IBM and Travelport Focus On Expenses

Travelport and IBM have signed a deal to focus on Expense Management. Clearly Concur is the issue here.

With Amex and Concur cozying up to each other even more than they have in the past and with the importance of expense control in the sights of the Corporate Financial Departments being acute - this is a timely announcement.

The issue will be how well they do.

The good news is that the technology will combine IBM’s Global Expense Reporting Solutions (GERS) with all Travelport GDS bookings. GERS is a mature product.

This could be a non-event as companies are already providing services just not actively together.

However the more interesting piece will be if other players focus on the space. I dont think this will move the dial that much. Still its good to see both companies focus on addressing the importance of EMS.

Cheers