SharePoint vs OpenText: The Best Purchase Order Automation Platform in Los Angeles

Given the current competitive marketplace, organizations of varying sizes must discover ways to increase productivity and efficiency, while reducing costs wherever appropriate.

One of the best places to start is with business process automation (BPA). Through BPA, you can expedite monotonous and taxing workflows, ease the stress on your staff, and upgrade your system by adding efficiency and amplifying accuracy.

There are a variety of operations and business units that can benefit from BPA. One of the most frequent adopters are Accounts Payable departments who can utilize 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 an excellent fit for this area, and assess a couple of our preferred PO process automation platforms: 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 platforms employ business software equipped with machine learning (ML), robotic process automation (RPA) technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the purchase order process.

Through automation, purchase requisitions can be generated in a few seconds using pre-formatted templates, and transmitting functionality can send approvals straight to the supply chain dealer once the approval process is finished.

This eliminates the need for physical interference, document filing processes, and makes the operation smoother and more controllable.

The Purchase Order Process

Although the purchase order process can differ slightly from organization to organization, the following provides a great example of a conventional, hand-operated 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: Then, the purchase order must be forwarded to the merchant.

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

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

Step 6: The invoice must be reviewed and approved, and payment is issued to the merchant.

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

This may not seem like a great deal of steps, but to make this workflow to go smoothly, all parties from your AP staff, to sales agents, suppliers, and managers, must all deliver precise, prompt responses. Most firms can testify that this is easier said than done.

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

The Benefits of an Automated Purchase Order Process

There are many benefits to adopting purchase order automation software for your business. These include:

• Lower Costs

• Time Saved from By-Hand Processes

• Real-Time Operational Visibility

• A Faster, More Efficient Purchasing Procedure

• Decreased Human Error

• Improved Human Resource Utilization

So, now that we have reviewed what purchase order automation entails, the parts of the process that can be automated, and the advantages of purchase order software, let’s now take a closer look at two of our preferred automation options, Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

SharePoint is an enterprise content management platform (ECM) that in its base form, is a tool for managing, collaborating on, and publishing material.

However, with the inclusion of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can quickly modify SharePoint’s functionality to enable automation to many of your AP processes.

Pros

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

• Minimal learning curve for new users

• Metadata search optimizes searchability

Cons

• No native data capture or imaging capability

• Struggles at following compliance requirements in some sectors

• SharePoint Online is not designed to meet Enterprise ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is similarly an ECM platform but includes advanced add-ons that allow firms to automate workflows, augment organizational functions, and decrease the risk associated with governance and intellectual property.

Pros

• A superior choice for companies that must adhere to strict regulations

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

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

Cons

• Complicated UX/UI

• Usually requires expert optimization to ensure it meets business requirements

• Can be expensive for corporate functionality and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Table

How Wave Can Assist You in Implementing Purchase Order Automation in Los Angeles

The fact is that manual workflows in your accounting framework simply slow your business down, generate bottlenecks and process issues, and ultimately hurt your growth and adaptability.

Longer than necessary billing cycles can also contribute to higher costs associated with purchase order and invoice processing, reduce your transparency and control, and can disrupt your merchant partnerships.

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

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

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

To learn more, reach out today for a free consultation.