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Apr 3Mon
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    TripIt Survey: Five Features That Help Travelers Save Money

    A SAP Concur blog post cites a recent TripIt survey asking travelers whether TripIt saved them money and which features helped. Among those who said TripIt features saved them money, 37% cited Fare Tracker, 16% Nearby Places, 14% International Travel Tools, 12% Navigator, and 9% Point Tracker. The post details each feature: Fare Tracker monitors booked flight itineraries for fare reductions and alerts users to potential airline credits or refunds; Nearby Places surfaces nearby restaurants, hospitals, gas stations, and more; International Travel Tools provides tipping guidelines and currency exchange rates; Navigator shows transportation options with estimated costs and travel times; and Poi…

Feb 6Mon
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    Fox World Travel Shares How to Build a Travel Program Meeting Employer and Employee Needs

    SAP Concur's podcast features Ben Claxton and Jeff Saydah of Fox World Travel discussing how to build a world-class travel program. They note the "set it and forget it" travel policy mentality is outdated; policies should be agile, regularly reviewed, and aligned with company goals and culture. The discussion covers using data to inform policy, measuring program success, and having policies reflect company culture.

Jan 26Thu
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    6 Questions to Ask When Incorporating Duty of Care into Your Travel Program

    A SAP Concur blog post notes that employee wellness has taken center stage, and duty of care—an organization's legal obligation to protect employees from harm—has become a strategic tool. The article poses six questions to help incorporate duty of care into travel programs: how employees book, where they purchase, when they book, what ground transport they use, how safe the destination is, and how to improve. It emphasizes that increasing booking tool adoption, encouraging corporate card use, booking earlier, increasing rideshare use, reviewing destination risk, and establishing a cross-functional task force can enhance employee safety, satisfaction, and business continuity.

Jan 20Fri
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    IDC MarketScape Recognizes SAP as a Leader in T&E Management Software for Enterprise and Midmarket

    SAP maintained its position in the Leaders Category in the 2022–2023 IDC MarketScape for worldwide SaaS and cloud-enabled Travel and Expense Applications. The assessment focuses on expense management offerings and their integration with travel management services and networks. IDC research director Kevin Permenter noted that more businesses added features to control travel spend or provide duty of care-related functionality, a powerful differentiator for vendors with ties to emerging areas like auditing, sustainability, virtual cards, and duty of care. SAP Concur's strengths include global reach (80 million end users, 150+ countries, 29 languages), midmarket experience, integrated solutions…

Jan 19Thu
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    Taking the Wheel with Travel

    A SAP Concur blog post notes that travel programs have been turbulent in recent years, with leadership demanding visibility into travel program ROI while travelers demand safer, smoother experiences. It poses key questions: Do travel program goals align with organizational goals? Are processes flexible enough to adapt to market changes? Is there a backup for TMC labor shortages? Where does traveler experience rank? The article references an eBook, 'Guiding Travel through Uncharted Territory: 6 Tactics for Personal and Program Growth,' for answers and tactics.

  2. SAP Concur Blog

    The C-Suite is Wondering What Travel is Up To

    A SAP Concur blog post notes that budgets are tight and costs are out of control, with the C-suite demanding travel managers demonstrate travel program ROI. It references the 'Measure Up' eBook, which offers five ways to demonstrate ROI: focusing on foundational priorities (adoption, approvals, compliance), improving visibility (outside bookings, unused tickets, cancellation charges, cash spending), VAT and GST reclaim, updating metrics (traveler experience, sustainability, meetings bookings), and showing the right data to the C-suite. The 2022 Global Business Travel Report states 100% of travel managers expect their jobs to be more challenging in the next 12 months.

Dec 9Fri
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Podcast Discusses How the Next Generation Is Shaping the Future of Business Travel

    A SAP Concur podcast episode discusses how the next generation of business travelers, particularly Gen Z and Gen Alpha, is shaping the future of business travel. SAP Concur thought leader Ralph Colunga notes that the travel and expense industry is experiencing a major paradigm shift, requiring a modernization of T&E management mindset and end-to-end processes. The article mentions that Gen Z is on track to comprise roughly 30% of the workforce by 2030, bringing different expectations. Organizations need to evolve from a recovery state to one of resilience and adaptability, adjusting policies, simplifying processes, and eliminating friction points for employees.

