Not all technology is created equal. With tech so ubiquitous in modern life, it's easy to think back to a time where you may have ended up with a purchase that wasn't quite up to scratch. And with constant innovation happening within the space, it's easy to wind up with a purchase that turned sour almost as soon as it was received — just ask those who forked out thousands for a 3D TV or Google Glass.
The problem with both products was simple: they didn't gel with existing technology that was out there and promised too much while delivering too little. They also promised to become the benchmark for their respective services, which never came to fruition.
Of course, these are purchases being made by the individual; costly, yes, but nothing that was going to land them in severe trouble, financial or otherwise. Purchasing technology at the scale needed for a business on the other hand could have severe repercussions if it ends up with employees watching the proverbial singular channel their 3D TV supports. Even more so when that technology deals with something as fundamental as the safety of employees while they travel.
The burden of budgeting
As technology continues to improve and promises to do more and more, there is an increasing pressure throughout businesses — including those working on travel programmes — to do more with less.
Those making the decisions within businesses are therefore looking to get the maximum value out of their travel programme, and that extends to the processes in place to manage it. For many travel managers, that's leaving them with a tremendous amount of ground to cover and an insurmountable checklist of tasks and areas that they need the solution they purchase to cover.
Utilising what is already to hand
Apologies to any travel managers out there reading this with deep pockets and even deeper optimism, but the truth is there isn't any one single solution — no matter what the budget — that can cover every aspect of a traveller's duty of care.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing; after all, a system that encapsulated all the necessary areas would be extortionately expensive. Rather than work harder to solve this area, savvy travel managers are working smarter and utilising consumer tech to support what they need.
We've already mentioned failed consumer technology trends, but the most successful one is clear — the mobile phone. If you look across your office or team in any modern business, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't now use a smartphone as a core tenant of how they organise their lives.
And these devices are getting smarter, stronger and reaching levels of technological prowess that few other consumer technologies can match. Cutting-edge smartphones are coming equipped with hundreds of gigabytes of storage and the same measurement of RAM approaching double figures. Add to that GPS, WiFi, 4G and (soon to be) 5G capability and application stores with thousands of choices, for many people, their smartphone is a comfortably smarter machine than any tablets or personal computers that they may own.
Looking closer at this area of technology also shows how regularly we quantify and track our lives via the devices we carry. Online taxi services, app-connected debit cards, 'find my phone' services and location sharing via social media applications — just a few of the ways we capture and share data, and all of which — if used responsibly — that can help plug the gaps in duty of care delivery.
What to look out for
So, if existing technology like the smartphone can be harnessed, then surely the travel manager is halfway there? In fact, that's just one aspect of an intelligent travel tool. If that was the only measurement, despite its relying on bring-your-own technology, it would still be incredibly expensive as hardware to maintain.
The second aspect which needs to be looked for should be a cloud-based element to any duty of care purchase. Travel managers that use hardware-based travel systems or even software that needs high-specification computing to run are going to accrue additional costs in supporting this. But by moving completely to the cloud, the costs are essentially offset to the provider.
Another bonus for this is the scalability of the system, giving businesses flexibility with their travel technology to move upwards — and in some cases downwards — with them as they see fit, without having to do very much more than purchase further profiles or 'seats' that can be used. As well as the ease with which this can be carried out by the travel manager, in conjunction with whoever holds the purse strings, sophisticated travel technology can work across phones, tablets and computers with ease.
Many travel technology providers also come with a suite of different technologies that they can offer, but, much like the seat scaling, it's also sensible to look out for those that can add and remove these products too. From the small business just starting out to the enterprise that may already run some of the functions being offered, it's useful to have the option to choose which tools to begin with (booking tools, duty of care, itinerary organising etc.) and can add to this or scale back.
Creating the ecosystem
So far, this technology needs to tap into consumer technology and be based in the cloud, with scalability in both users and function. The next stage is to see exactly what applications, companies and providers that it can work with. For companies that are pressing ahead with this kind of joined-up duty of care, that means a move away from their technology as a product and a shift toward technology as a platform. Although this initially seems a semantic tweak, moving from defining the software as a product to defining it as a platform means a tremendous amount.
In short, it means a switch away from being a product focused solely on the consumer (end user) to being something which equally focuses on the consumer and the producers who offer their services through it. That's a company-wide ethos and a vital point to check for the those looking to purchase technology.
Companies taking this approach then need to build their ecosystems with partners — both business-to-business and consumer brands which can be connected to deliver results. Travel encapsulates duty of care, of course, but it also ties into expenditure for a trip — something which can be a great source of information for a duty of care plan. The best way to showcase how this would work would be through a hypothetical situation.
For someone travelling overseas, they will be travelling via train or taxi to the airport, so links into train providers and app-based car hires will ensure full visibility for travel managers. An ecosystem plugged into the airline they are flying with and where their accommodation is, again ensures that there is end-to-end visibility into the journey; not for Minority Report-style tracking, but just to ensure there aren't blind spots where duty of care could not be realised — think an unlicensed taxi between the flight and accommodation.
There are always other aspects which are overlooked — like the frequent flyer to a country that is then held on tax evasion charges because they've been in the country for too many days. Duty of care isn't just earthquakes and crime; it's forgotten medication, Visa issues and ensuring that travellers understand the laws and the customs of where they are going to be visiting. So, the APIs included in the ecosystem needs to be linked through too often-used transportation and accommodation providers, but there is so much more that can be included as part of an all-encompassing duty of care technology.
The final checklist
There is a lot of different information here about booking technologies that can help even the most-stretched of travel managers, so it's worth running through these questions when looking for a technology provider:
- Can it work with consumer technology such as mobile phones — and is it designed to work that way?
- Is it cloud-based?
- Does it have scalability in terms of users to add and remove?
- Does it have scalability regarding the services provided?
- What is its ecosystem like? Does it work with the services my travellers like to use?
- Does it cover just transport and accommodation, or does it cover useful additional partner companies too?
- Is it localised, or does it have a global reach for partners and services?
By asking these questions, travel managers can ensure that whoever they choose to work with regarding bookings and their duty of care requirements has the right approach — one that is malleable, fair and forward-facing. That's how they can make sure to open disparate data sets, speed up processes and maintain duty of care through various different channels being brought together. And, of course, ensure they don't end up with some explaining to do for expensive and antiquated travel technology.