Amadeus and Emburse are partnering to offer a "fully integrated solution" with Amadeus' Cytric booking tool and Emburse's Chrome River expense management platform, the companies announced.
The two companies already have had a relationship for data integration "for some time," according to Emburse CEO Eric Friedrichsen, but the new partnership is meant to "really take thing to the next level." That will mean integration beyond travel and expense to enable deeper travel analytics, traveler companion apps and integrated card programs, the companies said in their announcement.
"By leveraging our two companies' complementary strengths, we are greatly enhancing the traveler’s digital and mobile experience and corporations' travel spend and policy management throughout the entire travel journey," Amadeus Cytric Solutions EVP Rudy Daniello said in a statement. "All of this will enable corporations to optimize their travel spend in terms of cost, carbon emission and productivity collaboration."
Daniello told BTN that the partnership with Emburse did not mean Amadeus was de-emphasizing or moving away from Cytric's own expense reporting capabilities. The partnership concentrates on regions where Amadeus currently has little or no penetration with its expense product and does not include those where it is strong, such as Germany.
The companies also are embarking on a commercial partnership, with Amadeus promoting Emburse Chrome River as a recommended expense management offering to customers in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavia and Benelux regions. Emburse also is adding Cytric Travel and Cytric Easy for Microsoft Teams to its travel spend optimization solution portfolio.
Amadeus and Cytric already "share a number of high-profile customers," according to Friedrichsen, and the companies will be courting new business jointly as well as an integrated suite that does not require "being tied to a single vendor," according to the announcement.