SharePoint vs OpenText: The Best Purchase Order Automation Software in Spokane

In today’s competitive landscape, companies of all shapes and sizes must discover ways to enhance efficiency and productivity, while lowering expenses wherever necessary.

An excellent place to start is with business process automation (BPA). With BPA, you could simplify monotonous and laborious tasks, ease the stress on your team members, and upgrade your processes by developing efficiency and amplifying reliability.

There are a variety of processes and business sectors that can benefit from BPA. Among of the most common adopters are Accounts Payable teams who can use BPA to automate purchase order processing, payroll, and invoicing.

In this piece, we’re taking a closer look at purchase order automation - how it works, why automation is a perfect solution for this area, and assess two 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 functions.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

Via automation, purchase requests can be created in a matter of seconds using pre-formatted layouts, and transmitting capability can send approvals directly to the supply chain dealer when the approval process is complete.

This eliminates any need for human interference, record filing processes, and makes the process smoother and more controllable.

The Purchase Order Process

While the purchase order process might differ from one business to the next, the following offers a great example of a standard, physical purchase order system.

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

Step 2: Then another team member will assess and approve/reject the purchase order.

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

Step 4: Once completed, the firm will then receive its service or product.

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

Step 6: The invoice should be reviewed and authorized, and payment is delivered to the vendor.

Step 7: The final step of the purchasing procedure is to file or archive the relevant records to create an audit trail.

This might not seem like many steps, but in order for this procedure to go smoothly, all parties from your AP personnel, to sales representatives, suppliers, and managers, must all deliver precise, timely responses. Many businesses can attest that this is grueling.

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

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order System

There are several benefits to implementing purchase order automation solutions for your company. These include:

• Reduced Expenses

• Time Saved from Hand-Operated Tasks

• Real-Time Operational Visibility

• A Faster, More Optimized Procurement Process

• Reduced Manual Error

• Greater Use of Human Resources

Now that we have covered what purchase order automation entails, the parts of the procedure that could be automated, and the benefits of purchase order tools, 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 data.

Having said that, with the inclusion of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can simply adapt SharePoint’s features to incorporate automation to many of your AP operations.

Pros

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

• Moderate learning curve for new users

• Metadata search aid searchability

Cons

• No integrated data imaging or capture capability

• Weak at fulfilling compliance standards in some industries

• SharePoint Online is not designed to fulfill Corporate ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is also an ECM solution but includes advanced add-ons that allow businesses to automate workflows, improve business operations, and decrease the risk related to governance and intellectual property.

Pros

• An excellent choice for compliance-heavy organizations

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

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

Cons

• Complicated UX/UI

• Usually necessitates expert optimization to guarantee that it fulfills business requirements

• Can get costly for corporate features and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Comparison

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

The fact is that manual processes in your accounting framework just slow your firm down, generate logjams and process issues, and consequently hurt your growth and flexibility.

Prolonged payment cycles can also lead to greater costs associated with purchase order management and invoice processing, impede your insight and control, and can damage your vendor connections.

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

We collaborate with SAP, Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, and ECM and ERP tools like the ones we have mentioned in this article and also Xerox, MFiles, Oracle, and much more.

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

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