One year into the pandemic, ASEAN enterprises have shown resiliency and swift adaptability to uncharted territory, leveraging technology. As an example, a commendable roster of finalists in the 2021 SAP Concur Innovation Awards came from the Asia Pacific region, proving that despite unprecedented challenges, businesses in the region continue to champion innovation to help them survive and thrive in the post-pandemic world.

As organisations progress in navigating the new world of work while tackling the evolving challenges of COVID-19, SAP and Oxford Economics survey offers actionable information that enterprises in Southeast Asia can take into account as they strategise for growth. Titled “Digital, resilient, and experience-driven: How enterprises in Southeast Asia can prepare for the new economy”, the regional study revealed significant challenges and growth opportunities in key business areas of enterprises, both large and SMEs.

Succeeding in the New Economy

SAP Southeast Asia President and Managing Director Verena Siow, who was appointed at the height of the fight against the coronavirus in September 2020, shared that Southeast Asian businesses are now at a crucial transformative point to achieve long-term competitive growth. She said:

“Regardless of industry, businesses must embrace true business transformation into intelligent enterprises while keeping in mind that customers are the lifeline to survival and sustainable growth.” 

“In an ever-increasing digital economy, the enterprises that thrive are those that adapt the quickest. There is a strong need to shift mindsets while constantly seeking new ways of working and redesigning processes,” Siow added.

Growth Drivers

• Customer Experience. The SAP study revealed that 35{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of participants agreed that customer experience, specifically service excellence, is now their primary source of value and differentiation. Personalisation (59{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), high-quality products and/or services (55{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), data protection and privacy (53{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) and competitive pricing (51{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) are the key factors in creating positive customer experiences that are crucial for business growth and success.

• Automation and Digital Technologies. Respondents said that automation and digital technologies help companies achieve business objectives such as increasing process efficiency and reducing error, risk, and cost (56{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), reducing overhead costs (45{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), allowing employees to focus on higher-level business tasks (39{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and increasing productivity through transformation and intelligent process automation (37{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

• Skilled workforce. Many enterprises in the region recognise the importance of engaging the workforce to be successful in a fast-growing digital economy. Businesses expect moderate growth in employee productivity (74{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), customer loyalty and satisfaction (71{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), market share (71{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) over the next three years.

Internal and External Challenges

• Changing Marketplace. 40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of SMEs and 29{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of larger enterprises surveyed stated that adapting to a rapidly changing marketplace remains a challenge.

• Evolving Customer Behaviors. 38{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of SMEs and 43{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the larger enterprise said that they find it difficult to keep up with changing customer wants and needs as well as retain customers or drive repeat business (34{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} vs. 30{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

• Competing and Scaling for Growth. 50{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} said they have difficulty competing with larger organisations and scaling for growth (33{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), especially with the lack of a capable and motivated workforce (40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22})

• Upskilling Talent. 1 in 3 enterprises surveyed shared that upskilling internal talent is their top internal challenge with 29{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} facing an inability to gain insights into the employee.

• Lack of Visibility. Concerning technology, 43{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} said they lack an analytics solution and 38{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} stated lack of data that hinders their visibility over operations.

ASEAN enterprises’ flexibility and agility, as proven in the recent past, will be paramount to their success in the new digital economy. SAP continues to support organisations as they equip and compete in an environment that continues to be impacted by the pandemic.

“Flexibility is a crucial ingredient of success today and through our new RISE with SAP initiative, we are confident customers will get the flexibility required to accelerate the speed of digital transformation and excel in the diverse environment they operate in – wherever they are on the digitalisation spectrum.” Siow highlighted.

The post SAP Studies ASEAN Enterprises’ Success in the New Economy appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Karl Farhbach, SAP Chief Partner Officer responsible for SAP’s indirect channel worldwide, shared in his article how the software giant is strengthening SAP partnerships for the next normal. He highlighted the new IDC research on the SAP partner ecosystem, which demonstrated how SAP leverages its strong business technology platform in supporting partnership expansion in the Intelligent Enterprise. IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world’s leading tech media, data and marketing services company.

Sharing some highlights of the study, Fahrbach said:

“Among the key takeaways: revenue expanding to $260 billion by 2024 — nearly doubling this year’s total — and job growth increasing from 1 million to 1.6 million workers by 2024.”

