The Coronavirus has spread across the world. By now, many of us are painfully aware of the impact this pandemic has caused. Lives have been disrupted and livelihoods lost or at peril. Yet amidst the gloom appear beacons of light.
In the early days of the Movement Control Order (MCO) which was implemented in Malaysia, ride hailing operations were still underway. During this period, operators like Grab stood steadfast amidst the turmoil. They played a critical role in a nation paralyzed by regulations not seen in decades.
Yet how was it that this company not only thrived, but managed to play a key role in moving people around seamlessly? To understand that, we need to understand what exactly Grab does.
Revolutionizing the Transportation System in SEA
In the Southeast Asia region, traffic is one of the biggest challenges that many countries face. The concept of Grab came about with technology as an innovator. Though a new (at the time) business model, Grab aimed to bring a new level of mobility to over 620 million people in the region.
So successful was the model that today Grab has expanded greatly, in terms of both usage as well as scope of services. Aside from ride-hailing, the company now offers carpooling (GrabHitch), food delivery (GrabFood), an eWallet (GrabPay) and even corporate solutions (Grab for Work).
These services now span multiple countries including Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Surely there must have been some secret behind its success.
Aside from their new concept of using technology as a driver behind new business models, Grab still needed to address many things that companies commonly had to deal with. From partner management to accounting and expenses, Grab had to deal with them as all others did.
From Tech to Tech
As a company steeped in technology, Grab turned to other tech companies to support their operations. One of them being SAP, a well-known solutions provider with global strength. SAP helped Grab resolve one of their biggest headaches – expense management.
SAP proposed the use of Concur Expense, a cloud-based solution that optimizes expense management, helping businesses save time and reduce costs. The in-house Grab IT team collaborated with SAP Concur Services for the deployment of Concur Expense, which was completed quickly in three months.
Concur Services also provided complete knowledge transfer and comprehensive documentation for Grab staff to start using the cloud solution to maximum effect very quickly.
Grab also implemented Concur Expense Pay, an add-on service to simplify reimbursements. It would reduce the risk of errors and ensure that employees are paid on time.
Today Grab staff manage their expenses in a more effective way. The partnership not just helped alleviate pain points, but also gave Grab much greater control over their expense management and reporting processes.
To date, the Concur Expense solution has been rolled out to staff in Grab offices across SEA.