Consumer Tech Habits Drive Changes in Biz Travel

As consumer information technology transforms both the way travelers work and their expectations, entire organizations are being forced to adjust.

Take connectivity.

By 2016, laptops will make up just 25% of the mobile market. The ubiquitous smartphone has already started on the same path to decline. It took phone makers seven years to sell their first 40 million smart devices. Tablet makers, led by Apple’s iPad, hit the same 40 million mark in just two years.

‘We have to adapt’
The shift from mobile computer to smaller devices is more than a statistic.

“Our millennials are leaving their PCs at the office. They are traveling with phones and tablets, not laptops,” said Rita Visser, senior manager for Global Travel Procurement/Executive Travel Services at Oracle Corp., which hired about 3,300 news salespeople in 2011.

“We have to adapt,” said Visser, during a discussion of technology and business travel at the Global Business Travel Association annual convention in Boston.

Consumer trends shape biz travel
Almost every company finds itself reacting to the ways travelers use technology, said Tom Tulloch, senior vice president for business intelligence and consulting services at TRX.

“The travel department is not necessarily driving innovation today,” he said. “Travelers’ expectations, shaped by the consumer technology they see and use, is shifting the use of technology in business travel.”

One example of how consumers’ use of information technology is changing the business of travel is social media, which has evolved from consumer toy to business-critical.

During the 2011 snowstorms that disrupted travel, business travelers flocked to Facebook and Twitter to rearrange itineraries and rebook tickets. The result was faster service to business travelers and cost savings to carriers as call center volume was handled through online channels.

Becoming more flexible
In another shift, companies that have relied heavily on centralized command-and-control structures find themselves responding to travelers’ IT habits instead of dictating them.

“We are moving from command-and-control to flexibility,” said Dorian Stonie, senior manager, Global Travel and Tech Solutions for Salesforce.com. “We are moving away from cost savings as the key driver to flexibility and value and productivity.

The shift to a more open system guided by traveler input can be a rewarding one. “In 25 years, I have never felt as close to my travelers as I do now,” Stonie said.

“We are sharing information in real time. We are not collecting travelers’ feedback; we are leveraging their knowledge and expertise to improve our travel program and their productivity.” This includes adding and eliminating hotels from the preferred vendor program based on traveler input and ratings.

Internal IT changes
Travelers are also forcing internal technology changes.

Salesforce.com travelers are heavy tech users, but the company does not try to impose a particular brand or platform. Instead, all travel programs must be platform-agnostic and intuitive, in addition to being accessible on mobile platforms. Any tool that is not immediately visible and easy to click through is replaced.

Back end changes
On the back end, big data is changing the ways travel managers conceive and execute their management tasks.

Consolidating multiple data streams from bookings, corporate card reports and personal card reports, travel expense reports and supplier reports is moving from dream to an achievable, if sometimes bumpy, reality.

“Big data is about volume, velocity and variety,” Tulloch said. “The more sources of data you can pull in and mine, the more effective you can be in managing your company’s travel. Travel reporting will become prospective, not just a historical exercise.”

Aggregating data
Aggregating data from multiple sources has become standard. TMCs and GDSs remain at the core of Stonie’s travel program, but he is pushing them to consolidate data from multiple sources.

About half of Salesforce.com’s hotel bookings are made outside the TMC channel, for example, but the company still needs current and accurate location information on every traveler.

“In 12 to 18 months, we will be able to aggregate hotel sales from all channels, not just our TMC,” Stonie said.

Controlled approach
Oracle is taking a different approach to aggregating data. While Salesforce.com is opening its data system, Oracle still insists that employees toe the line.

“We feel strongly that we must control the point of sale,” Visser said. “We tell our people that you can shop anywhere you want, but if you want to get reimbursed, you have to come back to policy and use our channel to buy.”

Coming up: Hewlett-Packard takes the middle way.