Aberdeen T&E Trends

The Travel and Expense Management
Guide for 2014
Trends for the Future
March 2014
Louis Berard

This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Group's methodologies provide for objective fact-based research and
represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc.
and may not be reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by Aberdeen Group, Inc.
March 2014
The Travel and Expense Management Guide
for 2014: Trends for the Future
In December 2013 and January 2014, Aberdeen conducted a series of
surveys focused on Travel and Expense Management (T&E) for 2014.
Organizations today have a lot to think about – such as economic
challenges, productivity concerns, and technology advancement – that will
support a strong ROI.
Aberdeen has reported in the past that the average organization relies on
business travel to achieve certain objectives, whether it is client outreach,
business development, or for internal purposes. In fact, the typical company
will spend 10% (or more) of its total annual budget on expenses related to
business travel in 2014, a factor that has not changed dramatically over the
past few years. Organizations today must reevaluate existing strategies for
travel and expense management, how to overcome key challenges, and
structure a robust program that balances core competencies and modern
technology enablers.
Much like top executive jobs are too large for one person, the challenges
are too big for one paper. So we’re splitting the trials and tribulations into a
series. This installment will focus on the general business trends we see in
the environment and the economic challenges organizations face today.
The Value of T&E 2014
Travel and Expense Management cannot be pushed to the side.
Organizations require greater business intelligence and visibility into their
T&E in order to remain competitive while also understanding risk and the
ability to mitigate risk with greater knowledge gained through technology
and collaboration than ever before.
In our recent T&E survey, Aberdeen asked the question: “How does T&E
expense management fit into your organization’s 2014 corporate strategy?”
In Figure 1(below) our survey research shows that 43% of Best-in-Class
organizations consider T&E expense management a critical strategy for 2014
(please view the Aberdeen Methodology sidebar on page 2 for definitions
and a breakdown of this study’s maturity class).
Analyst Insight
Aberdeen’s Insights provide the
analyst’s perspective on the
research as drawn from an
aggregated view of research
surveys, interviews, and
data analysis.

The Travel and Expense Management Guide for 2014: Trends for the Future
Page 2
© 2014 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200
www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897
Figure 1: Organizations that Consider T&E a Critical Strategy
Source: Aberdeen Group, February 2014
Critical Improvements for 2014
Best-in-Class organizations recognize the importance of T&E as a key
strategy to be utilized and leveraged across their organization, but the
question begs to be asked, what are the improvements that these
organizations look at? In Figure 2 below, the first large area of improvement
for 2014 and beyond will be in mobility with the Best-in-Class three times
more likely than the Industry Average to focus on mobile; even our
Laggards have a leg up on this one. Simply because your organization may
fall in the Laggard category at times, mobility is the equalizer for many
organizations. The ease, flexibility, cost, and high acceptance rate makes it a
winner for those organizations looking to gain an advantage in today’s
market space.
The next areas we see for Best-in-Class organizations are analytics and
business intelligence. These two categories have shown steady growth for
the past few years, so this isn’t out of the ordinary. Simply put, organizations
need to understand how their business performs; the best way to drive this
intelligence is with analytics and business intelligence. Another way to view
this is that analytics is the oil in the engine; you keep it well-oiled and
maintained, then you will have a high-performing engine running at peak
levels. If you choose to miss those oil changes and maintenance plan, than
you don’t know what to expect except trouble.
Figure 2 also shows growth for both the Average and Laggard organizations
in the need to grow their expense management processes. We can see that
this is not something that these organizations take lightly and is now a
critical area of improvement with these organizations, while continuing to
be an area of critical growth for Best-in-Class organizations.
Aberdeen Methodology
The Aberdeen maturity class is
comprised of three groups of
survey respondents. Classified
by their self-reported
performance across several key
metrics, each respondent falls
into one of three categories:
√ Best-in-Class: Top 20% of
respondents based on
performance.
√ Industry Average: Middle
50% of respondents based on
performance.
√ Laggard: Bottom 30% of
respondents based on
performance.
There is also sometimes a
fourth category:
√ All Others: Industry
Average and Laggard
combined.

