Flying High With Travel Analytics for Enterprise Customers

Avoiding Delays in Customer Travel Data

In 2013, Stephen Pitcher, Director of BI at FCM, recognized an opportunity to meet emerging customer needs for advanced, personalized analytics, that could keep up with the new pace at which they were doing business. While FCM’s current analytics service had worked well in the past, some fundamental shifts had taken place over the course of time that begged the question of whether it could meet future demands. Travel channels and partnerships had proliferated, growing the volume of data that the solution had to handle. Commensurately, the number of individualized contracts employers had to manage was climbing, increasing the degree of personalization required. Finally, employers were identifying an elevated need to strike a fine balance between company financial goals and employee comfort--in order to retain top talent.

FCm’s solution, built on a database rather than a warehouse, was straining to keep up with customer reporting needs-- taking up to 15-20 minutes to produce dashboards. Pitcher knew it was time for an upgrade.

Exploring New Territory in Travel-Based Insights

Pitcher set out on a quest to find a solution that could integrate naturally with their own cloud-based platform- -bringing all their clients’ data into a single environment for advanced analytics. “We needed the experience to be seamless for our clients, as simple as turning it on and logging in to insights,” explained Pitcher. He also was on the hunt for a partner that could deliver connectors to third-party data sources, allowing customers to leverage FCM’s negotiated agreements with travel partners directly to seek out enhanced cost savings get creative-allowing employers to slice their data by demographics; weight decision - making criteria by seniority; and explore trends that could inform the development of progressive policies. “We were looking for a partner who could bring the same degree of customization to the table that we offer our clients. Corporate travel is the largest controllable expense companies have. One size does not fit all when it comes to something as critical to a business’s viability and profitability.”

Finally — the table stakes were that it be cloud-based to meet uptime and availability requirements; robust enough to manage massive stores of data; and lightning-fast to keep up with customers reporting needs. Not to mention, quick to deploy and easy for customers to use.

Delivering Analytics at Supersonic Speed

Pitcher chose GoodData, and within weeks had a proof of concept in place. “Customers almost couldn’t believe it when they saw how fast it was. We went from 20 minutes to produce a dashboard to delivering customized reports in less than a minute. One client even thought we had stacked the deck because the data appeared like magic.” Clients were soon clamoring for the real thing - which, with the help of GoodData’s services team, FCmM quickly launched.

The partnership took FCm’s offering to a new level providing customers deeper insights into their travel programs than they had ever imagined possible. Via FCM’s embedded analytics, customers can now analyze their data to better understand their employees’ profiles, their travel patterns, what factors are causing them stress, and how to adjust accordingly to manage costs while creating a positive working environment for their road warriors that maximized satisfaction and productivity.

“The best part is how easy it is for us to demonstrate the value to potential customers,” said Pitcher, “With GoodData, I can show them how to build a customized dashboard and report in minutes it literally blows them away.” Key deals and renewals began closing quickly, as FCM’s reputation as an industry innovator spread. Pitcher confirmed, “It’s our secret weapon when we go into sales pitches. I can honestly say, partnering with GoodData is one of the best choices I’ve made as a BI leader.”

Additional resources

Visit GoodData’s embedded analytics website to learn more about different types of embedded analytics, solutions, benefits, and additional customer success stories. With the embedded analytics trial, you can see GoodData’s analytics platform embedded in an application’s user interface so you can get a clear example of what embedded ad hoc data discovery looks like. Explore a demo application enhanced by analytics visualizations, then create analytical insights using an intuitive drag-and-drop experience.