Concur Technologies' expense management offering and Sabre's online booking products continue to hold the most marketshare of the 100 companies that spend the most on travel. More than half of those companies with annual U.S. booked air volumes of at least $34 million said Sabre's online booking products—including American Express' Corporate Travel Online tool, powered by Sabre's GetThere technology—are preferred tools used in the United States, according to Business Travel News' annual Corporate Travel 100 research
(BTN, July 5). Concur Technologies, meanwhile, boasts 20 of those companies with its closest vendor competitor holding nine CT100 accounts.
In recent years, both vendors bolstered leadership positions in their markets through acquisitions. When Concur acquired Captura in 2002, the company gained 70 new clients, including such CT100-level firms as Booz Allen Hamilton, Ford, General Motors and Viacom, all of which continue to use the product.
Sabre in 2000 acquired GetThere, which continues to hold the most traction with CT100 companies. Sabre's share of those companies last year yielded an aggregate air volume of nearly $4 billion, as its closest competitor—TRX, with eight CT100 contracts—holds $523 million worth of CT100 business.
Although customers added through acquisitions were a boon for vendors, they pose retention challenges. Sabre said by year-end it hopes to transition former BTS clients to the newest GetThere platform. While a GetThere spokesperson said Sabre already has transitioned many of its clients, more still are in the process of transitioning from BTS. However, some in the industry expect some leakage of clients.
Management Alternatives consultant Carol Salcito and Corporate Solutions Group consultant Bob Lichtman said they expected Outtask, which last year was not represented among CT100 companies, to pick up some share. Since then, Outtask's Cliqbook attracted its first CT100 client, gaining former BTS user Dell. The vendor also picked up DaimlerChrysler, which last year had a U.S. booked air volume of $68 million
(BTN, Sept. 8, 2003).Early next year Concur plans to migrate former Captura customers to an updated Concur platform. The study shows Concur's closest vendor competitor is IBM, and a significant number of CT100 companies use internal systems. Enterprise resource planning systems Oracle, SAP and Peoplesoft threaten Concur's dominance, as such offerings together comprise 14 CT100 users.