SharePoint vs OpenText: The Best Purchase Order Automation Software in Fort Worth

In the current competitive landscape, organizations of all shapes and sizes must find ways to boost efficiency and productivity, while cutting expenditures wherever possible.

One of the best places to begin is with business process automation (BPA). Via BPA, you could simplify monotonous and laborious tasks, lessen the stress on your colleagues, and improve your processes by adding efficiency and amplifying accuracy.

There are a variety of operations and business units that can take advantage of BPA. Some of the most frequent adopters are Accounts Payable teams who can use BPA to automate purchase order processing, payroll, and invoicing.

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

Through automation, purchase requests can be created in a few clicks from pre-formatted templates, and transmitting capability can send approvals straight to the supply chain contractor when the approval process is finished.

This eliminates any need for manual involvement, record filing processes, and makes the operation smoother and more manageable.

The Purchase Order Process

Though the purchase order process might differ slightly from one company to the next, the following provides a good 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 or reject the purchase order.

Step 3: Then, the purchase order must be forwarded to the contractor.

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

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

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

Step 7: Then the final step of the purchasing procedure is to file or archive the relevant files to generate an audit trail.

This might not seem like a lot of steps, but in order for this procedure to run efficiently, all participants from your AP team members, to sales agents, vendors, and supervisors, must all provide accurate, timely responses. Many organizations can testify that this is easier said than done.

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

The Advantages of an Automated Purchase Order System

There are several benefits to adopting purchase order automation solutions for your business. These include:

• Cost Savings

• Time Saved from Manual Tasks

• Real-Time Operational Visibility

• A Quicker, More Optimized Purchasing Process

• Decreased Human Error

• Better Utilization of Human Resources

So, now that we have established what purchase order automation entails, the elements of the process that could be automated, and the gains of purchase order tools, let us 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 platform (ECM) that in its base form, is a tool for monitoring, collaborating on, and distributing material.

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

Pros

• Superb UX/UI

• Minimal learning curve for new users

• Metadata search optimizes searchability

Cons

• No local data imaging or capture feature

• Struggles at fulfilling compliance standards in some sectors

• SharePoint Online not equipped to fulfill Enterprise ECM needs

OpenText Overview

OpenText is similarly an ECM platform but provides powerful add-ons that empower firms to automate tasks, improve business activities, and decrease the risk connected to governance and intellectual property.

Pros

• A superior alternative for compliance-heavy organizations

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

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

Cons

• Complex UX/UI

• Typically necessitates expert optimization to ensure it satisfies organizational needs

• Can be pricey for enterprise functionality and add-ons

SharePoint & OpenText Pricing & Features Table

How Wave Can Help You Implement Purchase Order Automation in Fort Worth

The reality is physical processes in your accounting framework just slow your organization down, create logjams and process inefficiencies, and consequently hurt your progress and scalability.

Longer than necessary billing cycles can also result in higher costs associated with purchase order management and invoice processing, impede your transparency and control, and can damage your supplier connections.

At Wave, we can assist you in streamlining your accounts payable processes thoroughly, including purchase orders, procurement, data entry, approval process, invoicing, payments, and even file storage solutions.

We collaborate with Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle, and ERP and ECM tools like the ones we’ve discussed in this post and also Xerox, MFiles, Oracle, and more.

We can assist you in implementing your accounts payable automation software on-site, in the cloud, or in a hybrid model based on your business regulations, budget, and compliance requirements.

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