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

Given today’s competitive landscape, companies of all sizes must find ways to boost productivity and efficiency, while lowering costs wherever necessary.

A great place to start is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you could streamline tedious and laborious processes, lessen the load on your team members, and upgrade your workflows by adding productivity and boosting reliability.

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

In this article, we’ll focus on purchase order automation - how it works, why automation is a great fit for this area, and evaluate two of our favorite PO process automation software: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To begin, let us talk about what purchase order automation is and how it functions.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

With automation, purchase requisitions can be generated in a few clicks from pre-formatted templates, and transmitting capability can send authorizations directly to the supply chain contractor once the approval workflow is finished.

This eliminates any need for physical interference, record filing systems, and makes the process smoother and more controllable.

The Purchase Order Process

Although the purchase order process can differ slightly from one organization to the next, the following offers an excellent example of a conventional, hand-operated purchase order system.

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

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

Step 3: After that, the purchase order should be forwarded to the merchant.

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

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

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

Step 7: The last step of the purchasing process is to file or archive the related documents to generate an audit trail.

This may not seem like a lot of steps, but for this workflow to operate normally, all parties from your AP staff, to sales reps, suppliers, and executives, must all provide precise, timely responses. Several companies can confirm that this is way harder than it sounds.

There are numerous advantages to automating these steps, which we will review in the following chapter.

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order System

There are numerous benefits to utilizing purchase order automation tools for your company. These include:

• Reduced Expenses

• Time Saved from Physical Processes

• Real-Time Visibility Into Operations

• A Quicker, More Optimized Procurement Procedure

• Lessened Human Error

• Better Use of Human Resources

So, now that we’ve established what purchase order automation is, the aspects of the procedure that can be automated, and the benefits of purchase order software, let’s now take a closer look at two of our preferred 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 publishing material.

Regardless, with the addition of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can simply adapt SharePoint’s features to incorporate automation to most of your AP procedures.

Pros

• Superb UX/UI

• Minimal learning curve for new users

• Metadata search improves searchability

Cons

• No native data capture or imaging functionality

• Struggles at fulfilling compliance standards in a few sectors

• SharePoint Online is not made to meet Corporate ECM requirements

OpenText Overview

OpenText is similarly an ECM platform but includes powerful add-ons that empower companies to automate tasks, enhance business operations, and decrease the risk associated with administration and intellectual property.

Pros

• A superior alternative for business with a high level of compliance

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

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

Cons

• Complicated UX/UI

• Often requires professional tuning to guarantee that it fulfills business requirements

• Can be expensive for enterprise capabilities and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Diagram

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

The fact is that manual workflows in your accounting framework basically slow your business down, create hindrances and process inefficiencies, and ultimately hurt your development and flexibility.

Prolonged billing cycles can also lead to greater costs associated with purchase order management and invoice processing, impede your transparency and control, and can damage your vendor connections.

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

We work with SAP, Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, as well as ERP and ECM tools like the ones we’ve discussed in this article and also Xerox, MFiles, Oracle, and many others.

We can assist you in implementing your AP automation solution on-site, in the cloud, or in a hybrid framework depending on your organizational regulations, budget, and compliance guidelines.

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