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

Given the current competitive marketplace, organizations of all shapes and sizes must find ways to boost productivity and efficiency, while cutting expenditures wherever appropriate.

One of the best places to begin is with business process automation (BPA). With BPA, you could expedite monotonous and laborious processes, ease the load on your staff, and enhance your system by developing productivity and amplifying reliability.

There are several tasks and business fields that can make use of BPA. Some of the most prevalent adopters are Accounts Payable departments who can use BPA to automate purchase order processing, payroll, and invoicing.

In this article, we’re taking a closer look at purchase order automation - how it functions, why automation is an excellent solution for this area, and evaluate two of our preferred PO process automation platforms: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To begin, let us go over what purchase order automation is and how it works.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

Through automation, purchase requisitions can be produced in a few seconds using pre-formatted layouts, and transmitting capability can deliver approvals straight to the supply chain vendor when the approval workflow is done.

This removes any need for manual involvement, document filing methods, and makes the operation faster and more efficient.

The Purchase Order Process

Though the purchase order process may differ slightly from business to business, the following offers a good example of a standard, manual purchase order system.

Step 1: The first step is creating a purchase order.

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

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

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

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

Step 6: The invoice will need to be verified and confirmed, and payment is issued to the merchant.

Step 7: Then the final step of the purchasing process is to archive the related documents to provide an audit trail.

This may not seem like a great deal of steps, but to make this workflow to operate normally, all parties from your AP team members, to sales reps, merchants, and executives, must all provide accurate, timely responses. Most companies can confirm that this is easier said than done.

There are many advantages to automating this procedure, which we will review in the next section.

The Benefits of an Automated Purchase Order System

There are several advantages to utilizing purchase order automation tools for your business. These include:

• Cost Savings

• Time Saved from Hand-Operated Tasks

• Real-Time Visibility Into Operations

• A Quicker, More Optimized Purchasing Procedure

• Lessened Manual Error

• Improved Use of Human Resources

Now that we’ve established what purchase order automation is, the elements of the process that could be automated, and the benefits of purchase order software, let us now take a closer look at two of our preferred automation solutions, Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

SharePoint is an enterprise content management platform (ECM) that, at its core, is a program for managing, collaborating on, and sharing data.

Regardless, with the inclusion of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can easily customize SharePoint’s functionality to incorporate automation to several of your AP operations.

Pros

• Superb UX/UI

• Short learning curve for new users

• Metadata search adds improved searchability

Cons

• No integrated data imaging or capture capability

• Weak at fulfilling compliance requirements in some industries

• SharePoint Online is not made to fulfill Corporate ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is also an ECM solution but provides powerful add-ons that enable businesses to automate workflows, augment organizational activities, and decrease the risk connected to management and intellectual property.

Pros

• A better option for business with a high level of compliance

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

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

Cons

• Intricate UX/UI

• Often demands specialist configuration to guarantee that it fulfills business requirements

• Can get costly for enterprise features and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Comparison

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

The reality is physical processes in your accounting system simply slow your company down, generate logjams and process headaches, and sooner or later hurt your growth and flexibility.

Prolonged payment cycles can also lead to higher costs associated with purchase order and invoice processing, limit your transparency and control, and can disrupt your merchant connections.

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

We collaborate with SAP, Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, in addition to ERP and ECM solutions like those we have discussed in this piece and also MFiles, Oracle, Xerox, and many others.

We can aid you in implementing your accounts payable automation software on-site, in the cloud, or in a hybrid framework based on your business rules, budget, and compliance guidelines.

To discover more, contact us today for a free consultation.