Role of Technology in the Future of Enterprise

Almost a year of surviving in the time of the pandemic, many businesses have accelerated digital adoption to thrive and equip for the next normal. Aside from recognising the role of technology in the future of businesses, the study conducted by IDC also focused on the SAP partner ecosystem’s response to the evolving new normal, stressing the role of technology as the transformation enabler for enterprise recovery.

According to IDC, the Future Enterprise is an organisation that is completely digitally transformed.

“Digital transformation is obviously accelerating at an exponential rate in response to work-from-home initiatives. Companies naturally seek the flexibility of cloud-based solutions. Those that have already started their digital transformation journeys are better prepared for resilience. Others find themselves in catch-up mode,” Fahrbach stated.

The 2024 forecast of $260 billion revenue is underpinned and driven by SAP Cloud growth, which will outpace revenue from on-premise deployments. Fahrbach stressed that it is a pivotal opportunity for SAP partners to be able to achieve the bottom-line in a remarkable time of need.

A Promising Future

IDC also reported on the impact of SAP ecosystem expansion on jobs. Based on the IDC ecosystem modeling, the SAP ecosystem employs 1 million workers in 2020. By 2024, with IDC’s forecasted growth of SAP revenue, the SAP ecosystem is anticipated to employ 1.6 million workers. 

The accelerated workforce growth is attributed, mostly, to over 280,000 net new consultant roles that will be created within 2020-2024. Furthermore, extrapolating total worker roles into hours worked, the SAP ecosystem opportunity will equate to over one billion billable hours between now and 2024.

SAP’s commitment to supporting partnership expansion in the Intelligent Enterprise through technology was evident in the IDC study. Recognising that the pandemic challenges are far from over, SAP has laid out new offerings to enable customer success.

The LACE (Land, Adopt, Consume, Expand) operating model as a go-to-market strategy is one of SAP’s new initiatives for partners. At the recently concluded virtual event SAP MaxAttention Summit, SAP Executive Board member and Customer Success lead Adaire Fox-Martin also shared about the LACE operating model, which is being adopted by some 40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of SAP’s workforce.

Other new initiatives for SAP partners mentioned by Fahrbach include shared partner demos as a free, integrated environment for customers and learning journey support and learning content on SAP Learning Hub. 

“By helping customers to truly become intelligent enterprises, all SAP partners are ultimately primed to prevail.” Fahrbach shared.

The post IDC Studies Role of Technology in the Future of Enterprise appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

As businesses slowly ease into the new normal, including creating marketing strategies and roadmaps for the future of commerce, Qualtrics’ recent survey on consumer behavior during the pandemic in the Philippines and Singapore gives organisations critical insights on the pulse of the market in these changing times.

The recent Qualtrics study relates to the last study conducted by Qualtrics in May 2020, which outlines the biggest drivers of brand trust following the COVID-19 pandemic and how consumers want to be engaged. In Qualtrics’ latest study, the actions brands are taking continue to have a significant impact on consumers regardless of the changes in restrictions due to the pandemic.

Lisa Khatri, Research and Brand Experience Lead for Qualtrics in APJ said:

“Being able to identify, understand, and respond to rapidly changing expectations is business-critical during the pandemic, and long after it. The fact that preferences toward the message and the medium have changed and yet the importance of actions remains hugely important reveals brands cannot afford to stand still in how they engage consumers. 

As we move forward through the pandemic preferences and attitudes will continue to shift. This is why it is hugely important businesses use technology like Qualtrics to have an “always on pulse” of consumer sentiment and behavior tracking. Insights delivered by Qualtrics help identify the lead indicators businesses need to design and deliver the brand communications and experiences people want, and which ultimately cultivate the trust needed to succeed.” 

In this article, we will take a look at how the consumer behaviors, preferences, and expectations from brands they engage with shifted during the first 6 months of the pandemic in the Philippines and Singapore.

The Philippines Consumer Pulse

95{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the Philippines consumers said that brand actions impact trust in the time of a crisis. The drivers of the brand trust are consistent with May 2020 Qualtrics’ research and these are:

• (41{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) Not taking advantage of a crisis to maximise profits remains the most important 
• (40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) Maintaining reasonable pricing
• Taking care of customers (34{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) and employees (23{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22})

A Shift in Communication and Engagement Platforms

The survey revealed a significant shift in communication preferences, messages, and engagement platforms in the Philippines.

The top brand communications people expect today are updates on the brand’s response to the pandemic and messages on safety and hygiene protocols. Information into products and services is down one place to the third most desired message, (50{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}). Sales and promotion emails (45{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) and information on reward programs are next in the consumers’ preferences.

