October 2021
Solution Spotlight: SAP Concur Solutions
ERP Tip of the Month: Roadmaps
Meet the Team: Pedro Carrera
SAP Concur Solutions
Public companies and Public Sector Organizations of all sizes have always had to remain on top of their fiscal accountability and responsibility. For many, keeping up has never been as difficult as over the last 18 months. Budgets are tighter, and funding sources are leaner with new categories of spend demanding more resources. What’s more, new ways of working and a dispersed workforce reveal and create critical gaps in the technology and processes of most organizations. Senior executives are often caught flat footed reacting to past events vs. shaping the future.
Replacing and updating disconnected systems and manual steps with a reimagined, automated, integrated, and transparent process can help organizations take control of invoices and expenses and lift the burden of inefficient processes off your team.
SAP Concur solutions can make this possible, by pulling spend data together across fragmented channels and sources to provide full transparency into budgets and expenses. Best yet - many of these solutions can be implemented quickly and affordably.
As you look to revolutionize your AP processes, consider taking advantage of this new digital paradigm with SAP Concur.
For close to 20 years Meridian has helped Commercial and Public Sector organizations maximize their enterprise investments with SAP software. Get in touch with us to learn how SAP Concur could benefit your organization.
Roadmaps
What makes up a roadmap and why do I need one for my ERP system?
A roadmap is a high-level plan that illustrates the future path from today forward over some time period.
As a tool, it can help identify areas that can block or make it difficult to reach goals or opportunities.
A roadmap for an ERP system should start at the current state and chart the path of the ERP system through time. It should highlight some key attributes that can change to help reach those important goals.
Common attributes include:
Landscape (Products, Versions)
Platform architecture (Hosted, Cloud, Hybrid)
Major functional components (Accounting, Human Resources, Payroll, Talent Acquisition, Manufacturing, Inventory, Security, etc.)
The most effective roadmaps can be drilled into to provide more detailed supplemental information on key attributes. These details can explain the roadmap journey to a reader.
Supplemental information can include:
Descriptions
Benefits
Strategic goals it meets
Expected organizational change
Features
High level costs
How often should I update or review?
As a living document, the path of the roadmap over time will be influenced by business strategy and goals, manufacturer software lifecycles, market factors, and other significant potential impacts. At a minimum, it should be reviewed annually, and more frequently if you are in an industry that has a very short innovation cycle or is changing rapidly. We recommend a quarterly review and update with immediate review if there are significant industry changes.
Meridian has extensive experience helping organizations create a personalized roadmap for many ERP ecosystems including, SAP and Workday. Get help building your roadmap.
Each month, we highlight a key team member making a difference for our customers. This month we would like to recognize Pedro Carrera, Vice President of Delivery at Meridian Partners. A Meridian leader passionate about helping customers meet their goals and challenges.
Pedro Carrera responsibilities include the successful execution of our managed service solution and delivery of our project based implementation and support initiatives for both private and public sector clients.
Pedro has over 25 years of international SAP/IT hands-on and leadership experience ranging from financial consultant (FI/CO) to Project Manager, Director and VP.
His experience includes numerous successful “go lives” covering the SAP Financials, Logistics and Human Resource modules (including payroll). He also led SAP upgrades, database migrations, HANA, GRC, BW and BPC implementations and server migration and virtualization.
Pedro's career has included experience as a consultant, project manager and executive roles with Acer Computers Latin America, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Patagon.com, RailAmerica, Inc., Lewis Energy Group and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.
He holds a Bachelors in Accountancy from The George Washington University in Washington D.C. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and various SAP certifications including Certified Integrator for mySAP Public Sector Solution and is always learning and obtaining new certifications to help customers keep up with the latest innovations.
When not at Meridian, Pedro can be found in the mountains of North Carolina or chasing his dog Cookie. If you're fortunate, you may meet Cookie on a Teams call!
Meridian Partners is a minority owned company and SBA-certified 8(a) leader in providing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Business Intelligence, and Budgeting solutions. Meridian helps organizations maximize business processes to be more agile, efficient, and transparent through the optimization of their enterprise systems.