SharePoint vs OpenText: The Ultimate Purchase Order Automation Platform in Jersey City

In the current competitive marketplace, businesses of varying sizes must develop ways to enhance efficiency and productivity, while reducing expenses wherever possible.

One of the best places to start is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you can expedite repetitive and time-consuming workflows, ease the stress on your staff, and upgrade your workflows by developing productivity and amplifying reliability.

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

In this post, we’re taking a closer look at purchase order automation - how it operates, why automation is a perfect solution for this area, and evaluate two of our preferred PO process automation platforms: Microsoft SharePoint and OpenText.

To begin, let’s talk about what purchase order automation is and how it works.

What is Purchase Order Automation?

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

Through automation, purchase requisitions can be produced in a few seconds using pre-formatted layouts, and transmitting capability can deliver authorizations straight to the supply chain vendor after the approval process is finished.

This removes any need for physical involvement, document filing processes, and makes the operation faster and more controllable.

The Purchase Order Process

Though the purchase order process may differ from company to company, the following provides a great example of a standard, by-hand purchase order process.

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

Step 2: Then another staff member will review 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 organization will then obtain its product or service.

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

Step 6: The invoice should be reviewed and confirmed, and payment is released to the merchant.

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

This might not seem like a lot of steps, but to make this process to go smoothly, all parties from your AP team members, to sales agents, suppliers, and supervisors, must all deliver accurate, prompt responses. Most firms can attest that this is way harder than it sounds.

There are many advantages to automating this procedure, which we’ll explore in the next section.

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order System

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

• Reduced Expenses

• Time Saved from Physical Processes

• Real-Time Operational Visibility

• A Quicker, More Efficient Purchasing Procedure

• Lessened Manual Error

• Greater Human Resource Utilization

Now that we’ve established what purchase order automation is, the parts of the process that can be automated, and the advantages of purchase order solutions, let’s now go over two of our favorite automation tools, OpenText and Microsoft SharePoint.

SharePoint vs OpenText

SharePoint Overview

SharePoint is an enterprise content management platform (ECM) that, at its core, is a tool for monitoring, collaborating on, and sharing material.

Having said that, with the integration of Microsoft PowerApps Power Automate, you can quickly customize SharePoint’s capabilities to incorporate automation to most of your AP operations.

Pros

• Fantastic UX/UI

• Minimal learning curve for new users

• Metadata search adds improved searchability

Cons

• No local information capture or imaging functionality

• Struggles at fulfilling compliance guidelines in a few sectors

• SharePoint Online not equipped to fulfill Corporate ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is similarly an ECM platform but provides advanced add-ons that allow businesses to automate workflows, enhance organizational functions, and lower the risk associated with management and intellectual property.

Pros

• An excellent choice for compliance-heavy organizations

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

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

Cons

• Complicated UX/UI

• Usually requires expert configuration to guarantee that it satisfies organizational needs

• Can be pricey for enterprise capabilities and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Comparison

How Wave Can Assist You in Implementing Purchase Order Automation in Jersey City

The truth is manual processes in your accounting system basically slow your company down, generate logjams and process issues, and sooner or later hurt your growth and adaptability.

Longer than necessary billing cycles can also contribute to higher expenses associated with purchase order management and invoice processing, reduce your visibility and control, and can damage your merchant connections.

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

We work closely with Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, and ECM and ERP solutions like those we’ve mentioned in this article and also Oracle, Xerox, MFiles, and much more.

We can help you deploy your accounts payable automation solution locally, in the cloud, or in a hybrid concept contingent on your business regulations, budget, and compliance requirements.

To discover more, connect with us right now for a free consultation.