Concur Acquires Technology Providers to TMCs

Concur, the Bellevue, Wash.-based integrated travel and expense management company, acquired TRX Inc. and the assets of GDSX, both providers of technology solutions to travel management companies. The terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.

Concur will integrate those solutions, which include mid-office and data analytics offerings, into the Concur T&E Cloud to enable “seamless linking” to suppliers, third-party developers and TMC customers.

The moves take Concur a step closer to becoming a one-stop shop for travel management technology and could go some way toward easing agents’ concerns that Concur wants to be a competitor rather than a supplier.

Not everyone is convinced that Concur’s intentions are benign, however. David LeCompte, chief executive officer of Short’s Travel Management and a customer of GDSX, said the acquisition is “an interesting move” on Concur’s part.

He noted that GDSX has a solution for dealing with bookings made outside policy. So does Concur, but its controversial “Open Booking” solution differs from that of GDSX, and LeCompte said he thinks the acquisition may be more about Concur’s “Open Booking domination.”

What Concur purchased
GDSX provides cloud-based tools and services, including: COMPLEAT, for mid-office automation; CETAS pre-trip authorization; trip disruption solutions, and the TripLink centralized trip repository.  

TRX consolidates data records from a variety of sources – such as credit card issuers and networks, back office travel systems, hotel suppliers, airlines and GDSs – to provide corporate customers with a more accurate picture of their total travel expenditures, including those that occur outside a managed travel program.

About TRX
TRX products and solutions include:
•    TRAVELTRAX, which analyzes key performance indicators, identifies program leakage, ensures duty of care and aims to increase channel and card compliance.

•    CORREX, which automates travel transactions that require manual processing, such as quality control, reservation file finishing and maintenance, electronic ticketing and communication with travelers.

•    Queue Manager, which provides an agent dashboard to help agents gain real-time visibility into their own personal work activities and measure their performance against designated sets of peers.  The dashboard also provides continuous real-time tracking of average handling times across various work queues.

TRX also operates business process outsourcing and call center business units, but Concur said these are not aligned with its strategies. Concur plans to continue operating these business units and serving related customers while looking for strategic partners that are better positioned to support their ongoing operations.

Concur keeps growing
The TRX and GDSX acquisitions are the eighth and ninth over the last dozen years for Concur, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next month.

Concur’s acquisitions include:
•    conTgo, a cloud-based mobile communications and messaging platform – acquired in March
•     TripIt, the online and mobile itinerary organizer, last year
•    GlobalExpense, a U.K. expense management firm (2011)
•    Etap-Online, a Paris-based travel and expense management company (2009)
•    Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Gelco Expense Management (2007)
•    Outtask and its Cliqbook online booking tool (2006)
•    Captura, a Kirkland, Wash.-based competitor, in 2002.

Related story
For more about Concur, see Concur: Technology Partner or Competitive Threat?