SAP’s expense management software-as-a-service (SaaS) subsidiary, Concur, has just signed its first reseller deal in Australia as part of its new channel push in the local market.
The new reseller partnership, struck with MicroChannel – a longtime Microsoft and SAP partner with offices around Australia and in several cities in South East Asia – involves a 12-month pilot program during which MicroChannel will sell SAP Concur products directly to its client base.
The vendor claims this is the first time it has partnered with a reseller under this type of program in Australia and New Zealand, and the third partnership of its kind for SAP Concur worldwide.
The new partnership will let end customers fully integrate SAP Concur within their broader enterprise resource planning (ERP) ecosystems.
“SAP Concur’s Australian business has always been focused on driving a strong partner ecosystem,” SAP Concur A/NZ general manager of SMB, Fabian Calle, said. “We have now established our first reseller model with MicroChannel, an SAP Concur Diamond Partner and SAP’s largest Business One partner.
“This is a next step in the evolution of SAP Concur in Australia and New Zealand. Our goal is to drive revenue as well as market share, so the team has been working to find new channels to help support this objective,” he said.
For MicroChannel national sales director, Ben Cook, the new deal will see his company offer seamless integration of SAP Concur with business systems including SAP Business One, Sage 300 and Microsoft Dynamics.
“This means we can offer a more well-rounded solution to our customers so they can lower their cost of doing business,” Cook said.
A spokesperson for SAP Concur told ARN that the company is not looking at recruiting many more partners in 2018, but rather investigating new ways of engaging with partners and deepening its partnerships.
"The key focus for this year is to not only become more relevant but to work deeper and wider in our existing partner base. We are piloting new partner models with the view to these becoming more mainstream in the near future," the spokesperson said.
In October last year, Deloitte’s Australian operation acquired Australian Concur partner, Nesoi, as the consulting firm inked a new alliance deal with the SAP-owned travel, expense and invoice management SaaS firm.
As a result of the transaction, Nesoi director, Mick Lavers, became a Deloitte advisory partner and Nesoi’s other three staff joined Deloitte’s Advisory team in Sydney as directors.
"With Concur recognised as a leader in travel and expense management, we are increasingly being asked by our clients to implement it,” Deloitte advisory partner, Greg Haskins, said a the time.
"The team from Nesoi Solutions brings us deep expertise in Concur configuration and support services and Deloitte is now able to support clients through all aspects of their Concur journey, from business case planning and configuration through to training and change management,” he said.
