The airline worked has worked with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on its largest-ever IT transformation project. In the latest phase of this program, the airline’s core mission-critical data centre infrastructure and applications were migrated to a hybrid-cloud model operating 80 per cent on Microsoft Azure and 20 per cent on a private cloud.

The project makes Malaysia Airlines the world’s first full-service airlines to completely replace its existing data centres and adopt full-scale cloud solutions for its entire range of nearly 200 applications.

As primary service partner, TCS collaborated with Microsoft, SAP, and other vendors to ensure Malaysia Airlines’ current phase of digital evolution is seamless, cost-efficient, and delivered without business disruption. The project stop included re-platforming of legacy application for cloud compatibility and network service provisioning for large and complex airline operations.

“We set out with an ambitious goal to digitally transform core IT operations to an as-a-service model, to achieve a quantum leap in cost savings, scalability, efficiencies, agility, and other key factors. TCS has been an integral component of our success in our shift to cloud, serving as trusted partner throughout the journey,” said Tan Kok Meng, chief information officer, Malaysia Airlines.

The project has achieved significant results, including a 51 per cent cost reduction (forecast over a five-year period) from mid-2016, productivity improvements up to 80 per cent for core applications, application delivery times accelerated from days to hours in some cases, and enhanced security and compliance capability and reporting.

TCS Asia-Pacific president Girish Ramachndran said, “This industry-first transformation not just drives improved value and enhanced operational efficiencies, but equally important, it enables Malaysia Airlines to deliver a better customer experience that results from a digitally-reimagined all-cloud IT model.”

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Rising fuel prices, an uncertain business environment and competition are driving Cathay Pacific to optimise its operations, replacing legacy systems with new technology.

The airline is working with Capgemini to deploy S/4HANA, customised for the aviation industry. The program, titled ‘Horizon8’, will see a large suite of SAP modules implemented across four tracks:
•    Source-to-Pay,
•    Flight-to-Settle,
•    Finance-to-Manage, and
•    Budget-to-Monitor.

The Flight-to-Settle track incorporates a new application from SAP, Flight Order, which will help Cathay Pacific with cost collection and flight profitability analysis. Budget-to-Monitor will enable driver-based planning and budgeting, as well as location of indirect operating costs.

The program aims to give the company a better view of its operational costs, including various categories of direct and indirect costs, support strategic sourcing and better negotiation with suppliers, and provide extensive business analytics for decision-making.

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According to a McKinsey report commissioned by the Singapore Tourism Board, Asia is the largest market and epicentre for business travel in the world, with low cost carriers taking a growing market share of business travel in the region. In Asia, low cost carriers comprised 29 per cent of all business travel expenditure on flights – the most penetrated region in the world.

“Our collaboration with AirAsia Group, by far the largest low cost carrier grouping in Asia, will provide our customers with a great cost saving window on their travel budgets. Concur’s easy-to-use business travel and expense management software solution helps businesses save time, money and gain control,” said Nick Evered, senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific, Concur.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Concur, who will play a key role in our corporate sales strategy. Through Concur Travel, we will offer both our regular content, as well as exclusive corporate content to those who have a direct corporate agreement with AirAsia. As companies continue to manage their travel budgets in the challenging economic times, we look forward to supporting Concur’s customers in budgeting their employee travel costs,” said Barry Klipp, group head of corporate sales, AirAsia.

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As well as what SAP says the most comprehensive travel and expense data set in the industry, the solution also includes an option for 24/7 monitoring services to communicate with and assist employees, from pre-travel guidance to emergency safety information.

Concur Risk Messaging will capture traveller location data via Concur Travel & Expense, Concur Mobile, Concur TripLink, TripIt from Concur, and supplier e-receipts, which will provide travel managers with immediate visibility into employees that may be at risk. Concur Active Monitoring, powered by HX Global, will offer 24/7 monitoring, proactive communication capabilities, and assistance coordination.

Additional features include the ability to issue pre-travel advisories; two-way messaging via text, email, phone and Concur Mobile; traveller location mapping and reporting; incident analysis and reporting; and custom message and alert creation.

