Expense management supplier ExpenseWatch.com is partnering with both Travelocity Business and Egencia to link travel booking and approval with expense reporting capabilities.
The Conshohocken, Pa.-based ExpenseWatch.com said both partnerships would target small and midsize corporate travel programs seeking to integrate booking and expense reporting. The moves are the latest entry in the industry push for end-to-end travel and expense solutions, which suppliers have been approaching through partnerships and acquisitions
(BTNonline, Aug. 11, 2008).
The Travelocity partnership, announced today, will allow expense managers to monitor booked travel versus expensed travel on ExpenseWatch.com reports, aided by Travelocity's tools to direct travelers to preferred suppliers and policy adherence.
"We're confident that our integrated solution will bring a compelling, comprehensive option to midsize firms that just now are taking significant steps toward corralling travel spend and maximizing the value of each business trip," Blake Goodwin, Travelocity Business vice president of product marketing, said in a statement.
The Egencia partnership, announced last week, accomplishes a similar end, boosted by Egencia's tools to enforce corporate travel policies, according to the companies. ExpenseWatch.com president and CEO Bill Vergantino said the company will continue to pursue the partnership route rather than merging booking and expense reporting into a single tool to best target companies will small to medium travel budgets.
"Because these organizations are inherently dynamic, they need partnerships with subscription-based solution providers that are non-proprietary, open and flexible to adapt as their needs change," Vergantino said in a statement. "Our open platform will offer the ability to integrate our best-of-breed expense control system with Egencia and our other travel management partner systems for ultimate flexibility."
Expense suppliers Necho and DataBasics also have touted the partnership strategy, while such competitors as Concur and KDS instead have merged the two into a single tool.