10 years of SAP Concur solutions: the success of an open platform

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10 years of SAP Concur solutions: the success of an open platform

In 2011, the SAP Concur offering of client web services was launched. Gave customers access to open APIs via simple web protocols. SAP Concur services could now be seamlessly integrated and extended – specific travel and expense management requirements were met from now on without any complex programming at all.

SAP Concur solutions – one principle, countless possibilities

For 10 years, customers and partners have been able to use APIs to access data and functionality within the SAP Concur product ecosystem and solve many typical challenges, such as. B:

  • Retrieve data from SAP Concur solutions for in-depth reporting services
  • Match or validate data with existing SAP Concur data
  • Post new data to SAP Concur solutions
  • Update existing information in SAP-Concur products to match system data

In 2013, the SAP Concur App Center was born – and with it, the next level of services. This new program allows partners to certify their pre-built solution integrations and extensions. In addition, a hub has been created where they can publish their own applications – for even better visibility into total spend and easier travel and billing.

The innovation continues

Today, more than 75 customer and partner (APIs) are available in the SAP Concur Development Center and more than 250 partner applications are available in the App Center. We continue to evolve our open platform to provide greater flexibility to our customers and partners, while making it easier to integrate, extend, and deliver content beyond the core SAP Concur solutions. But today we don't just want to look back at 10 years of SAP Concur solutions, we also want to introduce our four key areas:

1. Faster integration – across the entire value chain

Our open platform offers features that simplify integration with other software systems. As part of the larger SAP vision, we have enhanced our existing platform to support SAP's new end-to-end intelligent business processes – such as the newly introduced "Travel to Reimburse" scenario.

This scenario provides seamless integration between SAP Concur, SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, and SAP S/4 HANA on-premise solutions. So you can manage end-to-end travel booking processes and spend management, and get automated and integrated travel spend data, no matter where it occurs.

Another way to extend our integration capabilities is our new Financial Integration Service (FIS). Here, customers can establish connections between a downstream financial system and SAP Concur solutions much more easily. This reduces the overall effort and cost of building integrations and avoids the use of flat files and manual data transfers. This allows you to benefit from improved accuracy, transparency, and real-time integration.

For a deeper dive into Financial Integration Service, just listen to this expert session from our SAP-Concur Partner Summit 2021: Financial Integration Service.

2. Simplify the development of your application extensions

We want customers to be able to customize their existing SAP-Concur solutions to their exact needs. That's why we provide tools and services that simplify the development of extensions. An example of this is our new API called Launch External URL. It provides the ability to extend the existing functionality of the SAP Concur user interface and enable the display of a punch-out window. This can be used to perform custom interactions or access functions in an external system.

3. Improve compliance – for easier adherence to policies

To help our customers comply with ever-changing regulations, we provide APIs specifically designed to develop applications to support company-specific, regional or industry compliance processes. Today, we have more than 40 partner applications that deliver risk and compliance solutions out of the box.

4. Expand your business value with our global partner ecosystem

We are continuously working with our partner network to develop even more capabilities. Here's how more and more of our partners' applications can be integrated immediately. We currently have more than 700 partners in two main categories:

  • Platform partners: app centers, financial service providers, and travel suppliers
  • Sales partners: travel management companies, resellers and service partners

Together with our platform partners, we have published more than 250 applications for enterprises and end users, more than 7.000 of our customers use at least one App Center application. Watch this video to learn more about the exciting possibilities of the App Center.

We continue to be on the lookout for innovative companies with compelling integration ideas to help solve the daily challenges for our 60 million business travelers and 48.000 companies worldwide. All our applications are certified for highest quality and security standards.

Four simple steps to joint success

With us, you'll find well-established processes and resources to get started developing solutions or integrating with our SAP Concur Core Solutions. And that's regardless of whether you're a customer or a potential partner.

Step 1: SAP-Concur App Center

First, it's best to browse our App Center for relevant and useful content. Leveraging an existing application, integration, or connection that meets your needs saves you significant time compared to developing from scratch.

Step 2: SAP Concur Development Center

If you can't find an existing app in the App Center that solves your challenge, don't give up. Browse our API reference list for the integration and extension points you need for your solution. Just visit developer.concur.com and browse the "Getting Started Guide" or the API Reference Guide.

Step 3: SAP Concur Web Services

To use our SAP Concur APIs as a customer, you need to license our Web Services. Contact your SAP Concur sales representative or email our Web Services team for more details.

If you don't have your own in-house API integration experts, the SAP Concur team can help by building custom apps for you. Contact your SAP Concur sales representative or call (888) 883-8411 to engage our web services team.

In this brochure and in the video you will get more information about our Web Services.

Step 4: Apply to become a certified App Center partner

Your extensions and integrations can become popular products in our App Center. To apply as a partner, you must meet the following criteria:

  • You have a compelling business case for many customers of SAP Concur solutions and/or their users
  • Your solution is technically feasible via the available APIs
  • You are ready to develop, market and support your integration.

We will work closely with you throughout the certification process. In this session from our SAP Concur Partner Summit 2021, get an expert overview of some best practices for certifying and onboarding your application in the App Center.