Dec 7Wed
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Highlights Balance and Security at Fusion Exchange DC 2022

    At the Fusion Exchange DC conference held on November 15-16, 2022, in Washington DC, SAP Concur emphasized themes of balance and security. Dr. Christian Wolfe, Head of Client Development, Americas, for SAP Concur, discussed the challenge of balancing cost reduction, risk and compliance management, adapting to changing regulations, and delivering the best employee experience. He announced plans to modernize the entire SAP Concur travel platform and revealed in-the-works features for carbon offset calculation and certificate handling. Additionally, SAP Concur is migrating its cloud services to AWS, and Concur Cloud for Public Sector is in process for FedRAMP agency authorization.

Sep 1Thu
Aug 25Thu
Aug 24Wed
Aug 10Wed
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Re-platforms Concur Travel to Build the Travel Platform of the Future

    SAP Concur announced it is re-platforming Concur Travel, rebuilding it from scratch with microservices technology to improve scalability, reliability, and flexibility. Over the past two years it added more than 200 engineers and product managers, one of the most significant development investments in its history. The roadmap includes a new car rental experience by end-2022, an end-to-end hotel booking experience in early 2023, a new air experience around GBTA Convention 2023, and additional rail carriers in Europe and the US. SAP Concur says it has the only truly integrated global T&E platform, serving 50,000+ customers with 700+ ecosystem partners.

Jun 29Wed
  1. SAP Concur Blog

    AI-Powered Assistants are Taking Business Travel by Storm

    A SAP Concur blog post notes that business travel has long faced challenges including logistics, expense compliance decisions, and expense report submission. It introduces how SAP Concur solutions use AI to simplify travel and expense experiences, citing a Forbes article showing how AI assistants help business travelers plan trips and offload financial decision-makers' busywork. Using fictional VP of Procurement Judy as an example, it shows AI can automatically develop itineraries, recommend hotels, provide built-in compliance policy queries, and AI-assisted auditing of 100% of expenses to speed up reimbursement.

  2. SAP Concur Blog

    Reviewing Travel Policy Through Travelers' Eyes: SAP Concur Offers an Assessment Framework

    At its Fusion Exchange event in Houston, SAP Concur shared a framework for assessing travel and expense policy from the traveler's perspective, covering airfare booking rules, airport experience, lodging booking, expense process, booking process, meals and entertainment, bleisure and culture, and communication, using scores to identify positive and negative traveler experiences.

  3. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Podcast: Building a Resilient Travel and Expense Program

    SAP Concur released a podcast where Marchelle Klippenstein, VP of the Value Experience Group at SAP Concur, and Katheryn Nolfo, Consulting Director at Huron Consulting Group, discussed how organizations can build resilient travel and expense programs to prepare for the next disruption. Key points include: organizations are shifting from measuring the ROI of travel to the Return on Travel (ROT), with a greater focus on employee safety and well-being. Additionally, car rental costs have increased due to rental companies reducing their fleets during the pandemic, leading to higher demand and lower supply. Companies are also re-emphasizing pre-approval processes and managing home office expendi…

  4. SAP Concur Blog

    Is Your Business Ready to Travel?

    A SAP Concur blog post discusses business travel readiness in the post-pandemic era. As COVID-19 restrictions ease, travel managers are swiftly adjusting policies, with 40% now requiring pre-trip approvals. Pre-approvals are not only for cost control but also crucial for duty of care. Companies need to define essential and permissible travel and understand each country's travel rules, testing, and quarantine requirements. Data tracking and TMC collaboration are vital for traveler safety. The article also mentions tools from partners like Deloitte and free resources like Travel Vitals and TripIt Travel Resource Center.

  5. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Podcast: Optimizing Spend Management Systems for Global Expansion

    A SAP Concur podcast features Kara Bernard, Managing Director of the Lyndon Group, discussing how organizations can optimize spend management systems for post-pandemic global business needs. Topics include ERP migrations, M&A, system configuration for global expansion, policy development, change management, and using data to optimize spend. The Lyndon Group received the SAP Concur Partner Growth Award for implementing 27 certified projects in 2020.

  6. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Discusses the Importance of Business Travel Transformation for Smaller Companies

    A SAP Concur blog post notes that even smaller companies cannot ignore travel management. Post-pandemic pent-up demand is significant: a traveler survey shows 95% of travelers at companies with fewer than 1,000 employees are willing to travel again, and 63% are very willing. Traveler attitudes have changed: safety is a top concern, they want the freedom to plan trips flexibly, and over two-thirds want their company to loosen restrictions to allow for flexibility-oriented policies. Additionally, 60% of business travelers expect to make changes that improve travel sustainability and expect their organization to follow suit.

