KDS CEO To Speak On The Rise Of Integrated Travel & Expense Solutions At Corporate Travel World

Boston Scientific Europe to present case study on pan-European implementation of KDS T&E solution

 Paris, April 10, 2007 – Yves Weisselberger, co-founder and CEO of KDS, is to share his vision of the future of travel management technologies when he delivers a keynote address at the Corporate Travel World meeting in New York City on May 22, 2007. In his speech during the Travel Tech Forecast session, Mr Weisselberger, who was recently named one of the past year’s 25 most influential business travel leaders, will discuss the increasing impact of integrated travel and expense technologies on corporate travel budgets.

KDS, the European leader in on-demand travel and expense, has been a pioneer of end-to-end solutions that enable businesses to manage both their travel booking and expense management online, thereby achieving significant cost savings, improved travel policy compliance and process efficiencies. In December 2006, research group Aberdeen reported growing interest among businesses in such integrated solutions, finding that, in addition to the 19 percent of companies already using these systems, a further 26 percent plan to introduce them in the next two years. Aberdeen believes that the driving force behind this interest is the potential of these solutions to greatly improve policy compliance, as it estimates that almost one in five T&E expenses is non-compliant.

Also during Corporate Travel World, Volker Spichal, European finance director of Boston Scientific, will present a case study on how his company has implemented KDS’s T&E solution throughout the EU. He will discuss Boston Scientific’s motivations for choosing an on-demand solution and its observations on how to introduce such a system efficiently across multiple markets. In particular, he will focus on the need to establish clear communication between the company, T&E partner and TMC; the vital importance of the project design phase and data standardization; and the need to tailor automated business processes to local operating environments. In addition, Mr Spichal will explain how an end-to-end T&E solution may be integrated with an ERP system, and how such an approach can help achieve Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

Yves Weisselberger said, “Corporate Travel World is one of the most important forums in our industry and the prominence it is giving to integrated travel and expense solutions demonstrates how important this technology has become. We look forward to sharing ideas with our customers and colleagues and discussing where the latest innovations will take us.”

Press Contacts:
Melanie Hanus / Marc Cornelius
KDS / 80:20 PR
+33 1 46 29 58 88 / +44 (0)20 7924 7576
mhanus@kds.com / marc@8020pr.com

Notes to Editors

Yves Weisselberger was named one of the 25 Most Influential Executives in business travel in 2006 by top US trade magazine Business Travel News (January 22, 2007). He was recognised alongside leaders including Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic; Hubert Joly, CEO of Carlson Wagonlit Travel; and Doug Parker, CEO of US Airways, based on nominations received from industry professionals.

KDS on-demand travel & expense offers a completely integrated solution for travel and expense management, addressing essential needs ranging from travel policy definition and enforcement, to online travel self-booking, to automated travel expense processing and beyond. Every critical procedure can be completed through the KDS ASP offering, resulting in greater efficiencies and associated financial benefits. In addition, KDS offers the most extensive back-end connectivity to airline, car, rail and hotel providers in the industry, ensuring optimized pricing and up-to-the-minute inventory control. For more information, visit www.kds.com.