FCM INSIGHT

Turning big datainto smart data

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“Big Data” is everywhere. Today, Google receives 40,000 search queries every second; Facebook users send 31.25 million messages and view 2.77 million videos every minute. Yet less than 0.5% of all data is ever analysed – let alone interpreted and the findings used to improve a product or service.

Using “Big Data” to manage travel and expense (T&E) spend requires a consolidated approach – identifying the sources from which T&E data can be derived and then leveraging that data to understand exactly where the spend is going. It’s a mammoth task, but one that has become increasingly necessary as companies try to find ways to better manage their corporate travel expenses and manage travellers and travel spend that falls outside of policy.

The term “Big Data” has been crossing our screens for some time in the T&E management space. But “Big Data” is no longer just about data management business or technology. It is about being able to tap the data at your disposal easily to learn new things and gain greater insight about your business –and by doing so, driving improved business performance.

Turning big data into smart data 2016

worldwide business travel spend rose to $1.3 trillion

3.5%

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The benefits from maintaining a holistic, full-view of your corporate T&E spend through a single tool are untold, explains McNeil. “A centralised, expense management and online-booking tool not only provides convenience and enhanced reporting, but also displays the desired analytics to simplify future booking processes such as pre-trip approvals, profile management and traveller tracking”.

Such a tool can add value to the broader organisation, not just to those responsible for corporate travel. Centralising your company’s data could boost the sharing of information across departments, potentially resulting in shared cost reduction strategies and better data

compliance. By integrating the travel and expense tools, you can create opportunities to manage and apply policies and procedures to maximise your travel budget, without sacrificing control.

Imagine the scenario: You manage the corporate travel accounts of a large, multi-national organisation. You are responsible for 12 000 employees that travel out of 60 000. Consolidating their T&E data can be exhausting. Not to mention time-consuming – sifting through terabytes of (sometimes useless) travel data.

This daunting task is especially challenging when you need more granular information. “We need to go beyond the high-level data that we have at our disposal and start looking at more detailed

data to derive better insights that will empower corporates to make more meaningful changes to their travel policy. The next step is for us to take this granular data and look at it in different ways based on the strategic goals we’re trying to achieve.

“Data can be looked at from different angles depending on what exceptions we need to isolate and what problem areas we’re trying to resolve,” says McNeil

Oversight over T&E data can be difficult to achieve as it is derived from multiple sources – the travel management company (TMC), expense reports, corporate card data and the company’s debtors’ department. The type, format and volume of data that each of these sources can contribute is different, which makes it exceptionally difficult to consolidate and analyse to find

the answers that are needed to make necessary changes.

An important step for corporates to start strategically analysing their T&E data is to try to consolidate it. If you have to sift through multiple platforms or wads of documentation to assess what is being spent on T&E, you’ll be wasting time and money.

What is Big Data?

1.7 MEGABYTES per second of new information will be created for every human being.

Less than 0.5% of all data is ever analysed.

“Big Data” refers to large data sets that can be analysed to reveal patterns and trends. This data can be collected from a multitude of sources, in a myriad of ways. In fact, there’s so much data out there, it’s difficult to know where to start. More data has been created in the past two years, than in the entire history of the world. By 2020, about 1.7 megabytes per second of new information will be created for every human being on the planet, using 50 billion connected devices.

BY 2020, ABOUT

“It’s almost impossible for you to gain holistic oversight over that spend if you haven’t consolidated all the disparate sources of T&E data into one tool, which is why your TMC needs to provide a platform and the expertise to do this, like FCM Connect,” explains Euan McNeil, FCM Travel Solutions South Africa GM.

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Smart Data, not Big DataThe task of mining and analysing information other than that captured via the TMC is proving daunting for many corporates.

The problem with “Big Data” is that it’s, well, too big and therefore hard to use effectively. Hence industry terminology moving on to smart data and then to predictive analytics.

Smart travel managers have recognised that the secret lies in the quality, not the volume of information available.

Their challenge (and opportunity) is making sense of why travellers make their buying decisions; understanding the impact of those decisions on the travel programme and then changing the policy as required.

There’s little point crunching numbers if the process does not add value to travel management.

3. Dig deeper – uncover the cost inefficiencies In life, we often overlook small indiscretions and only focus on the ‘big’ things. So too in business, often we are less concerned with wastage in small amounts, but would kick up a huge fuss is we were to uncover large-scale financial mismanagement totalling in the millions. It is essential though to deep-dive your T&E data – don’t just focus on the expensive line items such as international travel. Carefully consider less overtly expensive items such as catering spend for internal meetings, baggage fees (and overweight baggage costs), airport parking and taxi services. It could be that the leniency around these line items is abused and if managed correctly, could save the organisation hundreds of thousands of rands annually. It is also a good departure point to regulate usage and set cost levels against manageable budgets.

4. Simplify the processKeep things simple in the booking process. Create traveller profiles by using an automated travel and expense reporting system. Once this data has been captured, the employees’ company, personal and credit card info is retained securely online for future reference. Creating bespoke profiles for regular

corporate travellers will aid the TMC in ensuring preferences be it in terms of dietaries, airline seats, or accommodation and vehicle choices are pre-populated and secured in advance of the travel.

5. Time efficienciesA secure, integrated technology tool that houses everything under a single roof, should create automated processes and save everyone a great deal of time. An example, is the storage of e-receipts to ensure expense claims are settled swiftly and efficiently. And in reference to a simplified process above, by pre-setting your travellers preferences in advance, you can allocate the time saved to more strategic decisions.

1. Create a single, centralised data repository Your company’s T&E data likely comes from several, disparate sources – employee expense reports, the accounts or finance department, statements of the corporate cards and even your own TMC’s records. All these sources provide information in different formats and probably work off different metrics. To assess the data accurately and determine exactly where and how you are spending your T&E budget, you should establish a centralised T&E data repository that consolidates all this disparate information into one place, so it can align and make sense of each expense item as it is recorded.

2. Let your bottom line benefit from your dataOnce you have created the centralised repository, you need to sort the data into relevant categories to gain a better understanding of the data. Picture this: You categorise according to service, and within the analysis of Air Travel. You realise that of the four domestic airlines that you deal with, a high percentage of the spend (possibly totalling tens of millions of rands) is through a single operator. This powerful analysis allows you to leverage of future dealings with the operator in terms of negotiating reduced rates or bulk discounts.

If your objectives as a department are to streamline operations, use analytics to make more strategic T&E booking decisions, or to generate workflow efficiencies through the maintenance of accurate, more effective data, then take note of these five easy tips to consolidate your T&E source data:

ConclusionYou can’t manage what you don’t measure – that’s the adage that so perfectly describes the current need for corporates to examine critically how a potential mismanagement of T&E spend can impact their bottom line negatively.

Your TMC can provide true value in assisting you with this process, helping to consolidate the disparate sources of T&E data so that you have complete oversight over your T&E spend and using their expertise to isolate areas of improvement so that you can save money, be more efficient and make it easier for staff to manage T&E expenses.

40,000

search queries every second.

GOOGLE RECEIVES

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About FCM

FCM is a single global brand providing a comprehensive range of corporate travel and expense management solutions. We have a presence in more than 95 countries and are regarded as one of the top five travel management companies in the world.

FCM is responsible for the travel programmes of some of the world’s most successful corporate brands. It has always been personalised service that sets FCM apart from the rest and we blend this

with innovative technology and unrivalled access to content to drive the optimum performance of your travel programme. Contact us today to find out how FCM can elevate the performance of your corporate travel programme.

Call 0877 40 5151info@fcmtravel.co.zafcmtravel.co.za