  7. SAP Concur Blog

    How Companies Can Prepare for the Future of Business Travel

    An SAP Concur blog post notes that COVID-19 has caused unprecedented disruption to the travel and hospitality industries: eight in 10 hotel rooms are empty, and 2020 is projected to be the worst year on record for hotel occupancy; ARC reported that airline ticket sales for the week ending April 5, 2020 fell 95.7% year-over-year. The article advises travel managers to take action to stabilize T&E programs, including adjusting T&E programs to support the changing business environment, ensuring reporting transparency, breaking down silos, preparing for the next disruption, and building stronger internal and external partnerships.

  8. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Launches New TMC Partner Program

    SAP Concur launched a revamped TMC Partner Program, replacing the Preferred Partner Program, with three levels: TMC Partner, TMC Select, and TMC Elite. The program is not pay-to-play; TMCs earn levels based on the value they offer customers. TMC Elite partners have adopted the full suite of SAP Concur travel solutions (including TripLink) and use Concur Expense in their own business, enabling increased visibility and control of all T&E spend, compliance across reservations, and improved traveler safety.

  9. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Examines Challenges and Opportunities of UK SMB Travel

    A SAP Concur blog post notes that UK SMBs make up more than 99% of private sector businesses and employ more than 60% of private sector workers, yet the business travel industry has been geared toward large enterprises. It discusses SMB travel challenges such as flexibility needs, lack of dedicated travel managers and overlooked domestic trips, and describes responses including Triplink and a Booking.com partnership.

  10. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur President Reflects on 2017 Industry Trends

    The president of SAP Concur reflects on 2017, noting key industry trends: duty of care became a priority for customers; digital transformation accelerated, such as e-Fapiao in China and e-Bunsho in Japan; the end-user became a key stakeholder; global solutions need to be local; and businesses became more accepting of spend outside preferred channels, managed via TripLink and the NDC standard.

  11. SAP Concur Blog

    Concur App Center Partner Spotlight: VisaHQ

    SAP Concur highlights its App Center partner VisaHQ, which integrates with Concur Travel to help business travelers obtain visas and passports. VisaHQ's automation reduces errors and delays, with over 99.91% of applications approved on initial submission. It has assisted more than 500,000 business travelers across 112 countries.

  12. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur: Managing a Corporate Travel Program is Getting More Complex. Here's How to Simplify

    SAP Concur blog notes that travel managers are spending 60% more time on data analysis, technology evaluation, and traveler safety. However, a 2018 GBTA Foundation survey shows 80% of travel programs don't use technology to capture outside bookings, and 86% don't use tools for suppliers to send reservations directly to TMCs. Automated connected travel solutions can help simplify processes.

  13. SAP Concur Blog

    Four Best Practices for Travel Return at Higher Education Institutions

    SAP Concur blog outlines four best practices for higher education institutions returning to travel: 1) Create a cross-campus travel working group including risk management, finance, and academic stakeholders; 2) Consider mandating TMC use for itinerary transparency, supplier discounts, and compliance visibility; 3) Develop new travel approval guidelines including pre-trip approval and COVID-19 risk considerations; 4) Improve back-office efficiency using Concur Invoice to automate invoice processing and eliminate data silos.

  14. SAP Concur Blog

    TCG Consulting Expands Partnership with SAP Concur

    TCG Consulting announced an expanded partnership with SAP Concur in 2019 and beyond. Members of its leadership and delivery teams have received Certified Implementation Partner (CIP) accreditation and will complete Certified Consulting Partner (CCP) accreditation before the end of 2019. TCG uses its patented TCO-TMPE® approach to help clients optimize travel, meetings, payment, and expense programs.

  15. SAP Concur Blog

    U.S. Department of Defense Selects SAP Concur to Reform its Travel System

    An SAP Concur blog post announces that the U.S. Department of Defense awarded SAP Concur a prototype project agreement to modernize its Defense Travel System (DTS). The U.S. Department of Defense spends nine billion dollars annually on travel. Under the agreement, SAP Concur will deliver an end-to-end travel-as-a-service capability to improve the travel management experience, reduce costs, scale, meet efficiency objectives, and transform satisfaction and usability for government employees.

