Expense management technology suppliers including Concur,
IBM and Databasics in August announced a wide variety of deals with vendors
across the travel spectrum to improve data delivery and management, while
expense supplier CyberShift turned its attention to outsourced service needs.
Concur early in August announced an agreement with Marriott
International in which Concur Travel & Expense users can receive folio data
and electronic receipts directly into their expense reports, as well as several
upgrades and new agreements related to its mobile expense and travel management
platform.
Marriott now will provide data from all properties in the
United States and Canada under the Marriott, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton,
Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn,
TownePlace Suites and Marriott Vacation Club brands. Select properties in
Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America also will provide data.
"We now have basically the last major chain in Concur
Connect," said Mike Hilton, Concur's executive vice president of worldwide
marketing.
Additionally, Concur announced the release of the next
generation of its mobile platform, which includes support for Android phones
and Apple iPads. Other new functions include the ability to capture corporate
card charges and import them into expense reports, booking capabilities for
Amtrak and a new user interface for improved navigation and usability.
The platform also can connect with third-party mobile tools,
including flight status updates from OAG, taxi booking and payment from Taxi
Magic and airport information from GateGuru.
"We've done a major uplift from the first set of
capabilities to have a whole new level of mobile solutions," according to
Hilton. "Some of this we'll deliver ourselves and some we'll deliver
through partners."
At the same time, Concur announced new distribution
agreements with several travel management companies to offer Concur mobile
tools to clients. The TMCs also will integrate itineraries with Concur's mobile
platform.
New travel management company participants include Adelman
Travel Systems, Atlas Travel International, Azumano Travel Service, Fox World
Travel, The Travel Authority, Travel and Transport, Travel Destination
Management Group, Travel Incorporated, World Travel Service and World Travel.
Expense management supplier CyberShift, meanwhile, launched
a selection of outsourced services to handle administrative tasks associated
with the expense reporting process.
Outsourced services include auditing of expense reports,
payment services to corporate card suppliers and travelers, receipt handling,
end-user support and system administration support.
Craig Fearon, CyberShift's senior product director for
expense applications, said the services were designed with small companies in
mind, many of which have expense managers who are facing increasing job loads
because of workforce reductions.
"It's a fairly big swing in the marketplace,"
Fearon said. "People are saying they want us to do more of the tasks, that
they want to have their cake and eat it too and for us to take the fork."
Fearon said CyberShift's outsourced offerings are billed by
time used and carry no minimum-use requirements.
BMO Financial Group announced an alliance with IBM to supply
automatic card data feeds into IBM's Global Expense Reporting System.
BMO now will feed expense data from both BMO and Diners Club
corporate cards, both of which operate on MasterCard's network, directly into
IBM's tool, cutting the time needed to fill out expense reports. Terry
Wellesley, executive managing director and group head of BMO Spend &
Payment Solutions, said the agreement will boost BMO's ability to handle global
expense management needs, as IBM's tool is deployed in more than 85 countries
and can support 35 languages and country-specific tax rules.
"Our approach has always been to listen to customers
and tailor solutions to meet their immediate and long-term needs,"
according to Wellesley. "That means freedom to choose from an array of
best-in-class solutions."
The agreement includes discount pricing on IBM's expense
tool for BMO and Diners Club clients.
Expense management technology supplier Databasics last month
announced integration with Cornerstone Information Systems IBank data
management platform.
The integration will allow expense managers with multiple
travel providers to funnel booked data from multiple booking tools into their
expense reporting systems.
"Organizations today have to be extremely agile to
adapt to the acceleration of change," according to Databasics CEO Alan
Tyson. "As a result, vendors need to supply the tools and services
required to help enterprises respond rapidly and precisely to emerging
challenges, tearing down obstacles, instead of adding restrictions with
proprietary, one-size-fits-all systems."
ExpenseWatch.com, which targets small and midsize companies,
and TripIt, meanwhile, announced an integration in which ExpenseWatch.com users
can flow TripIt itinerary information into their expense reports to create a
master itinerary into their expense reports. Approvers can then reconcile
booked data against expensed items and corporate card transactions.
This report originally
appeared in the Sept. 6, 2010, issue of Business Travel News.