SAP Concur Refresh: The Transformative Power of a Net-New SAP Concur Site

Why Refresh?

The average lifespan of a smartphone is 2.58 years. Consumers choose to replace their smartphone not because their phone is entirely dysfunctional, but because (1) deteriorating performance due to low battery capacity and slower response timing and (2) a desire for new features and functionality available only on a new device with improved hardware and software.

Similar to a smartphone, an organization’s instance of SAP Concur can become outdated, its performance deteriorated, and the maintenance of the site can become a significant burden on the system administration team. Further, a complex design and configuration can be a challenge to scale with an organization’s growth. Choosing to Refresh to a new SAP Concur instance will allow your organization to resolve performance issues and gain access to the latest features and enhancements that streamline your expense process, empowering your employees to focus on what truly matters – driving your business forward.

Are You a Good Fit for a Refresh?

Here are five questions your organization should ask to help you know if there are potential opportunities for an SAP Concur Refresh. If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, this article will help you understand how to make your SAP Concur Refresh a success.

Was your SAP Concur site setup more than 5 years ago? Many new features released by SAP Concur, that make the site easier for both the end user and the system administrator, are only available on a new site.

Does your company grow through M&A? The transition time surrounding a merger or acquisition can also be good timing to consider a new site; the organization is looking for consolidation opportunities, and there may be transition budget available.

Does your current SAP Concur site have a complex configuration? As an organization “over uses” the data model that contains elements that are no longer used, the ability to maintain the site and scale can be a real challenge.

Are you limited in the availability of custom fields? Historical configuration has tied up custom fields and is preventing your organization from scaling to new business areas and/or new markets.

Is the complexity of your data model preventing enhanced reporting? The cross-use of fields in the system is making it difficult to extract useful data for reports and dashboards.

A refresh of your SAP Concur site is recommended if your organization is looking to address the following areas:

• New, free services
• New add-on features
• Holistic redesign
• Comprehensive system clean-up

Related: Taking Advantage of Best-in-Class T&E Infrastructure: SAP Concur Re-Platform

New Features, New Opportunities

A new site comes with new features, and also provides an opportunity to consider adding new SAP Concur services that have been introduced in recent years.

New, Free Services on New Sites

• Auto-updates to per diem rates via Travel Allowance Service (intro 2020)
• Auto-updates to Car Mileage rates (intro 2022)
• Exchange Rate integration with central banks for applicable countries (intro 2022)
• SAE V4 with more available fields (intro 2021)

Introduce New Services

• Enhanced ability to identify fraud with Verify (intro 2021)
• Outsource VAT reclamation with Tax Assurance (intro 2020)
• In-system end-user training with User Assistant by WalkMe (intro 2021)
• Receipt Digitization for Spain, Portugal, France (intro 2019)

Holistic Redesign

• Consolidated list of Expense Types based on best practices
• Review and clean-up of Audit Rules
• Optimize Custom Field usage for future scalability
• Simplify entering employees as Attendees

System Clean-up

• Retire unused integrations
• Remove unused Ledger and Chart of Account configurations
• Remove outdated or unused custom Cognos reports
• Remove redundant cumulated Attendee profiles created by employees

Next Steps for a Refresh

Acquis will work directly with you and your SAP Concur account team to build the business case for the program, and help articulate the value of a Refresh to your organization’s key stakeholders.

1. Gather Feedback

Identify key stakeholders and gather perspective and feedback on the current state. Discuss and document pain-points and challenges, and explore areas for improvements.

2. Build the Business Case

Collaborate with Acquis and your SAP Concur account team to build a new 3-year Total Cose of Ownership (TCO) that highlights the values and savings that come with the Refresh program.

3. Gather Stakeholder Buy-In

Socialize the business case, ensure all key stakeholders are on-board from the Executive team to IT and Finance. Secure resource requirements and budget needs.

4. Review Best Practices

Perform detailed analysis of your configuration, add-ons, policies, processes, and technical landscape. Compare against best practices to develop key considerations and recommendations.

5. Kick-off Your Refresh

Begin with the analysis on current-state and begin designing a future-state system that works for today’s organization. Document that design, gather internal approvals, and move through the remaining deployment phases.

Success Stories

Acquis expertly guided Tennant on a Refresh of their SAP Concur Expense system, leveraging a global model that optimizes user experience and increases scalability for future rollouts.

Read the full case study →

Acquis helped Becton Dickinson (BD) consolidate multiple SAP Concur instances into one net-new SAP Concur System that adheres to a global standard, supports complex requirements, and accommodates local statutory needs.

Read the full case study →

About Acquis

Acquis Consulting Group (Acquis) is a consulting firm specializing in strategy and implementation. We help ambitious organizations solve business challenges that enable sustainable growth and healthy efficiency, and we do this not just by designing strategies, but by putting them to work. Our clients cover all industries, including consumer products, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, technology, financial services, nonprofit, and professional services, and our expertise includes process improvement, program and project management, change management, operational strategy, systems implementation, and analytics and reporting.

SAP Concur and Acquis have partnered to provide the very best experience in end-to-end SAP Concur implementations. Acquis has been assisting clients with SAP Concur implementations since 1998, and we are proud to be the first Certified Implementation Partner for SAP Concur Solutions. We provide the flexibility to mirror SAP Concur implementation methodologies or provide custom approaches and support, uniquely tailored to each client.

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