Shortlist potential TEM vendors with this guide

SAP Concur Team | 12-21-2017

The most innovative solutions for travel expense management (TEM) are only available as Software as a Service (SaaS). That's according to Gartner’s Market Guide for Travel Expense Management Software for IT/Financial buyers. This report looks at 16 market players, helping decision makers to analyze the market and shortlist potential TEM vendors. 

It notes that TEM isn’t just about automating processes and increasing efficiency—it’s about making life easier for users. Gartner recommends using TEM innovations as a way to show your leadership team and employees how going digital can turn the lengthy and often unpleasant process of creating an expense report into something that’s easy and at the same time, greatly improves internal efficiency.

And, with more than 75% market share and the most differentiated solution, Concur is a leader in the TEM space.

If you’re looking for a TEM solution, we recommend selecting one that offers these attributes: 

  • Travel booking and management
  • Invoice automation
  • A supplier network
  • An app center
  • Extended services
  • Enhanced OCR
  • Partnerships with major TMCs, BPO and travel suppliers
  • A dedicated public-sector product for the U.S. government
  • Integration with Salesforce
  • A payment platform for customers to reimburse employees/suppliers

The report also points out that ERP, Procurement and Human Capital Management vendors have begun to deepen TEM functionality. When you’re looking for a vendor, choose one based on its user experience across roles, including not just travelers, but also finance and system administrators. Think about the level of functional sophistication each constituent needs and can embrace, and let that guide you in your decision.

Gartner also touches on the importance of mobile innovation in TEM, saying, “TEM software is an excellent case study of a traditional business process becoming digital. The move to digital actually began when specialist TEM providers wrote mobile applications for popular smartphones, which enabled the in-built camera to capture receipt images. But the state of the art is now moving beyond this, with leading-edge vendors having product roadmaps that aim to kill the expense report as we know it.”

To learn more, see the full Gartner report here. (Gartner subscription required.)