May 15, 2013
by Dean Bearman
I recently launched an accounts payable automation project for a new customer that also utilizes SAP Solutions. The introduction came through an SAP consulting partner. I wanted to share a few thoughts in regards to this particular challenge and solution that Esker was able to provide.
The Scenario
The business had partnered with one of the usual suspects, in terms of a global SAP implementation and consultancy partner. The customer had operated a manual invoice management process with their legacy system with only basic imaging and archiving, which was provided by a third party.
The Objective
The business’ mission was to implement a best-of-breed invoice imaging and workflow system that would integrate seamlessly with their SAP solution. Their mindset being, “why invest millions of dollars in the world’s best SAP system while maintaining an outmoded, inefficient invoice management process while dealing with vendor invoices?”
The Process
In light of this, the business went out into the market to research and evaluate the top solutions for invoice management that would better help them maximize their investment in SAP. The customer looked at the standard players in the industry who are providing traditional, on premise, license-based solutions. The company also looked at Esker—specializing in cloud-based solutions allowing for no upfront new server or hardware investment.
The Outcome
Very quickly, it became apparent that the customer’s best upfront and long-term alternative was:
- A cloud-based solution with a web-based workflow functioning outside of SAP, working to supplement the data and information within their SAP system.
- Finding a way to eliminate the need for installing servers and building out an infrastructure, which would all work to burden an already overloaded IT department.
- Eliminating the need to invest hundreds of man hours to set up an SAP workflow that would handle the invoice approval process.
What it meant for the Implementation Partner
Let’s be honest – the main goal of any SAP project is to satisfy the client by delivering on time, on budget and minimizing risk. In this case, the AP project was an extra complexity and opting for a cloud model meant less moving parts, a shorter deployment and the ability to deliver the value associated with the P2P initiative without impacting on the timeline of the SAP project.
At the conclusion of these efforts, all fingers pointed to Esker for their cloud-based, SAP certified invoice management system, which was the perfect fit to help this global company to achieve their objectives and maximize their investment made in SAP.
Interested in learning more about automating AP and the many benefits it can bring you? Attend our free upcoming AP Webinar at the end of June 2013, “Accounts Payable: Benchmarking Your KPIs against Top Industry Metrics” which will discuss how relying on key performance indicators is essential to improving your overall AP performance.
Like this:
Like Loading...
