Concur Sees Earnings Shortfall, Layoffs

By TECHTALK / June 25, 2000

Concur Sees Earnings Shortfall, Layoffs

Concur Sees Earnings Shortfall, Layoffs

Concur Technologies on June 8 laid off 68 employees, or 13 percent of its total, to cut costs as it reduces near-term revenues by focusing on its application services provider business rather than its licensing business. ASP solutions "generate a multi-year recurring revenue stream over the life of the customer contract, but provide no up-front license fees," the company reported. Concur's ASP customer base grew to more than 150 from 60 in the past six months. The company said results for its fiscal quarter ending June 30 will fail to meet analysts' early June expectations of a 70 cents per share loss. Concur also hired Stephen Yount as the new executive vice president of operations and CFO.

RJ Reynolds Seeks Rollout of CTO

RJ Reynolds in Winston-Salem, N.C., is one of four beta testers on the new GetThere.com-powered booking system, called Corporate Travel Online, announced earlier this month by American Express (BTN, June 26). RJR travel manager Linda Beaver was on the verge of rolling out the American Express Interactive product when word of CTO came along, prompting her to hold off and see what new functionality CTO offered. One issue, in particular, led her to choose CTO for a beta: "On domestic flights over a certain time period--two hours for vice presidents--travelers can go first class," she said. "But in some situations, another leg of the trip is only coach. CTO allows mixed classes, while AXI had to be all one or the other." Echoing the concerns of a number of AXI clients, Beaver also was uncomfortable with "the longevity of the product as far as the support." Recently, five travelers participated in a conference call test of CTO on a generic site. Beaver hopes to get a beta site ready this week, complete with company policies, and then to expand the test with a rollout target of late summer. "I've been very impressed with it," Beaver said, "and am looking forward to seeing the reporting piece."

Sato Debuts New Data Tool

SatoTravel on June 26 unveiled a new online analytics tool, called InfoInsight, that provides a "state-of-the-art business intelligence application that extracts valuable insight from travel management data," the company said. Developed jointly with Vienna, Va.-based MicroStrategy Inc., the software pulls up data using Sato's back-office reporting system. MicroStrategy specializes in Internet-enabled one-to-one marketing and customer relationship management.

Extensity releases upgrade, adds Clients

Extensity Inc. earlier this month made available the latest version of its Workforce Optimization Suite for business travel, expense reporting, e-procurement and time and billing. The new version extends international support for global customers, new deployment options "for today's mobile workforce and commerce integration for purchasing goods and travel services." According to Barrington, Ill.-based technology management services company Alternative Resources Corp., not only will its own consultants use the Workforce Optimization Suite, but it also will train some of them to provide consulting and implementation services on the product to clients. Extensity also said Office Depot had selected its Internet-based Expense Reports product. Office Depot CFO Barry Goldstein cited multiple-currency support for his company's "numerous international operations" as a factor in the selection.

Necho, Visa sign pact for asia, europe

Visa International and Necho Systems Corp. in mid-June announced they will jointly offer expense management software to Visa clients in Asia/Pacific and Europe, with "expansion potential in Visa's other four regions." The companies said Necho had "developed a standard Visa corporate card import data interface." Visa cited internal research that showed automated expense reporting and data capture reduced corporate administrative costs by 83 percent and earned 18 percent in vendor discounts.

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