SAP Industry Cloud Innovation Value Stories with Replicon

Folks in professional services see time tracking as a tedious-but-necessary chore.

Replicon CEO Raj Narayanaswamy and a growing list of his company’s clients in dozens of countries see time tracking as an opportunity to boost revenue, lower costs, improve employee satisfaction, and even kickstart a digital transformation.

Replicon has developed an approach to time management that elevates time to the status of strategic asset. Its SAP industry cloud solution is called SAP Time Tracking for Service Organizations by Replicon. Thousands of customers across 70 countries use Replicon solutions, which enable accurate project time tracking and streamline costing, billing, and pay processes to improve operational efficiency, employee productivity, and profitability.

“Nobody gets up in the morning and says, ‘My purpose in my life is to track time and report data back to my superiors,’” Narayanaswamy says. “But if you think of a professional services organization, time is a fundamental asset. It’s what they track to manage the utilization of employees, revenue, and profitability. It’s all tied to time.”

Narayanaswamy notes five ways companies with the right time-tracking platform can harness time as a strategic asset.

First, the improved usability of a state-of-the art time tracking system, achieved through both the user interface and automated means of harvesting time-related data, makes for more satisfied employees – and satisfied employees make for satisfied customers.

Second, better time tracking makes for less revenue leakage from underreported hours. 

Third, real-time visibility (as opposed to the typical end-of-week or even end-of-month visibility) into employees’ time usage can yield increased utilization – about 5% to 10% increased utilization in the case of Replicon customers, Narayanaswamy says.

Fourth, automated time reporting on a single, global, scalable, cloud-based platform means shorter billing cycles, shorter waits for receivables, and improved cash flow.

Fifth, companies embarking on ambitious digital transformations have found that starting with Replicon’s platform is a great place to start. Replicon’s time-tracking platform on SAP S4/HANA can go live within 12 to 20 weeks, Narayanaswamy says. Because it touches much of the employee base, it’s a highly visible, quick win.

“Replicon’s time-tracking platform is an easy way to get their feet wet and make sure that they get the transformation right,” he says. “We’ve proven that with multiple customers where we are usually the first transformation project that goes in, so they can see the value of it right away.”

The list of benefits doesn’t really end at five. Narayanaswamy cites a bevy of other benefits, among them managing local use cases and compliance around labor laws (Replicon’s solution supports both in about 140 countries), smoothing the payroll process, and improving the accuracy of project management.

Narayanaswamy’s ultimate message is that, despite the historically well-earned reputation of time reporting as a necessary afterthought, doing time management right really does pay off.

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