In 2016, Concur issues more than 10 million alerts notifying business travellers of potential risks in locations they were visiting. The number of Concur users who received alerts also increased by 770 per cent, from 151,000 users in January 2016 to 1.3 million users in December 2016.

“With global uncertainties and business travel on the rise, Concur has a strong sense of responsibility for our employees and customers around the world,” said Mike Eberhard, president of Concur.

“From civil unrest to natural disasters and terrorist attacks, businesses need to be sure they know where their employees are and direct them to safety as quickly as possible. Our data set extends beyond traditionally booked travel itineraries, maximising visibility and empowering businesses to take action in these situations. During recent global incidents, Concur was able to locate employees in affected areas within an hour.”

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A 13-year veteran of Concur, Eberhard has been promoted from his previous position of president of global distribution.

“We are delighted to have Mike step into this role and it’s a natural progression of his career at Concur. His passion for serving our customers, deep experience leading global innovation and expansion, and ability to foster a positive culture for his teams are hallmarks of his leadership,” said Steve Singh, chief executive officer, Concur, and member of the executive board of SAP SE.

Eberhart takes over as president from Elena Donio, who had held the role since 2014 and is leaving the company for another senior executive position. During her 18-year tenure with Concur, Donio “has played an integral role in helping lead the organisation through some of its most significant milestones – from its transformation into a cloud company to growing Concur’s small business offerings”, a statement by the company said.

Eberhard is charged with leading the company through its next chapter of growth and SAP integration. Since joining Concur in 2003, he has held a series of executive roles, including as executive vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific, and executive vice president, worldwide sales and business development.

“I am extremely honoured to accept this new role and am committed to further enhance our customer experience in an environment that is complex and constantly changing while continuing to deliver travel and expense innovations to our customers around the world,” said Eberhard.

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The solution aims to equip the industry to deal with drastic changes in the way consumers research and purchase travel.

“Today’s travellers increasingly use digital channels to research, buy, use and share travel experiences. They expect a seamless experience throughout their travel journey and across all touchpoint – offline and online,” said Brian Walker, chief strategy officer, SAP Hybris.

“Today’s travel companies need a solution that powers that, and SAP Hybris accelerators provide the industry-specific data model and core functionality needed for customers to deploy their travel industry projects, and – as in the case of the new commerce solution for travel – retail-like travel merchandising capabilities that meet contemporary travel business demands and help them grow their business,” Walker said.

The solution helps travel providers use real-time information to offer personalised customer experiences and to reinforce customer loyalty, by integrating digital and physical customer touchpoints into one platform.

Hoteliers, airlines, cruise and rail operators, car rental services and tour operators are all potential customers for the solution.

For example, airlines can integrate external content from partners like hotels, car rentals, insurance, ground transportation, events and activities with a single view of customer bookings, create packaged offers and bundled products by customer segment and through different channels such as mobile apps, kiosks and airport sales desks, and integrate existing back-office and revenue accounting.

Industry-specific accelerators for SAP Hybris Commerce are already available for telecommunications, financial services and media.

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The acquisition, which is expected to close in October 2016, will  help Concur deliver consumer-grade products to its corporate customers.

“Six years ago, our vision was to take the agony out of travel and travel planning,” said Adam Goldstein, co-founder and CEO of Hipmunk. “This combination means we can do an even better job for frequent travellers, in both their leisure and business travel.”

Concur has an ongoing strategy of partnering with, investing in, acquiring or building consumer apps, such as TripIt, ExpenseIt and ClearTrip.

Hipmunk was the first travel website and mobile app to sort travel results not only by price, but factors important to travellers such as duration, stops and hotel location. Its calendar integration and hotel map search allow business travellers to easily see the best hotel and flight options based on meeting times and locations. Hipmunk is also a leader in artificial intelligence-powered travel search and travel bots.

Elena Donio, president of Concur, said the company was excited to welcome Hipmunk to the SAP family.

“Concur has always strived to provide the best experience for travellers on our platform and we’re confident Hipmunk will continue to delight consumers while informing the innovation agenda for our corporate clients,” said Donio.

Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research, said the deal brings together two tech companies known for their innovation and creativity.