  16. SAP Concur Blog

    TripIt Pro Launches Neighborhood Safety Scores Feature

    SAP Concur's TripIt Pro has added a Neighborhood Safety Scores feature, providing business travelers with destination safety information. The feature covers 65,000 cities and neighborhoods worldwide, with scores ranging from 1 to 100, representing low to high risk. Scores cover overall safety plus six specific categories: physical harm, women's safety, LGBTQ safety, theft, political freedoms, and health and medical. Scores also change based on time of day. Travelers need the TripIt app to access the feature. Available through Concur TripLink, it aims to help companies enhance duty of care responsibilities.

  17. SAP Concur Blog

    Industry Leaders on Travel Recovery: Innovation and Traveler Trust

    Former SAP Concur President Jim Lucier summarizes the inaugural Travel Industry Summit, which drew more than 2,000 attendees. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian described measures including electrostatic wiping of every surface before each flight, keeping middle seats empty through at least the end of the year, requiring masks for customers and employees, and HEPA filters. Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson stressed the need to earn the confidence of workers and travelers. Travel managers discussed using the pandemic pause to improve programs, and Salesforce's Dorian Stonie said OBTs infused with more AI and travel management companies 'are going to be more important than ever.'

  18. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur and Travel Inc. Partner to Empower Travel Managers with Business Intelligence

    An SAP Concur blog post discusses how travel managers can leverage business intelligence (BI) to keep up with technological change. It highlights SAP Concur's partnership with TMC partner Travel Incorporated, developing automated solutions on the Compleat platform, such as Seat Finder, automated schedule change processing, and Traveler Self-Service, to improve efficiency and data transparency. Travel Inc. also shares its practices of using real-time data and predictive BI to enhance traveler tracking and duty of care.

  19. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Community: A Career Development Platform for Travel & Expense Professionals

    An SAP Concur blog post introduces how its customer community helps Travel, Expense, and Invoice (TE&I) professionals advance their careers. With over 80,000 members, the community offers various engagement opportunities such as online forums, user groups, leadership councils, and the annual Fusion conference, aiming to foster knowledge sharing, networking, and career growth.

  20. SAP Concur Blog

    SAP Concur Urges Extending Traveler Safety to Rideshare Users

    A SAP Concur blog post argues that employee travel safety should extend to rideshare and other ground transportation. It cites a global survey: 77% of female travelers experienced harassment or mistreatment, 85% of LGBTQ+ travelers changed travel arrangements due to safety concerns, 54% of travelers say safety is not a top priority in their company's formal travel policy, and 67% say their company lacks technologies that make travel easier. The post recommends consolidating corporate card data with itinerary details, tracking employee locations, providing neighborhood safety information, and encouraging trip sharing when using rideshare.

  21. SAP Concur Blog

    Smith & Nephew Implements Global T&E Program Across 40+ Countries with SAP Concur

    A SAP Concur podcast features Jorge Monge, T&E lead at Smith & Nephew, discussing the company's implementation of a Global Business Services (GBS) program across more than 40 countries using SAP Concur solutions to centralize and standardize processes. 80% of Smith & Nephew's volume comes from the U.S., and the GBS center is in Costa Rica. Monge emphasizes cultural factors and compliance challenges, requiring partnerships with the chief compliance officer, legal, and audit. The company deployed Concur Detect AI auditing tool, identifying anomalies no human could. The project returned over 20K productivity hours, benefiting over 9,000 employees globally, and won the GBS Giants Award in all c…

  22. SAP Concur Blog

    How Businesses are Preparing for the Return to Travel

    A SAP Concur blog post cites Wakefield Research data: 32% of business travelers are excited about the return to travel, and 92% expect negative business consequences if they can't travel. The article outlines seven steps for traveling in the new normal: plan for continuous change, stay informed to stay agile, set up pre-trip approvals, help travelers make smarter and safer choices, build safety into pre-trip planning, help employees stay safe while traveling, and proactively manage the post-travel experience. It also cites data: 96% of business travelers think safety measures need to be in place before they travel again, and 18% say they'll look for another job if adjustments aren't made.

  23. SAP Concur Blog

    Concur Named Most Admired Travel Technology Company for Sixth Year

    A SAP Concur blog post announces that Concur has been named the 'Most Admired Travel Technology Company' in the business travel industry by The Beat's Readers' Choice Awards for the sixth year in a row and eighth time in ten years. The post also highlights Concur's innovations in AI and bots, traveler safety, such as the Concur bot for Slack, Concur Expense for Outlook add-in, and Concur Locate and Active Monitoring travel risk management solution.