Oracle Corp announced yesterday it has purchased Concord, Massachusetts based, E-Travel Inc, a provider of on-line corporate travel management systems, for an undisclosed sum. Under the structure of the deal, the database giant said it has incorporated E-Travel as a separate business unit within Oracle and all the company’s management team will retain their current positions. Speaking to ComputerWire yesterday, John Wookey, Oracle’s VP of financial applications said the Redwood Shores, California-based software vendor will integrate E-Travel’s flagship web-based, travel arrangement product of the same name, with its own travel, expenses and reimbursement solution and rename the application Oracle eTravel. By combining both companies software, Wookey said the aim is to enable businesses to proactively manage their staff’s travel arrangements, to enable companies to move from knowing how money was spent to deciding how it should be spent.
E-Travel allows end users to plan and book corporate travel using a standard web browser linked to central reservation systems and key industry suppliers. Specifically, Wookey said Oracle would port the software to its Oracle database and then integrate the application with its own web-based expense reporting and travel reimbursement solution. Oracle is also working on a new set of travel management business intelligence tools which cashier staff can use to analyze staff travel patterns. Using that data, the company can then set a corporate travel policy, for example, it can stipulate coach class flight only or the use of certain airlines, and use the software to analyze whether or not staff are adhering to those policies. It will also enable them to reimburse staff more quickly, Wookey said.
John Ackermann, CEO of E-Travel, said corporate travel and entertainment expenses are typically the third or fourth largest cost for most corporations. E-Travel combined with Oracle’s software allows organizations to realize cost savings up to half of what they would typically spend using travel brokers, he said. Wookey said Oracle would most likely sell its travel software under three different business models: E-Travel independently of Oracle’s software; Oracle’s existing software without E-Travel and the integrated Oracle eTravel solution. The software is available immediately through standard Oracle sales channels and the business intelligence tools are expected to be released within the next three to six months, Wookey said. Oracle will also offer the solution via its Business OnLine outsourcing service.