Page 3
Figure 2: Critical Improvement in 2014
Under Pressure: Pressures
Figure 3 (below) shows that the top two key pressures facing organizations
today toot the same horn as previous years with one exception.
Organizations are expected to reduce expense in processing costs. In our
survey this shows a separation of 17% based on 126 respondents. Obviously
the leading pressure, but why after reporting on this from previous years?
We will dive deeper into how these pressures have crested the surface,
from technology, to visibility, and where have the best financial gains been
found in our future series.
In previous years, Aberdeen has written about how to reduce
reimbursement times. Yes technology plays a wonderful part of this, but it
also comes down to cultural change and acceptance. Unfortunately if you
implement all of the greatest technologies out there but it comes back to a
paper system and little trust in your cutting edge technology, then why
bother? Take the money and invest it in a savings bond. Technology that
exists today allows for fragmented, legacy, weak and old systems to take on
a new life. These new advancements now provide everything that is known
from the past and placed in a new advanced engine for the future, with the
ease and functionality of a finger swish. We also found in our survey that
organizations still struggle with manual and paper-based processes. The
elimination of these processes allows you to increase your savings, reduce
processing costs and improve your sustainability.
What was interesting from this finding is that 126 senior level respondents
believe or felt that the “Lack of business traveler productivity” was a key
pressure. This shows a 3% separation between the Best-in-Class and All
Others. But what does that really say about our business environment? This
anomaly will be fleshed out further in our series on T&E. But one thing to
consider is why now are senior executives looking at this pressure? Have
they gained true visibility into their traveler? Is it just another business
metric on belt tightening, and quantifying your travel? Or is it that the
amount of productivity doesn’t properly equate to the output while on

Page 4
travel? We look forward to exploring this in greater depth in the near
future.
Figure 3: Business Pressures for T&E Management
Batten Down the Hatches: Strategic Actions
It’s interesting learning from the above findings how senior executives feel
that, besides the cost savings, they need to look at the traveler’s
productivity, as key pressures for 2014. What then are the key actions
organizations take to reduce these pain points? First we see in Figure 4
(next page), that executives want to arm their employees with better
technologies to manage this minefield of expense management, policies and
procedures.
Aberdeen’s research has found that organizations that leverage analytics
outperform those organizations that do not. With an 11% separation
between the Best-in-Class and All Others, we see this consistent trend
occurring across industries. The ability to make fact-based decisions in a
timely and efficient manner is no longer a nicety, but a requirement.
Organizations look at real-time data streams and expect their people in the
field to be as well connected as those inside the facility. The excuse of
they’re not available to access that, is no longer acceptable. Now it’s chic to
be there, be live, and have real answers, wherever you are.
One could argue that not automating key components of T&E expense
management could mean your organization gets left behind. Delivering on
customer value and employee satisfaction has always been a winning
combination. One way businesses go about it today is by proving these
efficiencies to their employees and driving greater customer satisfaction
through the use of technology. A great example of this is when a sales
person can go to the customer and think about their needs, requirements,
what is the best fit and function for this customer? And not need to think

Page 5
about the daunting task of filling out travel reports or if they are in policy or
not. Their focus is simply the customer, which is a clear win-win.
Figure 4: Strategic Actions
R-U Capable?
Looking across the capabilities of organizations today, Aberdeen’s 2014
survey data recognizes the importance of speed and agility. People and
organizations want to do more with less. Less money being spent, less time
away from the office and loved ones, but what they ultimately end up
looking at is how to gain that insight into tomorrow.
As noted above, Best-in-Class organizations have driven top level
performance across a series of key metrics within the scope of modern
travel and expense management. When looking into the “crystal ball” and
into these top-performing programs, two main items jump out: Best-in-
Class companies actively enhance competencies to drive visibility into the
travel and expense category, and utilize a series of technology solutions to
support their main objectives.
Aberdeen’s PACE Framework, which details the pressures inherent within
an enterprise function, the strategic actions taken to alleviate those
pressures, the program capabilities to support overall objectives, and the
various technology enablers that ultimately enhance all processes and drive
performance, is often utilized as a charter for gauging the effectiveness of
existing travel and expense management processes.
As detailed in Figure 5 below, the most critical component of that
framework (the internal competencies and capabilities), actively help Best-

Page 6
in-Class organizations solve their top challenge: driving visibility into all
facets of travel and expense management.
Figure 5: Capabilities Currently Implemented
Enable Your Enablers
By enabling your enablers to do what they’re designed to do, organizations
can create integration across practices and a true holistic expense
management process. This type of integration also affords executives a
fantastic picture of how the company spends its dollars on business travel
and expenses, along with greater visibility into the “global supplier.”
The “next generation” of integration is apparent in four distinct areas:
• On-line travel booking systems. Real-time views of current travel
against corporate budgets. Visibility into how real-time travel (and
expenses) stacks up against current budgets is crucial; appropriate
action can be taken by real-time reporting against overall budget.
With on-line booking, spend is captured quicker and in compliance
to policies.
• Commercial card system/programs. Corporate card integration
creates a truly holistic process for expense management. This type
of integration also affords executives a fantastic picture of how the
company spends its dollars on business travel and expenses, and
supports the greater notion of visibility.
• Mobile T&E and expense management applications. Best-in-Class
organizations outperform those who don’t leverage mobile
applications for travel and expense management. These applications,
which are also offered in mobile-optimized web portals, place the

