SharePoint vs OpenText: The Ultimate Purchase Order Automation Platform in Jacksonville
In today’s competitive landscape, firms of all sizes must develop ways to enhance efficiency and productivity, while lowering costs wherever necessary.
A great place to start is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you could streamline tedious and time-consuming tasks, lessen the burden for your team members, and improve your workflows by adding productivity and raising precision.
There are a number of processes and business units that could take advantage of BPA. One of the most frequent adopters are Accounts Payable teams who can use BPA to automate payroll, invoicing, and purchase order processing.
In this piece, we’ll focus on purchase order automation - how it works, why automation is an excellent option for this area, and assess a couple of our preferred PO process automation platforms: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.
To begin, let us talk about what purchase order automation is and how it works.
What is Purchase Order Automation?
Automated purchase order platforms utilize business software integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and robotic process automation (RPA) technology to automate the purchase order process.
Via automation, purchase requests can be generated in a few seconds using pre-formatted layouts, and transmitting functionality can deliver authorizations straight to the supply chain vendor when the approval workflow is complete.
This removes any need for physical involvement, record filing processes, and makes the operation smoother and more manageable.
The Purchase Order Process
Though the purchase order process can look slightly different from business to business, the following offers a good example of a typical, manual purchase order process.
Step 1: The first step is purchase order creation.
Step 2: Then another team member will evaluate and approve/reject the purchase order.
Step 3: Following that, the purchase order must be sent to the contractor.
Step 4: Once filled, the company will then obtain its service or product.
Step 5: The vendor invoice will thereafter be received by the firm.
Step 6: The invoice will need to be examined and confirmed, and payment is released to the supplier.
Step 7: Then the final step of the purchasing process is to archive or file the associated records to create an audit trail.
This might not seem like a great deal of steps, but for this workflow to operate normally, all parties from your AP staff, to sales reps, merchants, and managers, must all deliver accurate, timely responses. Most organizations can attest that this is grueling.
There are many advantages to automating this process, which we will explore in the following chapter.
The Benefits of an Automated Purchase Order Process
There are many advantages to adopting purchase order automation solutions for your organization. These include:
Lower Costs
Time Saved from Physical Tasks
Real-Time Visibility Into Operations
A Faster, More Efficient Procurement Method
Decreased Human Error
Better Utilization of Human Resources
Now that we have established what purchase order automation is, the aspects of the process that could be automated, and the advantages of purchase order software, let’s now talk about two of our preferred automation tools, Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.
SharePoint vs OpenText
SharePoint Overview
SharePoint is an enterprise content management software (ECM) that in its base form, is a tool for handling, collaborating on, and distributing material.
However, with the addition of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can quickly adapt SharePoint’s capabilities to include automation to most of your AP procedures.
Pros
Fantastic UX/UI
Minimal learning curve for new users
Metadata search optimizes searchability
Cons
No native data imaging or capture feature
Weak at fulfilling compliance standards in some sectors
SharePoint Online is not designed to meet Enterprise ECM requirements
OpenText Overview
OpenText is similarly an ECM platform but offers advanced add-ons that empower firms to automate processes, enhance business operations, and reduce the risk related to administration and intellectual property.
Pros
A better option for companies that must adhere to strict regulations
Robust 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 professional tuning to ensure it fulfills business needs
Can get costly for corporate features and add-ons
SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Comparison
How Wave Can Assist You in Implementing Purchase Order Automation in Jacksonville
The truth is hand-operated processes in your accounting framework basically slow your organization down, create hindrances and process headaches, and sooner or later hurt your progress and adaptability.
Extended billing cycles can also result in higher expenses associated with purchase order management and invoice processing, impede your insight and control, and can add strain to your merchant relationships.
At Wave, we can help you to streamline your accounts payable processes completely, including procurement, data entry, purchase orders, payments, approval process, invoicing, and even document storage tools.
We work closely with Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Netsuite, Oracle, in addition to ERP and ECM solutions like those we have mentioned in this article and also MFiles, Oracle, Xerox, and many others.
We can help you deploy your accounts payable automation solution on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid concept depending on your business rules, budget, and compliance requirements.
To learn more, contact us today for a free consultation.