Facebook (84{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) remains the most popular engagement platform followed by online media (63{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), email (56{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and TV advertising (51{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

Singapore Consumer Pulse

In the city-state, more than 90{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of consumers agreed that during a crisis brand actions impact trust. Similar to Singapore’s response in May 2020 and comparable the to Philippines’ consumer response, the drivers of the brand trust in the country are:

• (40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) Not taking advantage of a crisis to maximise profits remains the most important 
• (37{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) Maintaining reasonable pricing 
• Taking care of customers (32{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) and employees (27{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22})

A Shift in Communication and Engagement Platforms

The top message that Singaporeans expect from brands today is sales and promotion via emails (52{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), which has shown an 11{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} increase from May 2020. The other messages that make up the top 5 messages consumers want are information into products and services (47{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), safety and hygiene protocols (43{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and reward programs (41{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

As for the preferred engagement platform, Singaporeans are increasingly choosing email (60{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), followed by Facebook (47{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and Whatsapp (45{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}). The study revealed that consumers are moving away from traditional broadcast (19{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) and online media (38{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), which showed a significant drop versus last May.

*Qualtrics surveyed 328 Singaporeans and 328 Filipinos (aged 18-65) in early September 2020.

The post Qualtrics Surveys Consumer Behavior During a Pandemic in PH and SG appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

India has been one of the frontrunners in digital technology advancement in the Asia Pacific region, even surpassing more mature and emerging economies. As the digital consumers in the country grow exponentially, Indian businesses’ digital adoption, particularly the finance and administrative function, needs catching up according to recent studies. 

In July, an SAP Concur study revealed that only 11{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of Indian organisations have implemented end-to-end digital finance and administrative processes despite the impending need to eliminate the tedious manual processes. This study reflects the most recent survey conducted by EY and SAP India, which showed the Indian enterprises’ digital readiness to comply with the new provisions of Tax Collected at Source (TCS).

New TCS Provisions in Effect

On October 1, the expansion of the scope for the Tax Collected at Source (TCS) provisions, under the Income Tax Act, has taken full effect. The Finance Act, 2020 has amended the provisions relating to TCS to provide that a seller of goods shall collect tax at the rate of 0.1 per cent (0.075 per cent up to March 31, 2021) if the receipt of sale consideration from a buyer exceeds Rs 50 lakh in the financial year.

The EY and SAP India survey uncovered that Indian companies are not completely equipped to handle the various tax implications of the TCS provisions. Conducted early September 2020, the survey involved over 110 corporate businesses across India to assess their readiness to implement the new provisions on the tax and technology capability of their organisations in addressing the concerns on compliances, validations, and reconciliations with various reporting requirements.

Key Findings

Aside from complying with the new TCS regime, the EY and SAP India study revealed that organisations are anticipating significant challenges on reconciliations, data, systems, processes, and tax audit readiness. 

• 85{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the respondents shared that their current tax function framework is not completely ready to accommodate the requirements to be able to comply with the new TCS provisions
• 80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the respondents foresee issues around applicability and updating systems and processes as a significant challenge in complying with the new provisions
• 81{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} expects an increase in manual intervention for their tax teams in reconciling data and ensuring accuracy due to TCS compliances
• 65{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the respondents shared that their IT systems need updating for the new TCS regime, which also means that organisations will have to seek alternatives
• 65{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} admitted that their organisations require a digital solution to automate the entire TCS compliance and reporting life cycle
• 70{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the respondents revealed that the automated TCS platform should go beyond basic compliance by assisting in proactive reconciliations, data preparation for tax assessments, and tax credits matching

Supporting Tax Transformation

Today, more than ever, the tax and finance function of Indian organisations need to embrace digital adoption to align with the Government’s thrust on technology in ensuring tax compliances and undertaking tax risk assessments.

“Given the intent of TCS provisions, leading organisations are looking for digital solutions which help to not just comply, but also proactively perform reconciliations from a tax audit readiness and internal audit perspective,” said Rahul Patni, Digital Tax Leader at EY India.

Specific to the need for an intelligent, intuitive, and integrated digital fabric to support TCS compliance, EY has developed an automated solution called ‘DigiTCS’ powered by SAP’s Business Technology Platform. Hosted on SAP Cloud Platform, DigiTCS is scalable, secure, modular, and integrated with customer’s SAP ERP.

