SharePoint vs OpenText: The Ultimate Purchase Order Automation Software in Boston
In today’s competitive marketplace, organizations of all shapes and sizes must find ways to increase productivity and efficiency, while cutting expenditures wherever appropriate.
A great place to start is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you can simplify monotonous and laborious processes, ease the load on your colleagues, and enhance your workflows by developing productivity and raising precision.
There are a number of processes and business fields that could take advantage of BPA. Some of the most common adopters are Accounts Payable departments who can use BPA to automate payroll, invoicing, and purchase order processing.
In this post, we’ll focus on purchase order automation - how it operates, why automation is a perfect option for this area, and compare 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 works.
What is Purchase Order Automation?
Automated purchase order solutions utilize business software integrated with robotic process automation (RPA) technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) to automate the purchase order process.
With automation, purchase requests can be created in a few clicks from pre-formatted templates, and transmitting capability can send approvals directly to the supply chain dealer once the approval workflow is finished.
This eliminates any need for manual intervention, record filing methods, and makes the operation simpler and more controllable.
The Purchase Order Process
Although the purchase order process may differ slightly from organization to organization, the following provides a great example of a conventional, physical purchase order system.
Step 1: The first step is purchase order creation.
Step 2: Then another team member will evaluate and approve or reject the purchase order.
Step 3: After that, the purchase order must be routed to the merchant.
Step 4: Once finished, the business will then receive its service or product.
Step 5: Then the company will receive the vendor invoice.
Step 6: The invoice should be verified and confirmed, and payment is released to the supplier.
Step 7: The final step of the purchasing process is to file or archive the relevant documents to generate an audit trail.
This may not seem like a lot of steps, but for this process to go smoothly, all individuals from your AP team members, to sales representatives, vendors, and managers, must all provide precise, timely responses. Several organizations can testify that this is grueling.
There are numerous benefits to automating this procedure, which we’ll review in the next chapter.
The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order System
There are numerous advantages to implementing purchase order automation software for your business. These include:
Lower Costs
Time Saved from By-Hand Processes
Real-Time Visibility Into Operations
A Quicker, More Optimized Procurement Process
Decreased Physical Error
Better Use of Human Resources
Now that we have established what purchase order automation is, the elements of the procedure that could be automated, and the advantages of purchase order software, let’s now talk about two of our favorite automation tools, OpenText and Microsoft SharePoint.
SharePoint vs OpenText
SharePoint Overview
SharePoint is an enterprise content management software (ECM) that, at its core, is a tool for monitoring, collaborating on, and sharing data.
Having said that, with the inclusion of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can easily customize SharePoint’s functionality to enable automation to most of your AP operations.
Pros
Excellent user experience and interface
Minimal learning curve for new users
Metadata search optimizes searchability
Cons
No native data capture or imaging capability
Struggles at following compliance guidelines in some industries
SharePoint Online is not made to fulfill Enterprise ECM requirements
OpenText Overview
OpenText is an ECM tool as well, but provides powerful add-ons that allow firms to automate tasks, improve business functions, and decrease the risk associated with administration and intellectual property.
Pros
A better option for business with a high level of compliance
Strong document management, classification, filtering, and access restrictions
OpenText Documentum adds case and inventory management capabilities to its feature set.
Cons
Complicated UX/UI
Typically necessitates specialist tuning to ensure it fulfills organizational needs
Can be expensive for enterprise functionality and add-ons
SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Comparison
How Wave Can Help You Implement Purchase Order Automation in Boston
The reality is manual workflows in your accounting framework basically slow your organization down, create logjams and process issues, and sooner or later hurt your progress and adaptability.
Longer than necessary billing cycles can also lead to increased costs associated with purchase order and invoice processing, limit your transparency and control, and can add strain to your supplier partnerships.
At Wave, we can help you to streamline your AP processes end-to-end, including data entry, purchase orders, procurement, invoicing, payments, approval process, and even file storage tools.
We work with Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, as well as ECM and ERP systems like the ones we have examined in this article and also MFiles, Oracle, Xerox, and much more.
We can help you deploy your AP automation software on-site, in the cloud, or in a hybrid framework depending on your organizational regulations, budget, and compliance guidelines.
To discover more, reach out today for a free consultation.