“The travel landscape continues to evolve with the pace of technology, a new generation of travellers, and a fluctuating global economy – factors that have a profound impact on how consumer and business travellers behave,” said Harteveldt. “This acquisition positions Concur and Hipmunk well to remain both market leaders and disruptors, furthermore, helping them stay ahead of the trend for a more personalised experience in both leisure and business travel.”

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Last week, Didi Chuxing bought the Chinese business from fierce competitor Uber for US$7 billion. The new business is now valued at approximately US$35 billion.

The integration with Concur allows Didi Chuxing users to connect their account with Concur, select their trip type and begin booking rides. Once they arrive at their destination, an e-receipt will be automatically sent to the linked Concur account, where they can directly manage ride expenses and submit for reimbursements.

“China is the third largest international market when it comes to Concur business traveler spend, and we’re seeing a dramatic increase in Didi Chuxing usage which is contributing to that spend,” said Mike Eberhard , president of global distribution at Concur. “This integration not only simplifies the expense reporting process for the growing number of Concur users booking rides with Didi, but also helps travel managers and administrators effortlessly keep track of employee spend.”

“Didi Chuxing Enterprise has a systematic and data-driven ride hailing and management service in China , while Concur is the leader in enterprise travel and expenses management. This partnership will increase the international recognition of Didi Chuxing’s convenient and efficient transportation solutions and enhance Concur users’ travel experience,” said Derek Du, vice president and general manager of enterprise business unit at Didi Chuxing.

Didi Chuxing is available from the Concur App Center.

Concur recently signed an exclusive partnership with Uber to make it easier for business travellers to claim expenses when using Uber.

The post Concur signs with Chinese ridesharing giant appeared first on InsideSAP Asia.

As the first partnership of its kind, Concur customers will have access to Uber for Business features for free, as well as automated employee onboarding, policy controls, savings performance and exclusive trip summary dashboards.

Concur and Uber believe the partnership will help companies reduce their ground transportation spend by allowing users to more easily access affordable ridesharing options. Once accounts are connected, all business trips taken with Uber will be sent to Concur to enable automated expense report population for travellers, savings insights and policy controls.

“Our average enterprise customer expenses almost $1 million in ground transportation annually and about 7 percent of that is with Uber today. By shifting more spend to Uber, these companies stand to save hundreds of thousands of dollars” said Elena Donio, president of Concur. “We’ve seen almost 230 percent growth in Uber transactions in the past year, and with this integration, we expect to see that growth accelerate as we help companies leverage the benefits of Uber as part of their travel program.”

The integration will be launched in Q4 2016 through the Concur App Center.

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Air Asia, Asia Pacific’s largest low-cost carrier, needed an integrated solution to reduce the complexity and costs of manually submitting employee travel expenses.

“We needed something that would provide a quick one-stop solution as the travel expense claims were being managed across six locations in nine subsidiaries independently. Concur’s solution was offered and we were impressed by its ability to tightly integrate our systems,” said Naresh Alagan, CEO, AirAsia Global Shared Services.

To meet the needs of the carrier, Concur is implementing its Travel and Expense solution with the Policy Audit, Travel Allowance and VAT Configuration modules on cloud for AirAsia.

The implementation is expected to be completed by early July, and when complete, will allow users to raise close to 100 per cent of travel approvals, claims and hotel bookings. This will allow up to 10 people across the AirAsia Group to be assigned to more value-adding duties.

“This ability to raise travel approvals, make and pay for hotels and claim expenses all through a single app is a revolution from our current, outdated manual process. The future addition of flight bookings for employees will complete the value chain, reflecting innovative cross-collaboration opportunities when these benefits are available to all Concur clients,” said Alagan.

“We wanted to help AirAsia employees spend as little time as possible on less value-added activities such as managing duty travel and more on growing the business,” he said.

“SAP is proud to support our local carrier, AirAsia which is recognised and applauded internationally, with cloud solutions from Concur to enable them to meet their key objectives of cost reduction, employee satisfaction and easier access to duty travel,” said Terrence Yong, managing director, SAP Malaysia.

“The aviation market here is facing intense competition form international carriers and pressure from aviation regulations for higher integration and efficiencies. Once implemented, this objective for AirAsia would be met.”

Concur serves over 32,000 customers and 32 million users globally.

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