Moving Your T&E Process to the Cloud with SAP Concur Solutions

Naomi Hamlin | 25-08-2020

Moving more processes away from on-premise solutions to the cloud is a good way to keep up with the changes every business faces.

It’s something we explored in a recent webinar with one of our partners, Accenture. Sérgio Brito, Lead of the SAP Travel and Expense Center of Excellence in Accenture Portugal, gave detailed insight on moving from the SAP Travel Management On-Premise solution to SAP Concur solutions.

Listen to the Take your T&E Process to the Cloud with SAP Concur Solutions webinar on-demand now

In the 50 minute webinar, Sérgio gave insight into:

  • General considerations when thinking of a move to a cloud-based solution
  • The lessons he has learned from helping other customers to make the switch
  • The major differences between the solutions and their wider ecosystems
  • Best practice recommendations for the journey to the cloud

General Considerations When Thinking of a Move to a Cloud-Based Solution

The first step is to set the scene and look at the general considerations of moving to SAP Concur solutions. Sérgio highlighted three in particular:

  • There is no loss of process coverage: SAP Concur solutions cover all the key processes covered by SAP Travel Management from trip request to booking to expense report and analytics and more.
  • This is an opportunity to reflect: the journey to the cloud – and to SAP Concur solutions in particular – should be seen as an opportunity to harmonise and simplify your processes.
  • Benefit from out-of-the-box functionality: SAP Concur solutions come complete with a mobile experience and an ecosystem of partner apps that can be integrated to add further functionality.

The Lessons You Can Learn From Others Who’ve Made the Switch

Sérgio commented that customers who have made the move to SAP Concur solutions highlight seven key advantages:

  1. It’s a great opportunity to simplify and standardise processes.
  2. The system is easy to use, which improves the employee experience.
  3. There’s a decrease in manual activities, which improves productivity levels.
  4. A single, fully integrated online tool for travel and expense makes life easier for everyone.
  5. The receipt functionality on the mobile app removes paper from the T&E process.
  6. An embedded auditing approach simplifies and improves compliance.
  7. There are more payment options than just payroll or AP, which opens up opportunities to improve and streamline the way employees are reimbursed.

Despite the advantages, Sérgio also highlighted the importance of starting the transition with your eyes open:

  1. You can’t technically migrate from SAP Travel Management to SAP Concur solutions. This is an implementation project and should be treated as such.
  2. There will be resistance to change but it is important to address concerns because the conversion will make you a more agile organisation with all the benefits that brings.
  3. It is vital to consider people engagement – get all the relevant people on board and manage their expectations on the level of input that will be required from them.
  4. There will be a loss of bespoke automations. However, this is because SAP Concur solutions do more centrally, so they won’t be needed.

The Differences Between the Solutions and Their Wider Ecosystems

In essence, as Sérgio explained, SAP Travel Management and SAP Concur solutions have the same three core modules: trip request, travel booking and expense reporting. The biggest difference, as he sees it, is that the SAP Concur travel booking solution doesn’t require intensive configuration because it delivers native travel as part of the end-to-end offering.

He also pointed out the additional tools that come as part of the SAP Concur landscape, such as Expense Pay, Budget, Concur Invoice and the reporting functionality. Of course, the SAP Concur platform also integrates with other SAP products, often natively.

Aside from these benefits, a huge advantage of SAP Concur solutions is the App Centre. This makes the solutions much more powerful, not least because it helps to make booking business travel much more like booking personal travel, which improves the employee experience.

Best Practice Recommendations for the Journey to the Cloud

Sérgio ended his presentation by offering a route map for the journey to the cloud:

  1. Scope the project.
  2. Standardise and harmonise your processes as much as possible.
  3. Put together a project timeline and methodology.
  4. Pick the right partners to support you on your journey.
  5. Think about the change management aspect.
  6. Bear your end users in mind throughout – respect their time and remember their requirements.

Listen to the Webinar Now. For all these insights and more, register to access the Take your T&E Process to the Cloud with SAP Concur Solutions webinar on-demand now.