1 Our continual focus is to elevate the travel programs from a “Cost Center” line item to a “Sales Enablement” function. Travel teams get stuck measuring what they save, not what they enable. The shift happens when you think of travel as infrastructure that makes your business work, not an expense to minimize. Here’s what leaders care about: Real ROI from vendor relationships, seamless infrastructure that lets your sales team focus on selling (not booking systems), and data-driven decisions shaping organizational strategy – not just cost control.
The real win? When leadership stops asking “How do we cut travel costs?” and starts asking “How do we use travel to support our business?”
— Heather Allegrina
2 A managed meetings and events program is really all about bringing people together around a purpose. When done well, meetings are not just “reasons to hang out with your colleagues or customers” – they are business tools. They help teams align, solve problems faster, build stronger relationships, and create the kind of momentum that drives real results.
The ROI comes from having a strategy behind every gathering: Why we are meeting, who needs to be in the room, and when it’s all over, what are we walking away with, what is happening afterward? A strong managed meetings program also gives companies better visibility into spend, reduces risk, and creates a better experience for attendees. Bottom line: When people connect in the right way, with a clear, intentional goal defined from the beginning, business moves forward.
— Wendy Palmer
3 Last year NetApp got a new CFO. While I am confident that the previous CFO cared about travel budgets and fiscal responsibility, it is apparent that the new CFO is very much invested in making sure that all NetApp travelers are maintaining adherence to their budgets. In my fourteen years at NetApp, I have never seen so much scrutiny of travel budgets. Travelers and travel arrangers are constantly contacting me in Travel to make sure that unused tickets are being kept in their cost centers and reports of travel spend are available. Also, there has been strong interest in using travel budgets across fiscal quarters. Questions arise about whether a traveler can book in one quarter but not have it hit their budget until the next quarter.
One helpful solution is that NetApp Procurement is building a data lake that will include travel data from our TMC, credit card, and expense system. We have never included card data in our reporting in the past. When it’s finished, we will have a new tool to manage travel with greater efficiency. There’s nothing like enforcing a budget to get the creative juices flowing!
— Mark Ziegler
4 A managed travel program delivers value by protecting both employees and the organization while maximizing the return on travel spend. Strong duty of care processes provide visibility into traveler locations, support rapid response during disruptions, and help mitigate risk and liability. At the same time, leveraging corporate contracts creates measurable savings through negotiated rates, waivers, favors, and added amenities that would not be available through unmanaged channels.
Beyond the hard dollar savings, a managed program delivers soft benefits allowing for improved traveler satisfaction, streamlined booking and support, policy compliance, and greater productivity. By reducing organizational risk, containing costs, and improving traveler efficiency and experience, a managed travel program directly contributes to the company’s bottom line while supporting broader business objectives.
— Amy Hunke