Anand Raisinghani, Vice President, Platforms and Technologies, SAP India said:

“Our customers need to stay compliant with the evolving regulatory tax framework. As SAP is the financial system of record for majority of Indian enterprises, we responded swiftly to ensure required provisions form part of our solution offering.

Together with EY, we deliver DigiTCS — a comprehensive solution powered by SAP Business Technology Platform. With this, we will empower companies to adapt to the new Tax regime providing them ease of deployment, security, and no disruption to their existing process and business.”

DigiTCS is another result of EY and SAP India’s innovative collaboration that would help Indian organisations in their tax transformation journey.

The post EY and SAP India Study New Provisions on Tax and Technology Adoption appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

In the past months, SAP has been conducting several kinds of research in partnership with credible research companies to help organisations around the globe get a better perspective of the impact of COVID-19 and help them prepare in the new world of work. For instance, SAP and Oxford Economics conducted a global survey on the digital maturity of SMEs and SAP Concur commissioned a study with Asia Insight about the finance transformation in APAC.

For the business travel segment, SAP Concur has released new research on the impact of the pandemic, new measures, and business travellers’ expectations from their companies. In partnership with Wakefield Research, the survey was conducted in May-June 2020 in 23 markets, including the Asia Pacific region. 

The Business Travel Survey

The report stated that despite the extreme changes and challenges in travel today, travelling remains irreplaceable in fulfilling critical business demands. As travel is anticipated to resume soon, it is expected though that the health and safety of travellers alongside stricter policies and trip preparation will be the absolute priority. 

In this article, we focus on the response of the 1,750 business travellers surveyed in the Asia Pacific region.

Dr. Carl Jones, Vice President and Head of Travel for the Asia Pacific and Greater China at SAP Concur, shared: 

“In this new normal, emerging expectations around health and safety requires the travel industry to adapt, innovate, and transform. We believe that only with such support can employees confidently resume travel, continue to deliver on work commitments, and service customers as they did before Covid-19.”

On Handling the Change

About 48{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the business travellers in APAC said that the actual trip is the most stressful part, an increase in last year’s 31{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}. 21{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} said that they find the preparation for a trip as the most stressful part while 31{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} shared they felt more stressed after a trip.

On Health and Safety

Concerning health and safety while travelling for business, more than two in five respondents said it is their utmost priority. Meanwhile, 17{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of business travellers still believe that attending to business needs should be their top priority.

91{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of businesses travellers in APAC had unequivocal concerns on travel resuming. The three countries in the region that had the majority of respondents place personal health and safety as a priority are China (57{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), Malaysia (55{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and Taiwan (53{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

Globally, 96{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} identified at least one measure they consider to be critical for their company to implement when travel resumes. These are mandatory personal health screenings for traveling employees (39{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), limiting business travel to only the most business-critical trips (39{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and easier access to personal protective equipment like gloves or facemasks (33{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

On Company Accountability

When business travel resumes, business travellers expect their companies to be accountable for ensuring their health and safety. To boost morale and confidence of business travellers, organisations are expected to endorse only approved and safe airlines and hotels; properly communicate changing ground situations; and provide accessible 24/7 assistance.

Helping the Business Travel Community

Aside from this survey that can help organisations strategise for their employees’ business trips, SAP Concur also recently launched a Traveler Resource Center in TripIt, which is a collection of resources including public health and safety advisories, cancellation policies and new travel guidelines to aid business travellers safely plan their next trip.

To further support the business travel segment, SAP Concur will hold the SAP Concur Travel Industry Summit on 17 September 2020. The one-day complimentary virtual event is designed to encourage cross-industry, government, and business community dialogue in addressing the current and future needs of business travel.

The post SAP Concur Studies Business Travel in the Asia Pacific appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

The small, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia Pacific comprise over 90{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of all businesses, employing about 60-80{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the workforce. Through the years, the SMEs have shown unprecedented growth and contribution in the region’s healthy macro-economic environment. However, the recent economic climate due to the coronavirus has challenged the sector’s capability to adapt to the rapid market changes and seek new opportunities to remain resilient and sustainable. 

The recently published Oxford Economics global research in collaboration with SAP centres on the SMEs’ digital maturity and their response to the pandemic, including remote work arrangements, technology adoption, supply chain management, and new product development and service offerings. 

Research Methodology

The SAP and Oxford Economics survey covered 19 countries across various industries with 42{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} respondents from APAC, 30{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} from Europe, and 28{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} from the Americas. 

