Europe was Concur's fastest-growing region in 2015,
almost doubling its 2014 revenue, according to Concur executive vice president
and EMEA general manager Scott Torrey. Nearly all of that was organic, he said.
While 150 staff have joined from new parent and former competitor SAP,
customers moving across from SAP won't show up on the books until 2016 and
2017.
The first-round integration of the Concur and SAP
expense products is scheduled for the third-quarter of this year, and Torrey
said one of the chief gains will be smoother integration into the wider SAP
enterprise platform.
Until now, Concur has sold chiefly to customers in
the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Benelux, but it is
starting to use existing SAP offices to plant dedicated staff in the Nordics,
United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
SAP ownership also has allowed Concur to sign up
suppliers to TripLink, Concur's program for capturing data on bookings made
through consumer channels. "We are behind in Europe in user participation
but not in supplier cooperation," said Torrey. In particular, "developers
are writing code right now" with several of the key suppliers in SAP's
home market of Germany, including Lufthansa, Sixt, HRS, MyTaxi, Booking.com and
AccorHotels.“When Concur calls a CIO
of supplier.com
and asks, 'Are you interested in talking?' the answer is a more consistent
yes," said Torrey. "SAP has provided even more power behind the belief we can
invest to make this happen."
Concur continues to customize its booking tool
for the European marketplace, as well. Deals to take feeds from two more rail
providers are imminent, and Torrey said Concur is working on incorporating
European airline fare families and setting up a virtual card payment facility.