While technology-focused companies have made great strides
in crafting centralized, global travel programs, it's been a more difficult
task for companies with high-touch, consultant-heavy travel. Mary Bastrentaz,
senior director of global travel and events for Big Four accounting and
consultant services firm Accenture, led an effort to make that happen at her
firm, moving most of the company's travel through three centers worldwide and,
in the process, driving more savings than expected.
Prior to this consolidation, Accenture's travel program was
largely country-specific, divided into 13 geographies and operating with two
agencies globally, four global distribution systems and seven online booking
tools. Following a conversation with upper management in 2008, in which
Bastrentaz indicated that consolidation could save the company about 20 percent
on agency and technology costs, she had buy-in within a few months.
"It was a very short conversation," Bastrentaz
said. "Was I nervous? All along, because we're in the business to be
service-focused. While we want cost savings, if any of our travelers have a bad
experience, we travel managers take it personally."
Bastrentaz and her team went market to market, getting
buy-in from the leadership in each region. Part of the challenge was coming up
with global standards that work across markets.
"There was a lot of debate, because every little
process had to be agreed upon globally," Bastrentaz said. "It's
really been setting that standard, which then will help us do a lot more in the
future."
Accenture, which has global headquarters in Chicago, began
issuing request for proposals in January 2009 and ultimately selected a single
agency, booking tool and global distribution system—Carlson Wagonlit Travel,
GetThere and Sabre—to handle its program. It launched the program in December
2009, and as it moves to completion, nearly all markets now book through
GetThere and are serviced through three CWT shared service centers in Illinois,
Poland and Singapore. The program offers language support in English, French,
German, Polish and Spanish.
A few countries, including China, Japan, Brazil, Italy and
Spain, have kept their own travel programs, though some of those ultimately
might move into the global program as well, Bastrentaz said.
Bastrentaz and her team developed a thorough communication
plan to inform company travelers of the change, but she acknowledged that
Accenture was one of the early adopters in online booking tools, which gave its
travelers an edge.
"They were very comfortable with being self-enabled, so
we went into this with an almost 80 percent adoption rate," she said. "We
launched new markets that jumped up to 80 percent almost immediately, and
markets that had been stuck at 60 or 70 percent went up to 80 percent. The
overall goal is 90 percent."
Contrary to her estimation to management that the
consolidation would shave 20 percent off program costs, the company appears to
be on track to surpass that level.
Bastrentaz isn't through with the overhaul. Her next goal is
to create a global traveler profile program so that travelers can access their
proper fares and discounts regardless of their location, she said.
Currently, Accenture travelers on long-term assignments
outside of their regular geography must create duplicate profiles, but
Bastrentaz said the company already has started conversations with Carlson
Wagonlit and GetThere about creating profiles that would work anywhere around
the world at any time. The company already has a global feed to Carlson
Wagonlit and GetThere for profile information, as well as a global feed for the
corporate card, so the only barrier is to work directly with the travel
suppliers, she said.
"What that would mean is that a traveler would no
longer be assigned to just the U.S. or the U.K. or Australia or so on,"
Bastrentaz said, "but they would be able to book anytime, anywhere to
access their service and negotiated discount."