Page 7
power of greater end-to-end technology directly into the hands of
business travelers and executives, offering handheld access to core
travel and expense processes.
• End-to-end expense management solutions. End-to-end travel and
expense management solutions offer a robust platform that can help
organizations streamline, automate and enhance all aspects of
modern travel and expense management, addressing all components
of the T&E lifecycle and automating key expense management
processes.
Figure 6: Enablers Currently Implemented
The Best-in-Class Maturity Framework
Aberdeen utilizes its Best-in-Class maturity framework to segregate all end-
user survey responses into three unique buckets based on performance
against a series of key metrics and indicators. This framework, detailed in
Table 1, allows Aberdeen’s readers to formulate a proper plan for
development and improvement based on their own performance as
compared to that of the Best-in-Class maturity sector. Top-performing
enterprises in this research study were noted for their superior
performance across a series of key metrics under the greater travel and
expense management umbrella.
Best-in-Class enterprises have driven a 74% higher rate of business travel
spend under management than all other organizations, as well as a 55%
higher rate of corporate policy compliance, according to Table 1. These
top-performing organizations have also achieved a nearly 26% reduction
compared to All Others in travel expense on or below budget. And 22% of
Definition: Business Travel
Spend Under Management
√ Business travel spend under
management is defined as
the percentage of planned
travel spend that is actively
managed and accounted for
in corporate budgeting,
planning, or forecasting

Page 8
the Best-in-Class manage expenses by mobile compared to All Others for
faster approval times.
The Best-in-Class continue to leverage myriad programs, key capabilities
and technology enablers to drive this level of performance.
Table 1: The Best-in-Class Maturity Framework
Definition of
Maturity Class
Mean Class Performance
Best-in-Class:
Top 20%
of aggregate
performance scorers
 89% rate of business travel spend under
management
 91% rate of compliance to corporate travel policies
and guidelines
Industry Average:
Middle 50%
of aggregate
performance scorers
management
and guidelines
Laggard:
Bottom 30%
of aggregate
performance scorers
management
and guidelines
Key Takeaways
Organizations should consider this research study their guide to travel and
expense management for 2014. The path navigated by Best-in-Class
organizations is one that must be followed for maximum success in
managing the business travel and expense category. Forty-three percent
(43%) of organizations in our research study stated that travel and expense
management is a critical component within their organizations (holding
strategic value) for 2014. With visibility into the spend aggregate across the
enterprise by 79% of some 126 respondents. To keep T&E in check,
consider the following:
• Visibility is a prime concern for the majority of organizations in
regards to travel and expense management. Every programmatic
change or strategy must be executed with visibility in mind.
• Best-in-Class organizations rely on both internal attributes or
capabilities and a slew of technology solutions to enhance spend
control and improve corporate policy compliance.
• Mobile applications and technology are considered a “link to the
future” and will help business travelers and executives enact key
expense management processes via smartphones or tablet devices.
• Analytics is a prime means of enhancing travel and expense
management visibility, gaining intelligence into the ROI of business

Page 9
travel, and understanding how this category affects greater business
objectives.
Growth is projected in 2014, the question you and your organization need
to ask is: Will we be part of it, and how?
For more information on this or other research topics, please visit
www.aberdeen.com
Related Research
End-to-End Visibility into T&E Expense
Management: Mobile Comes to the Table;
April 2013
Your Guide to Travel and Expense
Management; March 2013
Managing the Evolution: Meetings
Management for the SMB Organization;
November 2012
End-to-End Technology and the T&E
Lifecycle; November 2012
T&E Expense Management: A Solution
Selection Guide; September 2012
T&E Expense Management: The Best-in-
Class Pillars of Next-Generation Expense
Management; March 2012
Author: Louis Berard, Senior Research Analyst, Global Supply Management
(Louis.Berard@aberdeen.com)
For more than two decades, Aberdeen’s research has been helping corporations worldwide become Best-in-Class.
Having benchmarked the performance of more than 644,000 companies, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to provide
organizations with the facts that matter — the facts that enable companies to get ahead and drive results. That’s why
our research is relied on by more than 2.5 million readers in over 40 countries, 90% of the Fortune 1,000, and 93% of
the Technology 500.
As a Harte Hanks Company, Aberdeen’s research provides insight and analysis to the Harte Hanks community of
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of insight to deliver innovative multichannel marketing programs that drive business-changing results. For additional
information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte Hanks, call
(800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.hartehanks.com.
This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Group’s methodologies
provide for objective fact-based research and represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless
otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc. and may not be
reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by
Aberdeen Group, Inc. (2014a)

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