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Resurrecting end to end. (Special Report: Travel Management Technology).

Article Excerpt
In response to a perceived need among buyers for a fully integrated and seamless end-to-end travel management solution, vendors are returning to the market with revamped attempts to reach for what some have called a "pie in the sky." While end-to-end solutions in theory integrate all segments of the travel management process, travel booking and expense reporting have been two of the most likely candidates for integration. Three of the six expense reporting vendors at this year's Corporate Travel World conference in New York touted recently designed platforms that link booking tools with their expense reporting products. Through this integration, Outtask, Extensity and Concur have helped resurrect the end-to-end concept.

Meanwhile, the federal government is moving to put an end-to-end system in place by year-end.

"It's technology that everyone's been hoping for, but even for those who supposedly have it, we don't see anybody using it," said Carol Salcito, president of consultancy Management Alternatives.

Outtask has been among the most vocal in extolling the virtues of linking hooking with expense with the claim of taking the "&" out of "T&E." When Outtask early last year added its Cliqbook self-booking tool to its small stable of office solutions, the company set its sight on integrating booking with its Vinnet expense reporting tool. Outtask said the two products are aligned closely because they have similar underlying technology. So far, Outtask has made strides in mustering customer interest and implementation--albeit limited--in the combined solution from such companies as Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Jackson Products and Vought Aircraft Industries Inc.

"We're still...

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