SharePoint vs OpenText: The Ultimate Purchase Order Automation Software in Mesa

In the current competitive marketplace, organizations of all shapes and sizes must discover ways to enhance productivity and efficiency, while lowering expenses wherever appropriate.

A great place to begin is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you could expedite monotonous and laborious workflows, reduce the stress on your team members, and upgrade your system by developing productivity and boosting reliability.

There are a variety of operations and business units that could benefit from BPA. Among of the most prevalent adopters are Accounts Payable units who can utilize BPA to automate payroll, invoicing, and purchase order processing.

In this piece, we’ll focus on purchase order automation - how it operates, why automation is an excellent fit for this area, and evaluate a couple 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 solutions utilize business software armed with machine learning (ML), robotic process automation (RPA) technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the purchase order procedure.

Via automation, purchase requests can be produced in a few clicks from pre-formatted templates, and forwarding capability can deliver approvals directly to the supply chain vendor once the approval workflow is done.

This removes any need for human intervention, document filing methods, and makes the operation faster and more controllable.

The Purchase Order Process

Though the purchase order process might look slightly different from one company to the next, the following provides an excellent example of a typical, physical purchase order process.

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

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

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

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

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

Step 6: The invoice should be examined and authorized, and payment is released to the supplier.

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

This may not seem like a great deal of steps, but for this procedure to operate normally, all parties from your AP personnel, to sales reps, merchants, and supervisors, must all provide precise, timely responses. Many businesses can attest that this is grueling.

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

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order Process

There are many advantages to utilizing purchase order automation tools for your organization. These include:

• Lower Costs

• Time Saved from Physical Processes

• Real-Time Insight Into Activities

• A Faster, More Optimized Purchasing Process

• Reduced Human Error

• Better Human Resource Utilization

Now that we have covered what purchase order automation is, the parts of the process that can be automated, and the benefits of purchase order tools, let’s now take a closer look at two of our favorite automation tools, Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

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

Regardless, with the inclusion of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can easily modify SharePoint’s functionality to include automation to most of your AP procedures.

Pros

• Fantastic user experience and interface

• Moderate learning curve for new users

• Metadata search improves searchability

Cons

• No native data capture or imaging functionality

• Weak at fulfilling compliance standards in some sectors

• SharePoint Online is not designed to fulfill Corporate ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is an ECM tool as well, but offers advanced add-ons that empower firms to automate processes, augment organizational functions, and decrease the risk associated with management and intellectual property.

Pros

• An excellent option for companies that must adhere to strict regulations

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

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

Cons

• Complicated UX/UI

• Typically necessitates specialist configuration to guarantee that it fulfills organizational needs

• Can get costly for corporate capabilities and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Analysis

How Wave Can Help You Implement Purchase Order Automation in Mesa

The reality is hand-operated workflows in your accounting system simply slow your company down, cause hindrances and process inefficiencies, and sooner or later hurt your progress and adaptability.

Longer than necessary billing cycles can also lead to greater costs associated with purchase order management and invoice processing, impede your transparency and control, and can add strain to your vendor connections.

At Wave, we can assist you in streamlining your accounts payable (AP) processes end-to-end, including data entry, purchase orders, procurement, approval process, invoicing, payments, and even file storage tools.

We work closely with SAP, Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, and ECM and ERP tools like those we have discussed in this piece and also Oracle, Xerox, MFiles, and many others.

We can help you deploy your accounts payable automation software on-site, in the cloud, or in a hybrid framework depending on your business rules, budget, and compliance requirements.

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