January 2019 Request Standard Edition Admin Summary
Initial Post
Request
**Ongoing** Email Infrastructure Change - Add IP Addresses to Safe Sender ListSAP Concur is transitioning to a new email infrastructure for outbound email from our services to SAP Concur users. Because of this, companies who filter inbound email based on the sending IP address must add new IP addresses to their Safe Sender list to ensure that their users receive email from SAP Concur.
Initially, the issue described here affected only companies that use Concur Expense. Starting in January, email from other SAP Concur services (such as Travel and Concur Pay) will move to the new email infrastructure.
We will continue to add other services throughout the first quarter of 2019. Please monitor the release notes for more information about the timing of the additional changes.
**Ongoing** Updated Email FormatSAP Concur is in the process of updating the format of all email notifications. These changes will provide a fresher, consistent look-and-feel across all SAP Concur services.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: The intent is to provide a consistent, updated look for users.
IMPORTANT
Note the following:
- Be aware that the email content has not changed – just the look and feel.
- The changes will appear over time. Each product team (Expense, Invoice, Travel, etc.) decides when to use the new format. Timing will be based on resource availability and the priority of other scheduled enhancements.
- Do not expect that all product emails will change at the same time. For example, perhaps Expense approval email will be first, and then other Expense notifications will follow.
- There is no assigned end date to the project. Expect that the changes may take longer than a year.
- Each team will provide release notes when their new emails are scheduled to appear.
The User Input field on the Manage Custom Fields page in Cost Tracking is now read-only regardless of whether the associated custom field has been used. The field's outline has been removed to indicate that it is read-only.
Previously, the User Input field on the Manage Custom Fields page would sometimes allow users to change the field type even though the custom field had been used. Additionally, fields in the User Input column often displayed as editable (field outlined) when they were not.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This update improves usability of custom fields.
Planned Changes
The items in this section are targeted for future releases. Concur reserves the right to postpone implementation of – or completely remove – any enhancement/change mentioned here.
**Planned Changes** Archive Deactivated User DataAs SAP Concur continues to grow, steps must be taken to enhance and improve the performance of our system so that we can meet customer expectations and the needs of their business.
Our overall goal is to significantly improve the performance of SAP Concur services by reducing the amount of data that is stored in our Production datastore. By reducing the data in the Production system, we can use server memory much more efficiently, which reduces processing time for transactions. For this reason, SAP Concur is developing an archive process for users who have been deactivated by their employers for at least three years. The archive process moves this "deactivated" user data from our Production datastore to a separate Reporting datastore.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: Moving deactivated user data will provide faster processing time for transactions. In addition, it provides a more secure environment for inactive user's personal information.
IMPORTANT
We are currently piloting the process and evaluating the results. Our goal is to ensure that customers are not negatively affected, that we have considered all pertinent scenarios, and that the archiving process provides the desired results.
There is no targeted date for the implementation of this new process. We will announce via release notes well ahead of time.
**Planned Changes** New SAP Concur Sign In PageSAP Concur is planning to add a new Sign In page, providing an updated login experience for users who log in with a user name and password credentials. Current Single Sign-On (SSO) users will log in without having to enter additional credentials. This feature is planned for 2019.
The new Sign In page feature includes the following:
- Two-step login: provides enhanced security, meets current industry standards, and provides a better login success rate
- Multi-account login: allows administrators to log in with multiple accounts
- Password hint removal: provides better security for users and SAP Concur
- User avatar: enhances the user experience (planned for a future release)
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature provides better security and a faster, convenient experience for users logging in to SAP Concur products and services.
**Planned Changes** Single Sign-On (SSO) Self-Service Option Coming to ConcurSingle Sign-On allows users to access multiple applications using one set of login credentials. Currently, SAP Concur has two methods for signing in: with a user name and password or using SSO with identity provider (IdP) credentials, such as a user's login credentials for their organization.
SAP Concur is planning to add a Manage Single Sign-On (SSO) feature to Concur which provides Concur clients with a self-service option for setting up SSO for their organization. SSO is currently supported for Concur Expense, Invoice, Request, and Travel.
The new Manage Single Sign-On (SSO) feature will be accessible from the Access To Concur section of Product Settings.
- Single Sign-On can be managed for Standard Travel if it is bundled with Expense, Invoice, and/or Request.
- For standalone Standard Travel, the Manage Single Sign-On feature will be accessible from the Travel Settings page.
Other SAP Concur products and services are outside the scope of this initial release.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature provides Concur clients with a self-service option for setting up SSO.
Client Notifications
SAP Concur Non-Affiliated SubprocessorsThe list of non-affiliated subprocessors is available here: SAP Concur list of Subprocessors (English Only)
Monthly Browser CertificationsMonthly browser certifications, both current and planned, are available with the other SAP Concur monthly release notes, accessible from What's New - Standard Edition