The 2,000 senior executives surveyed are from across functions such as operations (18{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), management (17{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), finance (13{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), technology (11{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), sales (10{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), human resources (9{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), marketing (8{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), legal/risk (7{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and customer service (7{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}). The survey reported organisations under $1 billion in revenue and countries, except for India, with employees fewer than 1,000. Companies surveyed in India have between 1,000 and 2,000.

The study was conducted between 27th February and 30th April 2020 and researchers added a section on the COVID-19 impact mid-fieldwork, which garnered responses from 240 SMEs in APAC, 174 from Europe, and 92 from the Americas.

In this article, we highlight the responses and data gathered from the surveyed countries in the APAC region– Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines Singapore, and South Korea.

Digital Adoption

39{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the 832 respondents from APAC have made moderate progress towards digital transformation. 21{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of small and midsized organizations have made substantial progress or completely transformed while 19{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} expect to have completely transformed within three years.

Claus Andresen, Senior Vice-President and Head of General Business (SME) and Emerging Markets Growth for APAC and Japan at SAP said:

“Today’s new normal requires businesses to pivot and adapt with speed. SMEs in the region seem to understand that the sense of urgency to digitally transform their businesses will give them an advantage through the pandemic and beyond.”

“With the adoption of an intelligent enterprise strategy, SMEs can establish a digital core that will power the entire organisation, embedding data-driven insights and decision-making processes across the business,” he further explained.

SMEs in APAC have made the most progress in technology adoption in the field of HR and talent management at 66{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}, governance and cybersecurity at 63{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}, and finance and risk management at 59{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}.

69{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of APAC respondents shared that their organisations have made IT investments, almost at par with the Americas and Europe’s at 72{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} and 68{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}, respectively. In Singapore, 73{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the respondents reported that IT and collaboration solutions, including investments on remote access and/or online learning, are their organisations’ top priorities.

Remote Work Adjustment

77{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of APAC SMEs said they have adjusted remote work arrangements for employees in response to COVID-19 as compared to Europe and Americas’ numbers, which are at 75{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} and 71{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}, respectively.

The Philippines garnered the highest adoption of remote working at 89{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}. India and Singapore reported that 73{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of businesses have adjusted to such arrangements, falling behind South Korea, Japan, and China.

Customer Management and Service Offerings

66{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of APAC SMEs are exploring new ways to reach customers, a little bit higher than in the Americas (65{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) and in Europe (59{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}). In Singapore, 68{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of SMEs are also expanding their customer reach.

In terms of new product development and offerings, APAC (46{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) SMEs are ahead of the Americas (40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}) but a bit behind Europe (49{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

Edward Cone, editorial director of thought leadership and technology practice lead at Oxford Economics shared:

“SMEs across the region – like their counterparts around the world – have certain advantages over larger competitors in terms of agility and closeness to the customer.”

SMEs’ Challenges

The Oxford Economics study also shared the internal challenges of APAC SMEs such as upskilling and reskilling their current workforce (30{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), lack of coordination between departments (29{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and inability to gain insights from data (29{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

As for the external factors, the survey reported companies’ concerns on changing customer wants and needs (40{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), competition from larger organisations (39{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}), and adapting to a rapidly changing marketplace (27{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}).

The SAP and Oxford Economics study has concluded that small, medium-sized enterprises in the Americas, APAC, and Europe are balancing short-term problem-solving with longer-term, more strategic initiatives. These initiatives include sustained customer and employee satisfaction as well as investment in innovative technology to accelerate digital transformation. 

The post SAP, Oxford Economics Study Digital Maturity of Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

Entitled “Finance in the New World of Work”, the SAP Concur commissioned whitepaper is designed to equip finance and HR leaders with new knowledge as the impact of COVID in businesses unfold. 12 APAC countries were surveyed including Singapore, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines, to evaluate employee expectations and identify gaps in organisations’ expense management, business travel, and remote work processes.

Though many organisations have already established some semblance of normalcy, structure, and functionality from remote working, the finance and administrative processes remain challenged in terms of digitalisation. 

The study conducted by Asia Insight showed that across the region, 38{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of respondents said they still submit expenses manually and 49{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} revealed they are less than satisfied with their organisation’s expense claim process. The study revealed the potential economic backlash of inefficient finance and administrative processes across the Asia Pacific that could amount to a whopping US$21.5 billion.

