SAP’s $8.3-billion purchase of Concur earlier this month is expected to boost the corporation’s cloud-based solutions offerings while expanding the Bellevue-based travel and business expense management company’s global reach.

Concur will continue to operate independently, but as an SAP business unit, said Robson Grieve, executive vice president of worldwide global marketing for Concur, adding the company is looking for growth advantages through the software giant’s network.

“I think they bought a team and a product that works in a little different way and that they want to nurture,” Grieve said.

Concur will be integrated into SAP’s cloud-based product suite that includes Ariba and Fieldglass software for managing purchasing and labor, respectively, said Tim Minahan, chief marketing officer of SAP Cloud. SAP’s subscribers now have a travel and expense solution through the business optimization network.

“I think the whole idea of our objective to help companies run a simple operating philosophy is at the core of what Concur has been doing in the travel and demand space for many years,” Minahan said.

Most of Concur’s subscribers are based in the United States, but Minahan said SAP’s global network operates in 190 countries, where the software can reach broader distribution channels with deeper localization capabilities.

“It’s not an overnight journey; it’s a multiyear journey, but it is one I believe SAP is situated to deliver on,” Minahan said.

Grieve said Concur has no plans to drop any of its current initiatives, nor does it believe the various business and technology solution companies it has invested in over the past several years need to fit into one system.

“The investments that we’ve made, I think we’ve done very well on those financially and also they’ve been a great source of connectivity to the industry,” he said.

Concur announced during its acquisition process in November that no employees would lose their jobs as a result, and Grieve said the company now has “fairly aggressive hiring plans” for the next 12 months in Bellevue and abroad.

“We will be hiring in Bellevue, for sure,” Grieve said. “Our commitment here is ongoing and our headquarters at Concur is here, and we definitely want to keep growing.”