RED Sees the Benefits of Embracing the Complete SAP Concur Platform
RED is the largest global staffing agency entirely focused on the SAP ecosystem and has seven offices worldwide. When Luke Braham, Head of Technology Operations at RED, first approached SAP Concur in 2016, he was looking for an automated expense solution to help transform an inefficient process.
He adopted Concur Expense with the future in mind: “We chose Concur Expense because we felt it was the best product out there and provided the best value for money. We also liked the multiple layers we could look into further down the line. The single platform gave a benefit you don’t get with other products.”
It turns out he was right to have had one eye on the future. Concur Expense was quickly followed by Concur Travel and TripLink and then Concur Invoice. In fact, the company has been so impressed by what each SAP Concur solution has been able to deliver that it has now adopted the full SAP Concur platform. This has transformed processes and led to improved productivity, better visibility and considerable cost savings across the business.
Luke is quick to highlight the benefits RED has seen from each of the solutions (as you can read in the full case study) but he says there are several clear overarching benefits from working on a single, easy-to-use platform.
The first is the amount of time that is saved. “Everyone is gaining time,” he says. “Our office managers and PAs are freed up to do the things that are important because they’re not booking travel or sorting expenses for 15 people.”
The single platform means there’s no need to roll out training each time new functionality is implemented because there’s a common user experience across the entire platform. The ease-of-use even extends to the initial implementation. He says: “I really believe that from signing the paperwork you can be live within two weeks. Anybody, in any department, could administer, configure and run the product.”
RED has had multiple insights into spend in all areas of the business, something that has helped it to become more disciplined across the board. He says: “We’ve been relaxed in the past and we needed to be less relaxed. For example, we realised we spent £27,000 with Amazon last year and it was all unapproved. We’ve now moved to a single Amazon Business account. The spend will be approved going forward, which is a big benefit.”
There have been big changes in the way policies are embedded in the business too. “Most companies have formal policies but they’re high-level documents stored on the intranet and aren’t referred to or adhered to. Our policies are now built into SAP Concur and they are very granular and specific so we can be consistent about what is and isn’t allowed and stop policy breaches.”
But alongside the transformational differences SAP Concur has made to RED’s processes, there’s one harder to measure benefit Luke is seeing – the strength of the relationship with the SAP Concur team: “I have been dealing with the same people for a couple of years now. We work very closely together. It’s nice to know I can pick up the phone and get things done. They’re normal people: easy to talk to and happy to help. It feels like a small company that just wants to help and I like that.”
To see all the insights from RED’s implementation of the complete SAP Concur platform, read the full case study: SAP Concur Delivers a Holistic Solution for RED