boost productivity and efficiency, while reducing expenses wherever possible.

One of the best places to start is with business process automation (BPA). With BPA, you can expedite tedious and time-consuming workflows, reduce the load on your team members, and improve your processes by developing productivity and amplifying precision.

There are a number of tasks and business fields that could take advantage of BPA. Some of the most frequent adopters are Accounts Payable departments who can use BPA to automate purchase order processing, payroll, and invoicing.

In this post, we’re taking a closer look at purchase order automation - how it works, why automation is a great option for this area, and assess two of our preferred PO process automation software: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

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

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

Via automation, purchase requests can be generated in a few seconds using pre-formatted templates, and routing functionality can deliver authorizations straight to the supply chain dealer after the approval workflow is finished.

This removes the need for manual intervention, document filing methods, and makes the operation simpler and more controllable.

The Purchase Order Process

Although the purchase order process may look slightly different from company to company, the following offers a good example of a typical, hand-operated purchase order system.

Step 1: The first step is purchase order creation.

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

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

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

Step 5: The organization will then get the vendor invoice.

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

Step 7: Then the final step of the purchasing procedure is to archive the related files to create an audit trail.

This might not seem like a lot of steps, but for this process to run efficiently, all participants from your AP team members, to sales reps, vendors, and managers, must all deliver correct, prompt responses. Several firms can testify that this is easier said than done.

There are numerous benefits to automating these steps, which we’ll review in the following chapter.

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order Process

There are numerous advantages to adopting purchase order automation solutions for your organization. These include:

• Cost Savings

• Time Saved from Manual Processes

• Real-Time Operational Visibility

• A Quicker, More Optimized Procurement Method

• Lessened Physical Error

• Greater Human Resource Utilization

Now that we have covered what purchase order automation is, the parts of the procedure that could be automated, and the advantages of purchase order software, let us now go over a couple of our favorite automation options, Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

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

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

Pros

• Superb UX/UI

• Short learning curve for new users

• Metadata search enhances searchability

Cons

• No integrated data imaging or capture feature

• Weak at meeting compliance standards in a few industries

• SharePoint Online is not designed to handle Enterprise ECM requirements

OpenText Overview

OpenText is similarly an ECM platform but provides powerful add-ons that allow firms to automate processes, augment business operations, and reduce the risk associated with administration and intellectual property.

Pros

• A superior alternative for compliance-heavy organizations

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

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

Cons

• Complicated UX/UI

• Typically demands professional tuning to ensure it satisfies organizational needs

• Can be expensive for corporate capabilities and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Diagram

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

The truth is manual workflows in your accounting system simply slow your company down, cause logjams and process inefficiencies, and consequently hurt your development and adaptability.

Longer than necessary payment cycles can also contribute to greater expenses associated with purchase order and invoice processing, limit your insight and control, and can add strain to your vendor connections.

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

We work with SAP, Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, as well as ECM and ERP systems like the ones we have examined in this article and also Oracle, Xerox, MFiles, and many others.

We can assist you in implementing your AP automation software on-site, in the cloud, or in a hybrid framework based on your business regulations, budget, and compliance guidelines.

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