I can’t believe that we are at the end of January 2021. This year is going faster than ever as we settle back into another lockdown. We are fortunate for sure, in that Esker, and our customers, are able to continue working. It just feels like déjà vu as 2021 is more of the same. My weeks continue to be filled with web meetings and the M40 is certainly a distant memory! Not a bad thing as it certainly feels more productive and the environment is not suffering as my driving has been cut dramatically. Web meetings, whether they be Teams, Zoom or GoToMeetings, remain constant, but there is change at Esker UK.
Following in the footsteps of our colleagues in France, the USA and Italy, our sales team is now focused on either Order-to-Cash solutions (O2C) or Procure-to-Pay (P2P) automation. After a lot of deliberation, I felt that my skills were in the O2C space and that I was best placed to become an ‘Order-to-Cash specialist’. It was a difficult decision for sure, as over the last 14 years, I have helped 100 or so organisations with both their P2P or O2C processes. In fact, I have a number of customers who are in both camps!
Certainly, for the short to medium term, I will continue to work with P2P as I have partners, customers and a number potential customers who are about to begin their P2P journey with Esker. This will change of course as I transition to becoming an O2C specialist full-time. I’m looking forward to working with Esker’s P2P subject matter experts. Their level of expertise will very quickly go beyond my expertise as they focus on a single solution set.
I keep asking myself will this new change be good for Esker’s future customers? The short answer is definitely “yes”. As we add more and more modules to our solutions, Esker employees cannot keep up to speed with so many new features and ever-changing industry trends. 5 years ago, we had Accounts Payable automation and Sales Order Processing automation. At the last count, we now have over 10 O2C solution modules covering collections, allocations, enquiries, management, invoice delivery and order management. And that’s Order-to-Cash alone.
I’m certainly looking forward to 2021 and all of the challenges that it presents.