In this article, we look into the two countries surveyed, India and Singapore, and delve into how organisations in these countries have embraced finance transformation through the past months.

How’s India in the New Era

In the survey, 69{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of Indian employees expressed that remote working have increased their productivity, the highest in the region in comparison to Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand. Though the country’s response to remote working is a positive indicator of large-scale acceptance of the new work standards, the finance and administrative departments of organisations in India are lagging in terms of transitioning to and adopting digital processes.

The whitepaper showed that only 11{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of Indian organisations have implemented end-to-end digital finance and administrative processes despite the need to eliminate the tedious manual processes. 36 {aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of mid-large sized companies are still using manual processes for submitting business expenses.

Using the International Labour Organization (ILO) statistics on output per worker and the number of information workers as well as the study’s results, Asia Insight derived that saving 10{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of the time spent on filing and approving claims would translate to US$2.25 billion of potential GDP revenue gain for India each year. For mid to large-sized organisations, tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars can be saved over the same period. This is under the assumption that all the lost hours are diverted to productive work.

Mankiran Chowhan, Managing Director – Indian Subcontinent, SAP Concur, shared his insights on the study. He said:

“2020 is proving to be a turning point for companies in terms of managing employee experience and productivity. While employees working remotely are being supported digitally in many areas, there still exists a major gap in digital adoption for crucial yet often overlooked finance and administrative processes.”

“Owing to this, employees have to devote significant time for menial tasks that could otherwise be used for productive, business value-added work. Bringing in digital transformation for expense claims or invoice processing can have a huge multiplier effect on business and cost control and at the same time provide the operational agility needed for business continuity,” he stressed.

The study also revealed the inadequate support for modern payment methods in Indian organisations wherein 39{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of respondents expressed they want their expense management software to integrate with external apps to enable added functionality like reimbursement of payments made through super apps (umbrella apps containing other apps). A staggering 79{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of Indian employees strongly link their overall finance and administrative experience with their overall satisfaction of working for their organisations.

Have Singapore Adopted Digital Finance

Over in city-state Singapore, the organisations’ finance department reflects much like India’s during this pandemic.

The SAP Concur commissioned study has revealed that Singaporean businesses are losing US$340 million (S$473 million) annually to inefficiencies and manual processes despite the widespread adoption of remote working and digital transformation.

In the survey, 33{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of local employees stated that they still submit expenses manually by filling out a form and enclosing physical receipts. 50{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of Singaporean respondents expressed their discontent with their organisation’s expense claims processes. 38{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} shared their desire for their company’s expense management software to integrate with external applications and support more functionalities.

61{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of employees strongly link their overall finance and administrative experience with the satisfaction of working for their organisations. The report stated that with this data, Singaporean companies might be at risk of losing talent if they fail to adopt digital platforms and technology to modernise their finance and administrative processes.

Now that we are on the second leg of 2020, finance and HR leaders in APAC may utilise the powerful data from this recent SAP Concur report as they further draw their strategies on finance to end the year strong.

The post Asia Insight Studies Finance Transformation in India and Singapore appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

In this report, you’ll learn:

• The information, analytics and enabling technology capabilities of AP top performers
• The skills, training and automation technology that best enable workers at top-performing companies
• How top performing companies use technology to enable organization and governance, service partnering and service design
• A checklist of service delivery objectives for maturing as an AP organization

Approaching the future with flexibility and maintaining a competitive edge requires a comprehensive approach to AP-focused P2P automation. Use this report to develop your future-proof strategy.

Not what you were looking for? Try The Outperformer’s Guide to Total Financial Process Domination!

The post A Checklist for Developing a Future-Proof AP Organization appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

In today’s ever-increasing digital landscape and rapidly evolving business climate, automating the accounts payable processes has become a necessity in consideration of the accounts payable’s highly-essential business function in an organisation. Accounts payable, which was once perceived as a traditional and transactional back-office function, is now also known to provide intelligence for business-critical finance data.

The shift on accounts payable’s perception has led Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON), an online news source for global business services executives and business leaders, to study the leading trends and the key role of technology in the AP’s ability to optimise cash flow. In this white paper, the Australian and New Zealand market was analysed.

Creating New Opportunities Through Automation

Aside from leveraging new skills within AP teams, closer collaboration with procurement, and communication throughout the business, the shift in AP’s strategic mindset has put more emphasis on deploying the right accounts payable automation solution. Automating AP enables visibility into the business-critical data for improved financial control, spend visibility, and cost-saving potential. 

