SharePoint vs OpenText: The Best Purchase Order Automation Tool in Laredo

In the current competitive marketplace, businesses of varying sizes must discover ways to increase productivity and efficiency, while cutting expenditures wherever possible.

One of the best places to start is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you could simplify repetitive and laborious workflows, reduce the load on your staff, and enhance your processes by increasing efficiency and raising reliability.

There are a variety of tasks and business sectors that can benefit from BPA. Some of the most common adopters are Accounts Payable departments who can utilize BPA to automate purchase order processing, payroll, and invoicing.

In this post, we’ll focus on purchase order automation - how it functions, why automation is an excellent fit for this area, and assess two of our favorite PO process automation software: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To start, let us go over what purchase order automation is and how it functions.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

With automation, purchase requisitions can be created in a few clicks from pre-formatted layouts, and forwarding capability can send approvals straight to the supply chain contractor once the approval process is finished.

This eliminates the need for human intervention, record filing systems, and makes the process simpler and more efficient.

The Purchase Order Process

While the purchase order process may look slightly different from one business to the next, the following offers an excellent example of a conventional, by-hand purchase order system.

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

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

Step 3: After that, the purchase order must be forwarded to the vendor.

Step 4: Once filled, the business will then receive its service or product.

Step 5: The vendor invoice will thereafter be received by the firm.

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

Step 7: The final step of the purchasing process is to archive the related records to create an audit trail.

This might not seem like many steps, but for this workflow to operate normally, all participants from your AP staff, to sales agents, vendors, and supervisors, must all deliver precise, prompt responses. Many organizations can testify that this is grueling.

There are many advantages to automating this process, which we will review in the following chapter.

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order System

There are several advantages to implementing purchase order automation software for your company. These include:

• Lower Costs

• Time Saved from Physical Processes

• Real-Time Visibility Into Operations

• A Faster, More Streamlined Procurement Process

• Decreased Physical Error

• Greater Human Resource Utilization

Now that we have covered what purchase order automation is, the aspects of the operation that could be automated, and the benefits of purchase order solutions, let us now take a closer look at a couple of our favorite automation solutions, OpenText and Microsoft SharePoint.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

SharePoint is an enterprise content management solution (ECM) that, at its core, is a tool for handling, collaborating on, and distributing material.

However, with the integration of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can easily customize SharePoint’s capabilities to include automation to several of your AP procedures.

Pros

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

• Moderate learning curve for new users

• Metadata search optimizes searchability

Cons

• No integrated information capture or imaging feature

• Weak at following compliance guidelines in some industries

• SharePoint Online is not made to handle Enterprise ECM requirements

OpenText Overview

OpenText is an ECM tool as well, but offers powerful add-ons that empower businesses to automate tasks, enhance business operations, and reduce the risk associated with administration and intellectual property.

Pros

• An excellent option for compliance-heavy organizations

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

• OpenText Documentum expands its features with case and inventory management functionality.

Cons

• Intricate UX/UI

• Often necessitates specialist optimization to ensure it meets organizational needs

• Can be expensive for enterprise functionality and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Comparison

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

The truth is hand-operated workflows in your accounting framework basically slow your firm down, generate logjams and process issues, and sooner or later hurt your development and adaptability.

Prolonged payment cycles can also contribute to greater expenses associated with purchase order and invoice processing, impede your insight and control, and can add strain to your merchant connections.

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

We work closely with Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Netsuite, Oracle, in addition to ERP and ECM solutions like the ones we have discussed in this piece and also MFiles, Oracle, Xerox, and more.

We can aid you in implementing your AP automation solution on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid model contingent on your business regulations, budget, and compliance requirements.

To learn more, connect with us immediately for a free consultation.