Company: American Express Business Travel, New York, New York
Company Description: AEBT, a division of the AmEx Company, is dedicated to helping its clients (including small businesses, medium- sized enterprises and multinational corporations)realize the greatest possible value from their investment in travel through increased cost savings, outstanding customer service and greater spend control.
Nomination Category: Company, Office & Product Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best New Product or Service

Nomination Title: American Express Intelligent Online Marketplace

1. Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and sales to date. You may include hyperlinks to product photos and data sheets. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Coined by the Wall Street Journal as “what could help usher in the next
generation of online travel-booking tools,” AXIOM, the American Express
Intelligent Online Marketplace, is changing the way corporations think about
and book their business travel.

With air, car and hotel rates on the rise, it is essential for companies to
embrace new solutions that allow them to better manage and control travel and
entertainment (T&E) expenses, which can account for nearly half of the $470
billion in annual costs. Simultaneously, the wired 24-7-365 needs of business
travelers are evolving as road warriors expect instant, real-time access to
booking travel that goes beyond making air and hotel reservations. As a
result, technology needed to become more dynamic to meet these diverse
expectations. 

American Express Business Travel (AEBT), a global industry leader in business
travel management, was a step ahead in identifying and providing a solution for
the needs of the travel management industry when it created AXIOM. A
groundbreaking corporate travel booking program, it has allowed corporations to
rein in expenses while simplifying planning for travelers. The web-based
Marketplace provides travelers with access to more than 135,000 suppliers in a
one-stop shop, offering traditional travel arrangements as well as for other
services such as airport parking, dining reservations and package shipping. 

Powered by Rearden Commerce, Inc., AXIOM helps the many companies which
struggle to stop employees from purchasing services outside of preferred vendor
contracts, bringing unmanaged spending to more than $190 billion (40 percent of
T&E spend) and resulting in significant missed savings opportunities. The
Marketplace allows companies to better control T&E spend by creating a sense
of “visual guilt” for travelers who buy outside travel policy, leading to
greater compliance and overall savings. 

AXIOM allows companies to set travel policy all the way down to the individual
traveler level, thus eliminating non-preferred vendor purchasing. Clients have
the ability to determine policies and provision services to individual
employees based on their position, location and business needs, and can choose
to offer only appropriate supplier choices. The system also allows corporate
travel managers to better track expenditures, leading to more effective bulk
rate negotiations for a range of services from package-shipping to car
rentals. 

The Marketplace also meets the coordination demands of today’s harried
corporate traveler. The platform features an online “personal assistant” to
automate and synchronize travel planning, resulting in significant employee
productivity gains. With alerts and booking details automatically saved in
travelers’ electronic calendars, AXIOM seamlessly provides notification of any
changes to bosses, colleagues and the travelers themselves.

AXIOM has already helped more than 200 client companies achieve greater control
and savings from all aspects of T&E spend, while helping business travelers
save time and ease the stress associated with planning and organizing travel
arrangements. AXIOM is the first corporate solution to truly combine the
benefits of traditional online travel booking with a broad range of additional
travel-related services, all on one platform. 

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, product reviews, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Hyperlinks of supporting documents for AXIOM were uploaded to the Stevie Web
site. 

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

Fernando is the Executive VP and COO of AEBT and leads a global organization of
over 14,000 employees. As the leader behind AXIOM, it was his thought
leadership and expert insight that helped to drive the creation of the ground-
breaking platform. 

Before this position, Fernando was Senior VP and CFO of American Express Global
Corporate Services. He led the global finance organization, which supported
the global Commercial Card, global Travel, and U.S. Tax & Business Services. 

Fernando is a recipient of the “2007 Pros to Know” award from Supply and Demand
Chain Executive for his leadership in bringing AXIOM to market.