The whitepaper has revealed the key benefits of providing the right end-to-end accounts payable automation solution in an organisation’s over-all operational efficiency. These are:

Analytics for better decision-making

Needless to say, automation frees up the AP teams from the manual transactional work and leaves them more time on accomplishing more strategic tasks. Furthermore, AP automation solutions’ cognitive capture and analytics capabilities deliver business value for better decision-making. The intelligent technology provides real-time, accurate, and immediately useful information to help effectively manage working capital. 

Accurate data for increased efficiency

In the SSON research, only 24 percent of respondents have a fully automated invoice processing solution that includes optical character recognition (OCR) in place. The opportunity is in capturing the most comprehensive information and validating it upfront to reduce invoice processing costs and ensure the data required for analytics and insights are available for future use. 

With the appropriate AP automation solution, data extraction from invoices, no matter how complex or how invoices enter the organisation, will be optimised. Only when data are complete and accurate will automation be effective in increasing AP’s efficiency.

RPA for gapless automation

Robotic process automation (RPA) allows organisations to create truly seamless automation with its capability to fill in manual gaps between process steps and systems. RPA that sits on top of an organisation’s existing technology complements core systems like SAP and non-disruptive for day-to-day business. Together with an AP automation solution, RPA becomes an affordable option to automate recurring processes, eliminate data entry errors, and cut the processing time. 

Capabilities for a seamless SAP integration 

According to SSON, one of the key attributes of a comprehensive AP automation solution is the capability to integrate with an ERP. Critical AP automation solution components such as RPA, multichannel capture, best practice workflows, end-to-end analytics capabilities, supplier portals, and cloud-based services boost SAP system’s value by providing additional functionality and seamlessly integrating information directly into critical business systems from any location.

Digital Platform for improved customer engagement

With only three percent of supplier queries dealt on an online portal as uncovered by SSON, there is a loss in opportunity for the organisation. In today’s digitally-savvy population, businesses are expected to interact with its customers including suppliers, partners and even internal customers through a convenient digital platform. Integrated self-service supplier portals have dramatically improved vendor relationships by simply offering transparency and convenience.

The New AP Mindset Applied

Koppens Developments, a civil construction and development specialist in North Queensland, Australia has applied some of the key points uncovered by SSON on the AP perception shift. The company tapped Kofax, a California-based automation software provider known for its RPA solution, to modernise and digitise its end-to-end invoicing lifecycle. Specifically, Kofax TotalAgility was chosen to digitise invoices and automate workflows for the construction firm.

Kofax TotalAgility is a digital transformation platform that accelerates high-value customer journeys such as new customer onboarding, claim processing, loan automation, citizen service provision, and supplier management among many others.

Business Solutions Manager Jarrad Koppen shared:

“We currently process up to 14,000 invoices every year and have a team of three people handling it all. In the past, our staff relied on largely manual methods to manage invoice processing. As we grew, we recognized that such an approach was quickly becoming unsustainable.”

“Turnaround times were slower than we would like—putting us at risk of failing to pay suppliers on time. What’s more, the sheer volume of work made it challenging for us to gain fine-grained insight into costs and payments; insight that we need to ensure that we do not overrun our budget for a given project,” he detailed.

With Kofax TotalAgility, Koppen Developments has now automated end-to-end invoice processing, significantly cutting the processing time of a single invoice from one hour or more to just three minutes. Koppens explained that with faster invoicing, the company could take on more work in AP without increasing headcount, which consequently helps make the business more profitable.

Project Manager Martin Wojcicki added how the Kofax solution has enabled Koppens to gain deeper insight into its AP data helping the company sharpen cost control to keep projects on budget. He said:

“With Kofax TotalAgility our team can capture much richer detail from invoices, right down to line item level, which is something they simply could not do in the past. We use this invoice data in conjunction with information such as purchase orders and actuals to feed our business intelligence engine, which gives us a much more holistic view of project costs. Now that we have this insight, we can make decisions based on real evidence rather than best guesses.”

The Koppen Developments’ success story with Kofax is just one example of how automating the AP processes goes over and above eliminating manual tasks. With the right accounts payable automation solution, AP can substantially contribute to an organisation’s overall success through better cash flow management, improved operational efficiency, and as an intelligence hub for when creating critical business strategies.

The post SSON Whitepaper: A Shift Towards Accounts Payable Automation Solution appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

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